Golf

For other uses, see Golf (disambiguation) and Golfer

(disambiguation).
Golf is a club and ball sport in which players use various
clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as
few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, does not require a standardized playing area. The game is played on a course with an
arranged progression of either nine or 18 holes. Each hole
on the course must contain a tee box to start from, and a
putting green containing the actual hole or cup. There are
other standard forms of terrain in between, such as the
fairway, rough, and hazards, but each hole on a course is
unique in its specic layout and arrangement.
Golf is played for the lowest number of strokes by an individual, known as stroke play, or the lowest score on the
most individual holes in a complete round by an individual or team, known as match play. Stroke play is the most
commonly seen format at all levels.

The MacDonald boys playing golf, 18th century.

Origin

Main article: History of golf

While the modern game of golf originated in 15thcentury Scotland, the games ancient origins are unclear
and much debated. Some historians[3] trace the sport
back to the Roman game of paganica, in which participants used a bent stick to hit a stued leather ball. One
theory asserts that paganica spread throughout Europe as
the Romans conquered most of the continent, during the
rst century BC, and eventually evolved into the modern game.[4] Others cite chuiwan (chui means striking
and wan means small ball) as the progenitor, a Chinese
game played between the eighth and 14th centuries.[5] A
Ming Dynasty scroll dating back to 1368 entitled The
Autumn Banquet shows a member of the Chinese Imperial court swinging what appears to be a golf club at a
small ball with the aim of sinking it into a hole. The game
is thought to have been introduced into Europe during the
Middle Ages. Another early game that resembled modern golf was known as cambuca in England and chambot
in France.[6] The Persian game chaugn is another possible ancient origin. In addition, kolven (a game involving a ball and curved bats) was played annually in Loenen, Netherlands, beginning in 1297, to commemorate
the capture of the assassin of Floris V, a year earlier.

Four gentlemen golfers on the tee of a golf course, 1930s

written record of golf is James II's banning of the game in

1457, as an unwelcome distraction to learning archery.[7]
James IV lifted the ban in 1502 when he became a
golfer himself, with golf clubs rst recorded in 15031504: For golf clubbes and balles to the King that he
playit with.[8] To many golfers, the Old Course at St Andrews, a links course dating to before 1574, is considered
to be a site of pilgrimage.[9] In 1764, the standard 18hole golf course was created at St Andrews when memThe modern game originated in Scotland, where the rst bers modied the course from 22 to 18 holes.[10] Golf
1

is documented as being played on Musselburgh Links,

East Lothian, Scotland as early as 2 March 1672, which
is certied as the oldest golf course in the world by Guinness World Records.[11][12] The oldest surviving rules of
golf were compiled in March 1744 for the Company of
Gentlemen Golfers, later renamed The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, which was played at Leith,
Scotland.[13] The worlds oldest golf tournament in existence, and golfs rst major, is The Open Championship, which was rst played on 17 October 1860 at
Prestwick Golf Club, in Ayrshire, Scotland, with Scottish
golfers winning the earliest majors.[14] Two Scotsmen
from Dunfermline, John Reid and Robert Lockhart, rst
demonstrated golf in the US by setting up a hole in an
orchard in 1888, with Reid setting up Americas rst golf
club the same year, St. Andrews Golf Club in Yonkers,
New York.[15]

PLAY OF THE GAME

Early Scottish golf courses were primarily laid out on

links land, soil-covered sand dunes directly inland from
beaches.[18] This gave rise to the term golf links, particularly applied to seaside courses and those built on naturally sandy soil inland.
The rst 18-hole golf course in the United States was on
a sheep farm in Downers Grove, Illinois, in 1892. The
course is still there today.[19]

3 Play of the game

Golf course

2
5
6

3
4
7

9
10
Aerial view of the Golfplatz Wittenbeck in Mecklenburg,
Germany

Main article: Golf course

1=teeing ground, 2=water hazard, 3=rough, 4=out of bounds,
5=sand bunker, 6=water hazard, 7=fairway, 8=putting green,
9=agstick, 10=hole

A golf course consists of either 9 or 18 holes, each with

a teeing ground that is set o by two markers showing
the bounds of the legal tee area, fairway, rough and other
Every round of golf is based on playing a number of holes
hazards, and the putting green surrounded by the fringe in a given order. A round typically consists of 18 holes
with the pin (normally a agstick) and cup.
that are played in the order determined by the course layThe levels of grass are varied to increase diculty, or out. Each hole is played once in the round on a stanto allow for putting in the case of the green. While many dard course of 18 holes; on a nine-hole course, players
holes are designed with a direct line-of-sight from the tee- may play a short game playing each hole once, or a
ing area to the green, some holes may bend either to the full round by playing each hole twice. The game can
left or to the right. This is commonly called a dogleg, be played by any number of people. Though a typical
in reference to a dogs knee. The hole is called a dog- group playing will have 1, 2, 3 or 4 people playing the
leg left if the hole angles leftwards and dogleg right if round. The typical amount of time required for pace of
it bends right. Sometimes, a holes direction may bend play for a 9-hole round is two hours and four hours for an
twice; this is called a double dogleg.
18-hole round.
A regular golf course consists of 18 holes, but nine-hole Playing a hole on a golf course is initiated by putting a ball
courses are common and can be played twice through for into play by striking it with a club on the teeing ground
(also called the tee box, or simply the tee). For this rst
a full round of 18 holes.[16][17]

3
shot on each hole, it is allowed but not required for the
golfer to place the ball on a tee prior to striking it. A tee
is a small peg that can be used to elevate the ball slightly
above the ground up to a few centimetres high. Tees are
commonly made of wood but may be constructed of any
material, including plastic. Traditionally, golfers used
mounds of sand to elevate the ball, and containers of sand
were provided for the purpose. A few courses still require
sand to be used instead of peg tees, to reduce litter and
reduce damage to the teeing ground. Tees help reduce
the interference of the ground or grass on the movement
of the club making the ball easier to hit, and also places
the ball in the very centre of the striking face of the club
(the sweet spot) for better distance.

using a shoulder strap or using a golf trolley for their

bag. These trolleys may or may not be battery assisted.
At many amateur tournaments including U.S. high school
and college play, players are required to walk and to carry
their own bags, but at the professional and top amateur
level, as well as at high-level private clubs, players may
be accompanied by caddies, who carry and manage the
players equipment and who are allowed by the rules to
give advice on the play of the course.[20] A caddys advice can only be given to the player or players for whom
the caddy is working, and not to other competing players.

4 Rules and regulations

When the initial shot on a hole is intended to move the

ball a long distance (typically more than 225 yards (210 Main article: Rules of golf
m)), the shot is commonly called a drive and is generally The rules of golf are internationally standardised and
made with a long-shafted, large-headed wood club called
a driver. Shorter holes may be initiated with other
clubs, such as higher-numbered woods or irons. Once
the ball comes to rest, the golfer strikes it again as many
times as necessary using shots that are variously known
as a lay-up, an approach, a pitch, or a "chip", until
the ball reaches the green, where he or she then "putts"
the ball into the hole (commonly called sinking the putt
or holing out). The goal of getting the ball into the hole
(holing the ball) in as few strokes as possible may be
impeded by obstacles such as areas of longer grass called
rough (usually found alongside fairways), which both
slows any ball that contacts it and makes it harder to advance a ball that has stopped on it; doglegs, which are
changes in the direction of the fairway that often require
shorter shots to play around them; bunkers (or sand traps);
and water hazards such as ponds or streams.[16]
In stroke play competitions played according to strict
rules, each player plays his or her ball until it is holed
no matter how many strokes that may take. In match play
it is acceptable to simply pick up ones ball and surrender the hole after enough strokes have been made by a
player that it is mathematically impossible for the player
to win the hole. It is also acceptable in informal stroke
play to surrender the hole after hitting three strokes more
than the par rating of the hole (a triple bogey - see below); while technically a violation of Rule 3-2, this practice speeds play as a courtesy to others, and avoids runaway scores, excessive frustration and injuries caused by
overexertion.
The total distance from the rst tee box to the 18th green
can be quite long; total yardages through the green can
be in excess of 7,000 yards (6,400 m), and when adding
in the travel distance between the green of one hole and
the tee of the next, even skilled players may easily travel
ve miles or more during a round. At some courses, electric golf carts are used to travel between shots, which
can speed-up play and allows participation by individuals unable to walk a whole round. On other courses players generally walk the course, either carrying their bag

Arnold Palmer in 1953

are jointly governed by The R&A, spun o in 2004

from The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews
(founded 1754), and the United States Golf Association
(USGA).[21][22]
The underlying principle of the rules is fairness. As stated
on the back cover of the ocial rule book:
Play the ball as it lies, play the course as you
nd it, and if you cannot do either, do what is
fair.
There are strict regulations regarding the amateur status of golfers.[23] Essentially, anybody who has ever received payment or compensation for giving instruction, or
played golf for money, is not considered an amateur and

5 EQUIPMENT

may not participate in competitions limited solely to amateurs. However, amateur golfers may receive expenses
that comply with strict guidelines and they may accept
non-cash prizes within the limits established by the Rules
of Amateur Status.

composed of a shaft with a lance (or grip) on the top

end and a club head on the bottom. Long clubs, which
have a lower amount of degree loft, are those meant to
propel the ball a comparatively longer distance, and short
clubs a higher degree of loft and a comparatively shorter
In addition to the ocially printed rules, golfers also distance. The actual physical length of each club is longer
abide by a set of guidelines called golf etiquette. Etiquette or shorter, depending on the distance the club is intended
guidelines cover matters such as safety, fairness, pace of to propel the ball.
play, and a players obligation to contribute to the care of Golf clubs have traditionally been arranged into three bathe course. Though there are no penalties for breach of sic types. Woods are large-headed, long-shafted clubs
etiquette rules, players generally follow the rules of golf meant to propel the ball a long distance from relatively
etiquette in an eort to improve everyones playing expe- open lies, such as the tee box and fairway. Of particrience.
ular importance is the driver or 1-wood, which is the
lowest lofted wood club, and in modern times has become
highly specialized for making extremely long-distance tee
4.1 Penalties
shots, up to 300 yards (270 m), or more, in a professional
golfers hands. Traditionally these clubs had heads made
Main article: Penalty (golf)
of a hardwood, hence the name, but virtually all modern woods are now made of metal such as titanium, or
Penalties are incurred in certain situations. They are of composite materials. Irons are shorter-shafted clubs
counted towards a players score as if there were extra with a metal head primarily consisting of a at, angled
swing(s) at the ball. Strokes are added for rule infractions striking face. Traditionally the clubhead was forged from
iron; modern iron clubheads are investment-cast from a
or for hitting ones ball into an unplayable situation.
steel alloy. Irons of varying loft are used for a variety of
A lost ball or a ball hit out of bounds result in a penalty shots from virtually anywhere on the course, but most ofof one stroke and distance (Rule 271). A one-stroke ten for shorter-distance shots approaching the green, or to
penalty is assessed if a players equipment causes the ball get the ball out of tricky lies such as sand traps. The third
to move or the removal of a loose impediment causes the class is the putter, which evolved from the irons to create
ball to move (Rule 182). A one-stroke penalty is as- a low-lofted, balanced club designed to roll the ball along
sessed if a players ball results into a red or yellow staked the green and into the hole. Putters are virtually always
hazard (Rule 26). If a golfer makes a stroke at the wrong used on the green or in the surrounding rough/fringe. A
ball (Rule 192) or hits a fellow golfers ball with a putt fourth class, called hybrids, evolved as a cross between
(Rule 195), the player incurs a two-stroke penalty. Most woods and irons, and are typically seen replacing the lowrule infractions lead to stroke penalties but also can lead lofted irons with a club that provides similar distance, but
to disqualication. Disqualication could be from cheat- a higher launch angle and a more forgiving nature.
ing, signing for a lower score, or from rule infractions that
A maximum of 14 clubs is allowed in a players bag at
lead to improper play.[24]
one time during a stipulated round. The choice of clubs
is at the golfers discretion, although every club must be
constructed in accordance with parameters outlined in
5 Equipment
the rules. (Clubs that meet these parameters are usually
called conforming.) Violation of these rules can result
Main article: Golf equipment
in disqualication.
Golf clubs are used to hit the golf ball. Each club is
The exact shot hit at any given time on a golf course,
and which club is used to accomplish the shot, are always
completely at the discretion of the golfer; in other words,
there is no restriction whatsoever on which club a golfer
may or may not use at any time for any shot.
Golf balls are spherical, usually white (although other
colours are allowed), and minutely pock-marked by dimples that decrease aerodynamic drag by increasing air turbulence around the ball in motion, which delays boundary layer separation and reduces the drag-inducing
wake behind the ball, thereby allowing the ball to y
farther.[25] The combination of a soft boundary layer
and a hard core enables both distance and spin.
A wood positioned ready to be swung and to strike a golf ball

A tee is allowed only for the rst stroke on each hole,

5
unless the player must hit a provisional tee shot or replay with the usual ball position for a drive being just behind
his or her rst shot from the tee.
the arch of the leading foot. The ball is placed further
Many golfers wear golf shoes with metal or plastic spikes back in the players stance (toward the trailing foot) as
designed to increase traction, thus allowing for longer and the loft of the club to be used increases. Most iron shots
and putts are made with the ball roughly centered in the
more accurate shots.
stance, while a few mid- and short-iron shots are made
A golf bag is used to transport golf clubs and the players with the ball slightly behind the centre of the stance to
other or personal equipment. Golf bags have several ensure consistent contact between the ball and clubface,
pockets designed for carrying equipment and supplies so the ball is on its way before the club continues down
such as tees, balls, and gloves. Golf bags can be carried, into the turf.
pulled on a trolley or harnessed to a motorized golf cart
during play. Golf bags have both a hand strap and shoul- The golfer chooses a golf club, grip, and stroke approprider strap for carrying, and sometimes have retractable ate to the distance:
legs that allow the bag to stand upright when at rest.
The drive or full swing is used on the teeing
ground and fairway, typically with a wood or long
iron, to produce the maximum distance capable with
6 Stroke mechanics
the club. In the extreme, the windup can end with
the shaft of the club parallel to the ground above the
players shoulders.
The approach or 3/4 swing is used in mediumand long-distance situations where an exact distance
and good accuracy is preferable to maximum possible distance, such as to place the ball on the green or
lay up in front of a hazard. The windup or backswing of such a shot typically ends up with the shaft
of the club pointing straight upwards or slightly towards the player.

A golfer takes an approach shot on the fairway.

Main article: Golf stroke mechanics

The golf swing is outwardly similar to many other motions involving swinging a tool or playing implement, such
as an axe or a baseball bat; however, unlike many of these
motions, the result of the swing is highly dependent on
several sub-motions being properly aligned and timed, to
ensure that the club travels up to the ball in line with the
desired path, the clubface is in line with the swing path,
and the ball impacts the centre or sweet spot of the clubface. The ability to do this consistently, across a complete
set of clubs with a wide range of shaft lengths and clubface areas, is a key skill for any golfer, and takes a significant eort to achieve.
Golfers start with the non-dominant side of the body facing the target (for a right-hander, the target is to their left).
At address, the players body and the centerline of the club
face are positioned parallel to the desired line of travel,
with the feet either perpendicular to that line or slightly
splayed outward. The feet are commonly shoulder-width
apart for middle irons and putters, narrower for short
irons and wider for long irons and woods. The ball is
typically positioned more to the front of the players
stance (closer to the leading foot) for lower-lofted clubs,

The chip or half-swing is used for relatively

short-distance shots near the green, with high-lofted
irons and wedges. The goal of the chip is to land
the ball safely on the green, allowing it to roll out towards the hole. It can also be used from other places
to accurately position the ball into a more advantageous lie. The backswing typically ends with the
head of the club between hip and head height.
The putt is used in short-distance shots on or
near the green, typically made with the eponymous
putter, although similar strokes can be made with
medium to high-numbered irons to carry a short distance in the air and then roll (a bump and run).
The backswing and follow-through of the putt are
both abbreviated compared to other strokes, with
the head of the club rarely rising above the knee.
The goal of the putt is usually to put the ball in the
hole, although a long-distance putt may be called a
lag and is made with the primary intention of simply closing distance to the hole or otherwise placing
the ball advantageously.
Having chosen a club and stroke to produce the desired
distance, the player addresses the ball by taking their
stance to the side of it and (except when the ball lies in
a hazard) grounding the club behind the ball. The golfer
then takes their backswing, rotating the club, their arms
and their upper body away from the ball, and then begins their swing, bringing the clubhead back down and

7 SCORING AND HANDICAPPING

around to hit the ball. A proper golf swing is a complex

combination of motions, and slight variations in posture
or positioning can make a great deal of dierence in how
well the ball is hit and how straight it travels. The general
goal of a player making a full swing is to propel the clubhead as fast as possible while maintaining a single plane
of motion of the club and clubhead, to send the clubhead
into the ball along the desired path of travel and with the
clubhead also pointing that direction.

that the dominant hand is on top of the grip where the

weak hand is on the bottom. This grip restricts the motion in your dominant hand and eliminates the possibility
of wrist breakdowns through the putting stroke.[29]
Other notable putting styles include the claw, a style
that has the grip directly in between the thumb and index nger of the dominant hand while the palm faces the
target.[30] The weak hand placed normally on the putter.
Anchored putting, a style that requires a longer putter
shaft that can be anchored into the players stomach or
below the chin; the idea is to stabilize one end of the putter thus creating a more consistent pendulum stroke. This
style will be banned in 2016 on the profession circuits.[31]

Accuracy and consistency is typically stressed over pure

distance. A player with a straight drive that travels only
220 yards (200 m) will nevertheless be able to accurately
place the ball into a favourable lie on the fairway, and
can make up for the lesser distance of any given club by
simply using more club (a lower loft) on their tee shot
or on subsequent fairway and approach shots. However, 7 Scoring and handicapping
a golfer with a drive that may go 280 yards (260 m) but
often doesn't y straight will be less able to position their
ball advantageously; the ball may hook, pull, draw, 7.1 Par
fade, push or slice o the intended line and land out
of bounds or in the rough or hazards, and thus the player Main article: Par (score)
A hole is classied by its par, meaning the number of
will require many more strokes to hole out.

6.1

Musculature

A golf stroke uses muscles on core (especially erector

spinae muscles and latissimus dorsi muscle when turning), hamstring, shoulder, and wrist. Stronger muscles
on wrist can prevent wrists from being twisted at swings,
while stronger shoulders increase the turning force. Weak
wrists can also deliver the impacts to elbows and even
neck and lead to injury of them. (When a muscle contracts, it pulls equally from both ends and, in order to have
movement at only one end of the muscle, other muscles
must come into play to stabilize the bone to which the
other end of the muscle is attached.) Golf is a unilateral A par-3 hole in Phoenician Golf Club, Scottsdale, Arizona
exercise that can break body balances, requiring exercises
to keep the balance in muscles.[26][27]

6.2

Types of putting

Putting is considered to be the most important component

of the game of golf. As the game of golf has evolved,
there have been many dierent putting techniques and
grips that have been devised to give golfers the best
chance to make putts. When the game originated, golfers
would putt with their dominate hand on the bottom of the
grip and their weak hand on top of the grip. This grip and
putting style is known as conventional. There are many
variations of conventional including overlap, where the
golfer overlaps the o hand index nger onto o the dominant pinky; interlock, where the ohand index nger interlocks with the dominant pinky and ring nger; double
or triple overlap and so on.[28] Recently, cross handed
putting has become a popular trend amongst professional
golfers and amateurs. Cross handed putting is the idea

A marker stone indicating that this hole is a par-5 hole

strokes a skilled golfer should require to complete play

of the hole.[16] The minimum par of any hole is 3 because par always includes a stroke for the tee shot and

7.2

Basic forms of golf

two putts. Pars of 4 and 5 strokes are ubiquitous on golf

courses; more rarely, a few courses feature par-6 and even
par-7 holes. Strokes other than the tee shot and putts are
expected to be made from the fairway; for example, a
skilled golfer expects to reach the green on a par-4 hole
in two strokesone from the tee (the drive) and another, second, stroke to the green (the approach)and
then roll the ball into the hole in two putts for par. Putting
the ball on the green with two strokes remaining for putts
is called making green in regulation or GIR.[32] Missing a GIR does not necessarily mean a golfer won't make
par, but it does make doing so more dicult as it reduces
the number of putts available; conversely, making a GIR
does not guarantee a par, as the player might require three
or more putts to hole out. Professional golfers typically
make between 60% and 70% of greens in regulation.[33]

7
may dier from the course par), and the Slope Rating,
which is a measure of how much worse a bogey golfer
(with an 18 handicap) would be expected to play than a
scratch golfer. These two numbers are available for any
USGA-sanctioned course, and are used in a weighted system to calculate handicaps (see below).

7.1.1 Scoring

The goal is to play as few strokes per round as possible.

A golfers score is usually expressed as the dierence between the players number of strokes and the par score.
A hole in one (or an ace) occurs when a golfer sinks his
ball into the cup with his rst stroke from the tee. ComThe primary factor for classifying the par of a relatively mon scores for a hole also have specic terms.[16]
straight, hazard-free hole is the distance from the tee to In a typical professional tournament or among scratch
the green. A typical par-3 hole is less than 250 yards (225 amateur players, birdie-bogey play is common; a player
m) in length, with a par-4 hole ranging between 251 and will lose a stroke by bogeying a hole, then gain one
475 yards (225434 m), and a par-5 hole being longer by scoring a birdie. Eagles are uncommon but not rare;
than 475 yards (435 m). The rare par-6s can stretch well however, only 18 players have scored an albatross in a
over 650 yards (590 m). These distances are based on mens major championship.
the typical scratch golfers drive distance of between 240
and 280 yards (220 and 260 m); a green further than the
average players drive will require additional shots from
the fairway. However, other considerations must be taken
7.2 Basic forms of golf
into account; the key question is how many strokes would
a scratch golfer take to make the green by playing along
the fairway?". The grade of the land from the tee to There are two basic forms of golf play, match play and
the hole might increase or decrease the carry and rolling stroke play. Stroke play is more popular.
distance of shots as measured linearly along the ground.
Sharp turns or hazards may require golfers to lay up
on the fairway in order to change direction or hit over
the hazard with their next shot. These design considera- 7.2.1 Match play
tions will aect how even a scratch golfer would play the
hole, irrespective of total distance from tee to green, and Two players (or two teams) play each hole as a sepamust be included in a determination of par.[34] However, rate contest against each other in what is called match
a par score never includes expected penalty strokes, as play. The party with the lower score wins that hole, or
a scratch player is never expected to hit a ball into a if the scores of both players or teams are equal the hole is
water hazard or other unplayable situation. So, the place- halved (or tied). The game is won by the party that wins
ment of hazards only aect par when considering how a more holes than the other. In the case that one team or
scratch golfer would avoid them.
player has taken a lead that cannot be overcome in the
Eighteen-hole courses typically total to an overall par number of holes remaining to be played, the match is
score of 72 for a complete round; this is based on an av- deemed to be won by the party in the lead, and the reerage par of 4 for every hole, and so is often arrived at mainder of the holes are not played. For example, if one
by designing a course with an equal number of par-5 and party already has a lead of six holes, and only ve holes
par-3 holes, the rest being par-4. Many combinations ex- remain to be played on the course, the match is over and
ist that total to par-72, and other course pars exist from the winning party is deemed to have won 6 & 5. At
68 up to 76, and are not less worthy than courses of par- any given point, if the lead is equal to the number of
72. Additionally, in some countries including the United holes remaining, the party leading the match is said to
States, courses are classied according to their play dif- be dormie, and the match is continued until the party
culty, which may be used to calculate a golfers playing increases the lead by one hole or ties any of the remaining holes, thereby winning the match, or until the match
handicap for a given course.[35]
ends in a tie with the lead players opponent winning all
The two primary diculty ratings in the U.S. are the remaining holes. When the game is tied after the predeCourse Rating, which is eectively the expected score for termined number of holes have been played, it may be
a zero-handicap scratch golfer playing the course (and continued until one side takes a one-hole lead.[16]

8
7.2.2

7 SCORING AND HANDICAPPING

Stroke play

The score achieved for each and every hole of the round
or tournament is added to produce the total score, and the
player with the lowest score wins in stroke play. Stroke
play is the game most commonly played by professional
golfers. If there is a tie after the regulation number of
holes in a professional tournament, a playo takes place
between all tied players. Playos either are sudden death
or employ a pre-determined number of holes, anywhere
from three to a full 18. In sudden death, a player who
scores lower on a hole than all of his opponents wins the
match. If at least two players remain tied after such a
playo using a pre-determined number of holes, then play
continues in sudden death format, where the rst player
to win a hole wins the tournament.

7.3

Other forms of play

7.3.3 9-Points
A nine-point game is another variant of match play typically played among threesomes, where each hole is worth
a total of nine points. The player with the lowest score on
a hole receives ve points, the next-lowest score 3 and the
next-lowest score 1. Ties are generally resolved by summing the points contested and dividing them among the
tying players; a two-way tie for rst is worth four points to
both players, a two-way tie for second is worth two points
to both players, and a three-way tie is worth three points
to each player. The player with the highest score after 18
holes (in which there are 162 points to be awarded) wins
the game. This format can be used to wager on the game
systematically; players each contribute the same amount
of money to the pot, and a dollar value is assigned to each
point scored (or each point after 18) based on the amount
of money in the pot, with any overage going to the overall
winner.[36][37]

The other forms of play in the game of golf are Bogey 7.3.4 Stableford
competition, Skins, 9-points, Stableford, team play, and
The Stableford system is a simplication of stroke play
Unocial team variations.
that awards players points based on their score relative to
the holes par; the score for a hole is calculated by taking the par score, adding 2, then subtracting the players
7.3.1 Bogey competition
hole score, making the result zero if negative. Alternately
stated, a double bogey or worse is zero points, a bogey is
A bogey competition is a scoring format sometimes seen
worth one point, par is two, a birdie three, an eagle four,
in at informal tournaments. Its scoring is similar to match
and so on. The advantages of this system over stroke play
play, except each player compares their hole score to the
are a more natural higher is better scoring, the ability to
holes par rating instead of the score of another player.
compare Stableford scores between plays on courses with
The player wins the hole if they score a birdie or better,
dierent total par scores (scoring an even in stroke play
they lose the hole if they score a bogey or worse, and
will always give a Stableford score of 36), discouraging
they halve the hole by scoring par. By recording only
the tendency to abandon the entire game after playing a
this simple win-loss-halve score on the sheet, a player can
particularly bad hole (a novice playing by strict rules may
shrug o a very poorly-played hole with a simple "-" mark
score as high as an 8 or 10 on a single dicult hole; their
and move on. As used in competitions, the player or pair
Stableford score for the hole would be zero, which puts
with the best win-loss dierential wins the competition.
them only two points behind par no matter how badly they
played), and the ability to simply pick up ones ball once
it is impossible to score any points for the hole, which
7.3.2 Skins
speeds play.
A skins game is a variation on match play where each hole
has an amount of money (the skin) attached. This may
be prize money at the professional level (the most famous
event to use these rules was the "LG Skins Game", played
at Indian Wells Golf Resort in California until 2008), or
an amount wagered for each hole among amateur players. The player with the lowest score on the hole wins
the skin for that hole; if two or more players tie for the
lowest score, the skin carries over to the next hole. This
continues until a player wins a hole outright, which may
(and often does) result in a player receiving money for a
previous hole that they hadn't tied for. If players tie the
18th hole, either all players or only the tying players repeat the 18th hole until an outright winner is decided for
that hole (and all undecided skins).

The USGA and R&A sanction a Modied Stableford

system for scratch players, which makes par worth zero, a
birdie worth 2, eagle 5 and double-eagle 8, while a bogey
is a penalty of 1 and a double-bogey or worse 3. As
with the original system, the highest score wins the game,
and terrible scores on one or two holes won't wreck an
entire game, but this system rewards bogey-birdie play
more than the original, encouraging golfers to try to make
the riskier birdie putt or eagle chipshot instead of simply
parring each hole.[16]
7.3.5 Team play
Foursome: dened in Rule 29, this is played between two teams of two players each, in which each

7.4

Handicap systems

9
Greensome (also known as Scotch Foursomes):
also called modied alternate shot, this is played in
pairs; both players tee o, and then pick the best
shot as in a scramble. The player who did not shoot
the best rst shot plays the second shot. The play
then alternates as in a foursome.[42] A variant of
greensome is sometimes played where the opposing
team chooses which of their opponents tee shots the
opponents should use. The player who did not shoot
the chosen rst shot plays the second shot. Play then
continues as a greensome.

Junn Golf Club, in Junn, Argentina

team has only one ball and players alternate playing

it. For example, if players A and B form a team,
A tees o on the rst hole, B will play the second shot, A the third, and so on until the hole is
nished. On the second hole, B will tee o (regardless who played the last putt on the rst hole),
then A plays the second shot, and so on. Foursomes can be played as match play or stroke play.[38]
Fourball: dened in Rules 30 and 31, this is also
played between two teams of two players each, but
every player plays their own ball and for each team,
the lower score on each hole counts. Fourballs can
be played as match play or stroke play.[39]

Unocial team variations

Scramble: also known as ambrose or best-shot;
each player in a team tees o on each hole, and the
players decide which shot was best. Every player
then plays their second shot from within a clublength
of where the best shot has come to rest (and no closer
to the hole), and the procedure is repeated until the
hole is nished. This system is very common at informal tournaments such as for charity, as it speeds
play (due to the reduced number of shots taken from
bad lies), allows teams of varying sizes, and allows
players of widely varying skill levels to participate
without a profoundly negative impact on team score.
Champagne scramble: a combination of a scramble and best-ball, only the rst shot of each hole is
a scramble; all players tee o, decide on the best
tee shot, then each player plays their own ball starting at that point until they hole out, without deciding
any further best shots. The best score amongst the
teams players is counted.[40]

Wolf (also known as Ship, Captain & Crew, Captain, Pig): a version of match play; with a foursome
an order of play for each player is established for
the duration of the round. The rst player hits a ball
from the tee, then waits for each successive player
to hit (2nd, 3rd and 4th). After each player hits the
1st player has the option of choosing a partner for
the hole (the 1st player is the Wolf for that hole)
usually by calling Wolf before the next player hits.
Once a partner is picked, each two-some (the Wolf
and his or her partner vs the remaining two players) scores their total strokes and the winning twosome is awarded 1-point each for winning a hole and
zero points for tying. The next hole, the rotation
moves forward (e.g. the 2nd player is now hitting
1st and the Wolf and the previous Wolf hits last).
A Wolf can decide to go alone to win extra points,
but they must beat all other players in stroke play
on that hole. If alone, the Wolf is awarded 2-points
for going alone after everyone has hit or 4 points
for declaring Lone Wolf before anyone else hits. If
the Lone Wolf loses, to even one player, the 3 other
players get 1-point each. The winner is the player
with the most points at the end of the round. Strategically, care must be taken not to let a low-handicap
player run away with all the points by being constantly paired with the Wolf.[43],[44]
Shotgun starts are mainly used for amateur tournament
play. In this variant, each of the groups playing starts
their game on a dierent hole, allowing for all players to
start and end their round at roughly the same time. All 18
holes are still played, but a player or foursome may, for
instance, start on hole 5, play through to the 18th hole,
then continue with hole 1 and end on hole 4. This speeds
the completion of the entire event as players are not kept
waiting for progressive tee times at the rst hole. This
form of play, as a minor variation to stroke or match play,
is neither dened nor disallowed by strict rules and so is
used according to local rules for an event.

Better ball or best-ball: like fourball, each player 7.4 Handicap systems
plays the hole as normal, but the lowest score of all
the players on the team counts as the teams score Main article: Handicap (golf)
for the hole.[41]

10
A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfers
ability to play golf over the course of 18 holes. A
players handicap generally represents the number of
strokes above par that the player will make over the course
of an above-average round of golf. The better the player
the lower their handicap is. Someone with a handicap of 0
or less is often called a scratch golfer, and would typically
score or beat the course par on a round of play (depending
on course diculty).
Calculating a handicap is often complicated, the general
reason being that golf courses are not uniformly challenging from course to course or between skill levels. A player
scoring even par on Course A might average four over
par on course B, while a player averaging 20 over par on
course A might average only 16 over on course B. So,
to the scratch golfer, Course B is more dicult, but to
the bogey golfer, Course A is more dicult. The reasons for this are inherent in the types of challenges presented by the same course to both golfers. Distance is
often a problem for amateur bogey golfers with slower
swing speeds, who get less distance with each club, and
so typically require more shots to get to the green, raising
their score compared to a scratch golfer with a stronger
swing. However, courses are often designed with hazard
placement to mitigate this advantage, forcing the scratch
player to lay up to avoid bunkers or water, while the
bogey golfer is more or less unaected as the hazard lies
out of their range. Finally, terrain features and fairway
maintenance can aect golfers of all skill levels; narrowing the fairway by adding obstacles or widening the rough
on each side will typically increase the percentage of shots
made from disadvantageous lies, increasing the challenge
for all players.

POPULARITY

the course to be played, divided by the average Slope Rating of 113, then rounded to the nearest integer to produce
the players Course Handicap.
Once calculated, the Course Handicap is applied in stroke
play by simply reducing the players gross score by the
handicap, to produce a net score. So, a gross score of 96
with a handicap of 22 would produce a net score of 74.
In match play, the lower handicap is subtracted from the
higher handicap, and the resulting handicap strokes are
awarded to the higher handicapper by distributing them
among the holes according to each holes diculty; holes
are ranked on the scorecard from 1 to 18 (or however
many holes are available), and one stroke is applied to
each hole from the most dicult to the least dicult. So,
if one player has a 9 handicap and another has a 25 handicap, the 25-handicap player receives one handicap stroke
on each of the most dicult 16 holes (25-9). If the 25handicapper were playing against a scratch golfer (zero
handicap), all 25 strokes would be distributed, rst by applying one stroke to each hole, then applying the remaining strokes, one each, to the most dicult 7 holes; so, the
handicap player would subtract 2 strokes from each of the
most dicult 7 holes, and 1 each from the remaining 11.

Handicap systems have potential for abuse by players who

may intentionally play badly to increase their handicap
(throwing their 'cap) before playing to their potential at
an important event with a valuable prize. For this reason, professional golf associations do not use them, but
they can be calculated and used along with other criteria
to determine the relative strengths of various professional
players. Touring professionals, being the best of the best,
often have negative handicaps; they can be expected, on
average, to score lower than the Course Rating on any
By USGA rules, handicap calculation rst requires cal- course.
culating a Handicap Dierential for each round of play
the player has completed by strict rules. That in itself is
a function of the players gross adjusted score (adjust- 8 Popularity
ments can be made to mitigate various deviations either
from strict rules or from a players normal capabilities,
for handicap purposes only) and two course-specic difculty ratings: the Course Rating, a calculated expected
score for a hypothetical scratch golfer": and the Slope
Rating, a number based on how much worse a hypothetical 20-handicap bogey golfer would score compared
to the scratch golfer. The average Slope Rating of all
USGA-rated courses as of 2012 is 113, which also factors
into the Dierential computation.
The most recent Dierentials are logged, up to 20 of
them, and then the best of these (the number used depends on the number available) are selected, averaged,
multiplied by .96 (an excellence factor that reduces the
handicap of higher-scoring players, encouraging them to
play better and thus lower their handicap), and truncated
to the tenths place to produce the Handicap Index. Additional calculations can be used to place higher signicance on a players recent tournament scores. A players
Handicap Index is then multiplied by the Slope Rating of

Part of a golf course in western India

In 2005 Golf Digest calculated that the countries with

most golf courses per capita, in order, were: Scotland,
New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Canada, Wales, United
States, Sweden, and England (countries with fewer than
500,000 people were excluded).
The number of course in other territories increases, an

9.1

Instruction

11
U.S. Open to champion Arnold Palmer, with a 72-hole
score of 282 (the best score to date in that tournament by
an amateur). He played one more amateur year in 1961,
winning that years U.S. Amateur Championship, before
turning pro in 1962.

9.1 Instruction

An aerial view of a golf course in Italy

example of this being the expansion of golf in China. The

rst golf course in China opened in 1984, but by the end
of 2009 there were roughly 600 in the country. For much
of the 21st century, development of new golf courses in
China has been ocially banned (with the exception of
the island province of Hainan), but the number of courses
had nonetheless tripled from 2004 to 2009; the ban has
been evaded with the governments tacit approval simply
by not mentioning golf in any development plans.[45]
In the United States, the number of people who play golf
twenty-ve times or more per year decreased from 6.9
million in 2000 to 4.6 million in 2005,[46] according to
the National Golf Foundation. The NGF reported that
the number who played golf at all decreased from 30 to
26 million over the same period.[46]

8.1

Golf courses worldwide

Number of golf courses by country in 2008[47]

Indoor putting green for practice and instruction

Main article: Golf instruction

Professional golf

Main article: Professional golfer

Golf instruction involves the teaching and learning of the

game of golf. Prociency in teaching golf instruction
requires not only technical and physical ability but also
knowledge of the rules and etiquette of the game. In some
countries, golf instruction is best performed by teachers
certied by the Professional Golfers Association. Some
top instructors who work with professional golfers have
become quite well known in their own right. Professional
golf instructors can use physical conditioning, mental visualization, classroom sessions, club tting, driving range
instruction, on-course play under real conditions, and review of videotaped swings in slow motion to teach golf to
prepare the golfer for the course.

The majority of professional golfers work as club or

teaching professionals (pros), and only compete in local competitions. A small elite of professional golfers
are tournament pros who compete full-time on international tours. Many club and teaching professionals working in the golf industry start as caddies or with
a general interest in the game, nding employment at
golf courses and eventually moving on to certications
in their chosen profession. These programs include independent institutions and universities, and those that eventually lead to a Class A golf professional certication.
Touring professionals typically start as amateur players, 9.2 Golf tours
who attain their pro status after success in major tournaments that win them either prize money and/or notice Main article: Professional golf tours
from corporate sponsors. Jack Nicklaus, for example,
gained widespread notice by nishing second in the 1960 There are at least twenty professional golf tours, each run

12
by a PGA or an independent tour organization, which
is responsible for arranging events, nding sponsors, and
regulating the tour. Typically a tour has members who
are entitled to compete in most of its events, and also invites non-members to compete in some of them. Gaining
membership of an elite tour is highly competitive, and
most professional golfers never achieve it.

9 PROFESSIONAL GOLF
pansion in 2009 that saw eleven new tours become full
members the Canadian Tour, Tour de las Amricas,
China Golf Association, the Korea Professional Golfers
Association, Professional Golf Tour of India, and the operators of all six major womens tours worldwide. The
OneAsia Tour, founded in 2009, is not a member of the
Federation, but was founded as a joint venture of the Australasia, China, Japan, and Korean tours. In 2011, the
Tour de las Amricas was eectively taken over by the
PGA Tour, and in 2012 was folded into the new PGA
Tour Latinoamrica. Also in 2012, the Canadian Tour
was renamed PGA Tour Canada after it agreed to be
taken over by the PGA Tour. All mens tours that are
Federation members, except the India tour, oer points
in the Ocial World Golf Ranking (OWGR) to players
who place suciently high in their events. The OneAsia
Tour also oers ranking points.
Golf is unique in having lucrative competition for older
players. There are several senior tours for men aged fty
and over, arguably the best known of which is the U.S.based PGA Tour Champions.

Gary Player is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in

the history of golf.

There are six principal tours for women, each based in

a dierent country or continent. The most prestigious of
these is the United States-based LPGA Tour. All of the
principal tours oer points in the Womens World Golf
Rankings for high nishers in their events.
All of the leading professional tours for under-50 players
have an ocial developmental tour, in which the leading
players at the end of the season will earn a tour card on
the main tour for the following season. Examples include
the Web.com Tour, which feeds to the PGA Tour, and
the Challenge Tour, which is the developmental tour of
the European Tour. The Web.com and Challenge Tours
also oer OWGR points.

Perhaps the most widely known tour is the PGA Tour,

which tends to attract the strongest elds, outside the four
Majors and the four World Golf Championships events.
This is due mostly to the fact that most PGA Tour events
have a rst prize of at least 800,000 USD. The European
Tour, which attracts a substantial number of top golfers
from outside North America, ranks second to the PGA
Tour in worldwide prestige. Some top professionals from
outside North America play enough tournaments to main- 9.3
tain membership on both the PGA Tour and European
Tour. Since 2010, both tours money titles have been
claimed by the same individual three times, with Luke
Donald doing so in 2011 and Rory McIlroy in 2012 and
2014. In 2013, Henrik Stenson won the FedEx Cup
points race on the PGA Tour and the European Tour
money title, but did not top the PGA Tour money list (that
honour going to Tiger Woods).
The other leading mens tours include the Japan Golf
Tour, the Asian Tour (Asia outside Japan), the PGA
Tour of Australasia, and the Sunshine Tour (for southern
Africa, primarily South Africa). The Japan, Australasian,
Sunshine, PGA, and European Tours are the charter
members of the trade body of the worlds main tours,
the International Federation of PGA Tours, founded in
1996. The Asian Tour became a full member in 1999.
The Canadian Tour became an associate member of the
Federation in 2000, and the Tour de las Amricas (Latin
America) became an associate member of the Federation in 2007. The Federation underwent a major ex-

Mens major championships

Lee Westwood pictured making a bunker shot at the 2008 Open

Main article: Mens major golf championships

The major championships are the four most prestigious
mens tournaments of the year. In chronological order

9.5

Senior major championships

13

they are: The Masters, the U.S. Open, The Open Cham- by several other names, most recently the Kraft Nabisco
pionship (referred to in North America as the British Championship), the Womens PGA Championship (preOpen) and the PGA Championship.[48]
viously known as the LPGA Championship),[54] the U.S.
The elds for these events include the top several dozen Womens Open, the Womens British Open (which regolfers from all over the world. The Masters has been placed the du Maurier Classic as a major in 2001) and
played at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Geor- The Evian Championship (added as the fth major in
gia, since its inception in 1934. It is the only major 2013). Only the last two are also recognised as majors
championship that is played at the same course each by the Ladies European Tour. However, the signicance
of this is limited, as the LPGA is far more dominant in
year.[49] The U.S. Open and PGA Championship are
played at courses around the United States, while the womens golf than the PGA Tour is in mainstream mens
golf. For example, the BBC has been known to use the
Open Championship is played at courses around the
U.S. denition of womens majors without qualifying
[50][51][52]
United Kingdom.
it. Also, the Ladies Golf Union, the governing body for
Prior to the advent of the PGA Championship and The womens golf in Great Britain and Ireland, stated on its
Masters, the four Majors were the U.S. Open, the U.S. ocial website that the Womens British Open was the
Amateur, the Open Championship, and the British Am- only Womens Major to be played outside the U.S.[55]
ateur.
(this was before the elevation of The Evian Championship to major status). For many years, the Ladies European Tour tacitly acknowledged the dominance of the
9.4 Womens major championships
LPGA Tour by not scheduling any of its own events to
conict with the three LPGA majors played in the U.S.,
but that changed beginning in 2008, when the LET scheduled an event opposite the LPGA Championship. The
second-richest womens tour, the LPGA of Japan Tour,
does not recognise any of the U.S. LPGA or European
majors as it has its own set of majors (historically three,
since 2008 four). However, these events attract little notice outside Japan.

9.5 Senior major championships

Main article: Senior major golf championships
Senior (aged fty and over) mens golf does not have a
globally agreed set of majors. The list of senior majors on
the U.S.-based PGA Tour Champions has changed over
the years, but always by expansion. PGA Tour Champions now recognises ve majors: the Senior PGA Championship, The Tradition, the Senior Players Championship,
the United States Senior Open, and The Senior (British)
Open Championship.
Of the ve events, the Senior PGA is by far the oldest,
having been founded in 1937. The other events all date
from the 1980s, when senior golf became a commercial
Lorena Ochoa, a retired number one female golfer, pictured here success as the rst golf stars of the television era, such as
Arnold Palmer and Gary Player, reached the relevant age.
in 2007
The Senior British Open was not recognised as a major
Main article: Womens major golf championships
by PGA Tour Champions until 2003. The European Seniors Tour recognises only the Senior PGA and the two
Womens golf does not have a globally agreed set of Senior Opens as majors. However, PGA Tour Champimajors. The list of majors recognised by the domi- ons is arguably more dominant in global senior golf than
nant womens tour, the LPGA Tour in the U.S., has the U.S. LPGA is in global womens golf.
changed several times over the years, with the most re- Golf back in the Olympic
cent changes occurring in 2001 and 2013. Like the PGA
Tour, the (U.S.) LPGA[53] tour long had four majors, but Main article: Golf returns to the 2016 Olympics
now has ve: the ANA Inspiration (previously known For the rst time since 1904, golf is considered an

14

12

Olympic sport. After a 112-year absence from the

Olympics games, golf made its comeback for the 2016
Rio Games. Within the last century golf has gone global,
and grown tremendously.[56] With the popularity of golf
and the participants around the world, golf being an
Olympic sport couldn't come sooner. This year in Rio,
golf will have forty-one dierent countries being represented and 120 athletes.[57] With golf being reintroduced
to the Olympics, the sports popularity will expand. The
sport itself has been on a steady climb for a century. Although golf makes its return to the games, some of golfs
top athletes were not in attendances due to Zika virus concerns.

10

International events

Golf at the Asian Games

Golf at the Pan American Games
Golf at the Summer Olympics
Golf at the Summer Universiade
Ryder Cup
Presidents Cup
Solheim Cup
International Crown
Seve Trophy
EurAsia Cup
Walker Cup
Curtis Cup

11

See also

Outline of golf
Lists of golfers
List of golf courses in the United Kingdom
Professional Golfers Association of America
Variations of golf

12

References

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[5] Golf
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Kaleidoscope.cultural-china.com.
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culture.
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[8] Andrew Leibs (2004). Sports and Games of the Renaissance. p. 69. Greenwood Publishing Group
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[10] Forrest L. Richardson (2002). Routing the Golf Course:
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[12] Recognition for the worlds oldest links, at last. PGA
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15

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[42] Kelley, Brent. Denition of Greensome. About.com.
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[43] Rules to the game of Wolf. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
[44] Rodriguez, Chi Chi (2002). Chi Chis Golf Games You
Gotta Play. Human Kenetics. ISBN 9780736046312.
Retrieved 2013-07-29.
[45] Washburn, Dan (6 November 2009). Olympics makes
China major player. ESPN. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
[46] Paul Vitello (21 February 2008). More Americans Are
Giving up Golf. The New York Times. The New York
Times Company. Retrieved 7 July 2008.

13 External links
The R&A, St Andrews
USGA: United States Golf Association
Golf Australia, national governing body of Australia
International Golf Federation (IGF)

16

14

14
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TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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Secretmonkey, Awsomechild, TannerBBachelor, Theenatedog, Carrieo80, BenzolBot, Eric12346789, Drew R. Smith, Polynomial123,
Lapenrose123, Bakerman4, Jonatvman, Aseagrass, Krish Dulal, Tomville219, Mattyml03, Pu483, Mjr2009, Bhenly514, True5454,
Pehrn, Snit607, Pinethicket, Lil rizz, Spraypoo, Vicenarian, Dan92p, User name two, Logan two face, Holywhatsamacallit, Bootjohn,
Tra, LinDrug, Pooey123, Pelmeen10, Ronanismylover, Gorro258, Jijosh, Calmer Waters, Hamtechperson, Odyssey xg, Andysprariee, A8UDI, Actarus Prince d'Euphor, SpaceFlight89, Theuberlol, Theuberlol2, Noisalt, Pnb40, Meaghan, RandomStringOfCharacters, Manolo458, Angellyjello, Hung3rd, Pdrleme, Nacos, BoredOfMath, Horst-schlaemma, Korakmitra, Nbb21, Bwargo19, Abc518,
DavidDeas, FoxBot, Jackass242424, Flashgash, MusicBokonon, Mrs.Barbera, Espn9876, CallawayRox, AHeneen, BlackAce48, Pinkz
0x, Arc18, Sllim11, Tofutwitch11, MarcowyGnom, Valadar9000, Loveya1432, Ashot Gabrielyan, Splatzy, Superduck763, MaxEspinho,
Fastilysock, Suusion of Yellow, Stroppolo, Parkmd, Reach Out to the Truth, Mervn, Hornlitz, Oilerfan11, Whisky drinker, Timmy3000,
Jack murphy2, Mean as custard, The Utahraptor, 22bocajca, Bento00, Dalevolk, Delftrav10, Holdtimo10, Cman1147, Weh0068, Bobthebuilder0173549, Shoehornian, Caddyspace, Salvio giuliano, Coloradansky, EmausBot, Orphan Wiki, Sdefdsfhj, WikitanvirBot, Eekerz, Gfoley4, Jey21, Ajraddatz, Reliableuser5676, Alibarbour, Diicbtv2otwtdod23, Katrinasvenson, Cprolo, Kpgolfpro, RenamedUser01302013, Wikipelli, Dcirovic, Fbdfgvhbvjkbfg, Gileshutch, Pepsi4rlife, Xfactor29290, Bob0808, Honza.cervenka, Fordgri, Kyz3,
Prof.smith10101, H3llBot, Mgsbaldwin, Besc1, SCHLEGEBAGLE, Kwik kat, Coasterlover1994, I'mawesome seriously, Dl45, Donner60,
Parekhs, Mcfuckin, Portobellow11, TBM10, Dougal Crismond, ClueBot NG, GoetheFromm, This lousy T-shirt, Miguelperezsubias, Joefromrandb, Spartak2020, PRPLwiki2, Cntras, Dingowasher, Marechal Ney, Yarikata, Widr, Anupmehra, Helpful Pixie Bot, Gav317,
Billeg, IMC&OT, Lowercase sigmabot, Hallows AG, John.1982vent, Supernerd11, Rtuomenoksa, Kds57, Maineiac2569, Waddle15, Qwertyhgbreweq, Waynerooneyhater, Bbgnetwork, YGBaseball, PZGolf, KiwiRyan, Drwho626, Supaninjazombie123, Lilzander1, Neenorman, Snow Blizzard, Mejoribus, MYustin, Turtle2468, Okwekjosnvijsvnvjoaslniasvava, , Leewestwood7, IHavntDecided, Glacialfox, Immadeedee, Williamddrummond, Heartbite, Jjjliu, Wyatt th3 one ninja, Joeistheman, Achowat, The Real Herobrine, Douchebag2u,
Joshy123, CookieDoughLover...*, EricEnfermero, BattyBot, NikaJiadze, ASDFASDF84, Suck-mi-tits, David.moreno72, MMEnterpri,
8967killer2090, Cyberbot II, Aliwal2012, 22dragon22burn, Dikaalnas, Dexbot, Mogism, Palacesblowlittle, TripWire, Corn cheese, Eyesnore, Ryenocerous, DavidLeighEllis, LilitAsatryan, Heditor6, NottNott, EtymAesthete, Carlos Rojas77, Monkbot, Mhalim123, ScttMcRmcK, Chrilo7, Sergio redondo, Mmthurm, Alain.estefanos1222, Cguer001, Andymii, Tsher2, Eman235, Krit1234, Dragoon12500,
Dickbuttjr, Golf, Mandapandathegreat, JSM2708, Elnacionalgolf, Peyton 62302, Philliesrule10, Theoneasianboy, Zachisasexybeast,
Calebcaleb23, MRD2014, KH-1, Crystallizedcarbon, RegistryKey, Drummermark, Gladamas, Wikipedian555, Sona.bulgadaryan, Jason.nlw, Maddryry1, Kcotter87, KasparBot, CAPTAIN RAJU, Sabisarangal, Bbabbitt1, CLCStudent, Henson214`, Wilsocam12, Seocoolguy08, Music1201, Rhdzxjtsr, Jaminstiefel, Igotfactzbro, Cheezman3, Peeeeee3j, Jbuckets, CurtDCollins2017, Maxs69er, Ken Lamastra,
Hje2ric, Liamdraper7, Wvont87, Bpphil01, Kenziewgolf, Sonterra1234, Michael160401, Cjmarty23, Club5280 and Anonymous: 3093

14.2

Images

File:2007_LPGA_Championship_-_Lorena_Ochoa_(1).jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/2007_

LPGA_Championship_-_Lorena_Ochoa_%281%29.jpg License: CC BY-SA 2.0 Contributors: originally posted to Flickr as 060607 687
Original artist: Keith Allison
File:All_Black.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/All_Black.jpg License: Public domain Contributors:
Own work Original artist: Lady 11390
File:ArnoldPalmerCoastGuard1953.jpg
Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/
ArnoldPalmerCoastGuard1953.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: U.S. Coast Guard historical photo (also see [1]). Direct
image URL [2] Original artist: U.S. Coast Guard
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
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File:Four_gentlemen_golfers_on_the_tee_of_a_golf_course_(5014828806).jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/8/83/Four_gentlemen_golfers_on_the_tee_of_a_golf_course_%285014828806%29.jpg License: CC0 Contributors: Four gentlemen golfers on the tee of a golf course Original artist: Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales from Wales/Cymru
File:Golf_ball.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Golf_ball.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors:
sxc.hu Original artist: Lotus Head from Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
File:Golf_ball_resting_near_fairway_wood.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Golf_ball_resting_
near_fairway_wood.jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Contributors: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wkulicki/4010582747/ Original artist: http:
//www.flickr.com/photos/wkulicki/4010582747/
File:Golf_course,_Italy_-_20070620.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Golf_course%2C_Italy_-_
20070620.jpg License: CC BY-SA 2.0 Contributors: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreapacelli/850947406/; uploaded by Tbmurray.
Original artist: Andrea Pacelli.

14.3

Content license

19

File:Golf_course_Golfplatz_Wittenbeck_Mecklenburg_Ostsee_Baltic_Sea_Germany.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/

wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Golf_course_Golfplatz_Wittenbeck_Mecklenburg_Ostsee_Baltic_Sea_Germany.jpg License: CC0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Beauwell
File:Golf_field.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Golf_field.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors:
2009-07-18-GolfField-17.JPG Original artist:
Toto-tarou
File:Golfer_swing.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Golfer_swing.jpg License: CC0 Contributors:
Personal Photo Original artist: Lilrizz
File:Golfveld.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Golfveld.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors:
Own work Original artist: Wouter Hagens
File:Grand_Cypress_New_Course_15th_hole.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Grand_Cypress_
New_Course_15th_hole.jpg License: GFDL Contributors: Own work Original artist: Bernard Gagnon
File:Indoor_Putting_Green.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Indoor_Putting_Green.JPG License:
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File:Junn_Golf_Club_20101031_001.jpg Source:
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Club_20101031_001.jpg License: CC0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Germanramos
File:Lady_golfer.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Lady_golfer.jpg License: CC BY 2.0 Contributors:
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/576513_3369817413321_1906061907_n.jpg Original artist: Amateur Player
File:Lee_Westwood_bunker.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Lee_Westwood_bunker.jpg License:
CC BY 2.0 Contributors: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26298797@N07/2682869967/ Original artist: SN#1 (Steven Newton)
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File:Portal-puzzle.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fd/Portal-puzzle.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ?
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File:The_MacDonald_boys_playing_golf.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/The_MacDonald_boys_
playing_golf.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: scanned from F Maclean, Highlanders, A History Of The Highland Clans, 1995
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File:The_Phoenician-Canyon.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/The_Phoenician-Canyon.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Bernard Gagnon
File:Wikibooks-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Wikibooks-logo.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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File:Wikinews-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Wikinews-logo.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: This is a cropped version of Image:Wikinews-logo-en.png. Original artist: Vectorized by Simon 01:05, 2 August 2006 (UTC)
Updated by Time3000 17 April 2007 to use ocial Wikinews colours and appear correctly on dark backgrounds. Originally uploaded by
Simon.
File:Wikiquote-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg License: Public domain
Contributors: Own work Original artist: Rei-artur
File:Wikisource-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: Rei-artur Original artist: Nicholas Moreau
File:Wikiversity-logo-Snorky.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Wikiversity-logo-en.svg License:
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created by Smurrayinchester

14.3

Content license

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