Golf Courses And How To Play The Game
By Anders Abadie
Golf courses contain a variety of elements that make them what
they are. This sounds logical but just what are these elements and how
do they relate to the game?
The game itself consists simply of a collection of holes or cups. The goal is to hit the ball down the fairway to the green and once on the green to putt the ball into the cup in the fewest number of strokes possible.A standard round consists of playing through 18-holes.
The holes of each course are numbered 1-18 and are played in that order. There are also, however, many smaller 9-hole courses but these are used generally for practice.
There are also standard layout elements incorporated into each and every hole and these are the teeing grounds, fairways, putting greens and the rough.
A full size, or regulation course, is typically 5,000 to 7,000 yards in length, which is the total distance you travel to play all 18-holes from the first tee to the last green.
Each course also has a "par" number attached to it. This "par" designation is the number of strokes that an expert player is expected to take to complete all 18 holes. For amateurs the goal is to try play a full 18-hole round and get as close as possible to this "par" number.
The starting point of the game is the teeing ground. This is where you initially "tee" up and hit the ball down the fairway towards the green.
The ball is placed on the top of a small device called a "tee" which lifts it off the ground. You then address the ball and hit it down the fairway towards the pin or cup, which is located on the green.
The fairway is the path from the holes teeing ground to the green. The grass on the fairway is usually mowed short and is maintained by the course's groundskeepers. Fairways typically incorporate natural obstacles such as trees and water that combine to make a golf course more challenging to play.
Each hole is also given a "par" designation depending on the complexity of the associated obstacles. There are also other obstacles on the fairway that are called roughs.
These areas present extra challenges to the golfer who tries to avoid them at all cost. Most roughs are not maintained at all or are minimally maintained to present the most challenging play possible.
The "rough" refers to those areas on the golf course outside the fairway and the green where the grass and surrounding land is, many times, left completely un-manicured.
Roughs may contain water or what is called a sand trap. Sand traps are shallow pits of various size filled with sand. If your ball lands in the "rough" or a sand trap you will find yourself at a disadvantage because to cleanly get out of one is extremely difficult.
Many courses also have roughs of varying severity depending on how far off the fairway you hit your ball.
The last area we will look at are the greens.
Greens have the shortest grass on a golf course because they are specifically designed for putting. Sometimes greens are level with the fairway and sometimes they aren't.
Greens also invariably include a pitches or rolls on the surface area to make it more difficult to make a straight shot into the hole.
The game itself consists simply of a collection of holes or cups. The goal is to hit the ball down the fairway to the green and once on the green to putt the ball into the cup in the fewest number of strokes possible.A standard round consists of playing through 18-holes.
The holes of each course are numbered 1-18 and are played in that order. There are also, however, many smaller 9-hole courses but these are used generally for practice.
There are also standard layout elements incorporated into each and every hole and these are the teeing grounds, fairways, putting greens and the rough.
A full size, or regulation course, is typically 5,000 to 7,000 yards in length, which is the total distance you travel to play all 18-holes from the first tee to the last green.
Each course also has a "par" number attached to it. This "par" designation is the number of strokes that an expert player is expected to take to complete all 18 holes. For amateurs the goal is to try play a full 18-hole round and get as close as possible to this "par" number.
The starting point of the game is the teeing ground. This is where you initially "tee" up and hit the ball down the fairway towards the green.
The ball is placed on the top of a small device called a "tee" which lifts it off the ground. You then address the ball and hit it down the fairway towards the pin or cup, which is located on the green.
The fairway is the path from the holes teeing ground to the green. The grass on the fairway is usually mowed short and is maintained by the course's groundskeepers. Fairways typically incorporate natural obstacles such as trees and water that combine to make a golf course more challenging to play.
Each hole is also given a "par" designation depending on the complexity of the associated obstacles. There are also other obstacles on the fairway that are called roughs.
These areas present extra challenges to the golfer who tries to avoid them at all cost. Most roughs are not maintained at all or are minimally maintained to present the most challenging play possible.
The "rough" refers to those areas on the golf course outside the fairway and the green where the grass and surrounding land is, many times, left completely un-manicured.
Roughs may contain water or what is called a sand trap. Sand traps are shallow pits of various size filled with sand. If your ball lands in the "rough" or a sand trap you will find yourself at a disadvantage because to cleanly get out of one is extremely difficult.
Many courses also have roughs of varying severity depending on how far off the fairway you hit your ball.
The last area we will look at are the greens.
Greens have the shortest grass on a golf course because they are specifically designed for putting. Sometimes greens are level with the fairway and sometimes they aren't.
Greens also invariably include a pitches or rolls on the surface area to make it more difficult to make a straight shot into the hole.
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