Informational Text : Golf 's History

Golf has changed a lot since it first started in 1297, where a leather ball was hit into a hole and the fewest strokes won. The golf clubs and balls have changed significantly and the number of options for clubs has increased as well. They have gone from wooden drivers to drivers made of complex blends of elements that make the ball fly higher and farther. Since the golf clubs and balls have all been improved, it’s a surprise that some of the rules haven’t been changed to make the game fairer.

It is unknown when the game of golf originated, but it is believed that people began playing in Europe during the middle ages. In the United States, golf was a sport primarily played by the wealthy individuals until tournaments began being televised. Since then, golf has grown to be a very lucrative industry with over 27 million golfers nationwide by the end of the 1990’s. “Competition in the Golf Equipment Industry,” a case study written by John E. Gamble of the University of South Alabama, is an overview of the problems currently facing major companies in the golf equipment industry: technological limitations (due to golf’s governing organizations), a decline in the number of golfers,

c. Two of the most ancient regions golf-like sports have been mentioned in are the Greeks and the Egyptians dating back to 2,600 B.C. Wall paintings were discovered showing people using sticks to hit balls on the ground, resembling golf clubs.

Imagine the sun bursting through the trees for the first time of the new day, the smell of freshly cut grass still potent to your nose as you tee the ball up for a round of golf in the cool mist of a spring morning. "That is what brings you back every time, the smell of the air, the coolness of the whether and the beautiful surroundings that make every shot enjoyable." (Suess, PI) This is the game of golf in its finest and most exquisite time to many people and many people it has touched in its long history. Golf is a lifestyle and not just games to people that are avid in playing. The game of golf has a history that is rich in technological advances and personal accomplishments, which through time has shown to shape

There is general agreement that the Scots were the earliest of golf addicts but who actually invented the game is open to debate. We know that golf has existed for at least 500 years because James II of Scotland, in an Act of Parliament dated March 6, 1457, had golf and football banned because these sports were interfering too much with archery practice sorely needed by the loyal defenders of the Scottish realm! It has been suggested that bored shepherds tending flocks of sheep near St. Andrews became adept at hitting rounded stones into rabbits holes with their wooden crooks. And so a legend that persists to this day was born!

The legendary beginnings of golf in the United States can be traced back to the mid-1600s. One of the first published

For hundreds of years, golf has been an extremely popular and growing sport all around the world. Looking where golf is now, it is growing rapidly from the young to the elder population. The first round of gold was first played in the 15th century off the coast of Scotland, but it did not start to be played until around 1755. The standard rules of golf were written by a group of Edinburgh golfers. Today, people of the US, Scotland, and England, have been drawn to the game because it is fun, challenging, and hardly any athletic ability at all is required for amateurs. In breaking down the game, geometry plays a major

To me, a very important question is, “How traditional can we keep the game of golf?” The game is evolving at every aspect. They are evolving the golf ball and making it better by making it fly longer in the air and landing softer on the greens. Along with the ball, the clubs are being made better and better making the ball go farther sometimes by even 50 yards. Each year, the irons are being made with better grooves which make the ball come off the club better and farther. While golf equipment is changing, the rules of golf are not. The rules of golf have been here since it’s existence. Another question that concerns me is, “Why can the equipment change in golf, but not the rules?”

The only thing more challenging than life itself is golf. Many of the traits that the American people pride themselves on displaying are prevalent in golf. One area, in which the true American attitude is seen, is in the progression of golf. The American people are extremely evolutionary. The American people are always building new equipment, a trait seen everyday in golf. Throughout American history, tradition has been important, thus golf equipment has changed but always retains it key qualities. Finding the easiest and most efficient way to do something is also a major theme in American history. Through the changes made to the types of metals used in golf clubs. Also the changes to the golf

Fourteen clubs - four wedges, six irons, a rescue, a three wood, a driver, and a putter - this is golf. It is one of the most mentally challenging sports in the world. It can fool beginners who are deceived by its simplicity. Golf is often underestimated by those who have never attempted to play the sport. While it has often been known as a “rich man’s” sport, in recent years this perception has begun to change. There are a number of other generalizations made when talking about golf, yet these are most always from those who have never experienced, played, or followed the game. One should question how a critic with no knowledge of the activity could state whether or not golf should be considered a sport. Golf is a sport, regardless of what any critic has to say. Studies and experimentation, along with the experience itself, reveal all of the athletic aspects that make golf better than most sports.

Irons are numbered from one all the way to ten (also known as the pitching wedge). The higher

In most cases, there is a flat green path between the hole and the player, but there has yet to be a golfer proficient enough to utilize that fairway every time, requiring the player to cope with the treacherous obstacles that lie in wait for every errant shot.

Golf clubs started as handcrafted clubs made of wood. They were simple, rudimentary designs. Once golf became popular and the technology advanced golf clubs were taken from a simple piece of wood to a highly engineered piece of equipment. Eventually their would be a set of standard set of clubs to have in a bag including a fairway wood, driver, irons, wedges, and putters. As with the rise of each of these clubs, a new club is designed to fill the gaps. Hybrid golf clubs originated out of a necessity for a club that could combine the forgiving nature of a fairway wood and the accuracy of an iron. First referenced as utility clubs, hybrids are a relatively new addition to a golfers bag. The design was crafted so a golfer could hit the ball

As anyone who has played a round of golf will attest to, the sport is based around many fundamental principals of physics. These basic laws are involved with every aspect of the game from how a player swings the club to how the ball moves through the air on its way toward the pin. It is the challenge that physics presents to the golfer that has allowed the game, and equipment used, to develop so drastically over the past one hundred years. The first golf balls used were called featheries. They were made with a horsehide cover packed with wet goose feathers. When the balls dried they became extremely hard. The major flaw with the featheries was that they could not be used when the conditions were wet because they

Since the age of four, when I was barely old enough to swing a putter, I have loved the game of golf. My dad, passing his love of the game down to me, would take me out every Sunday to Woods Edge Golf Course in Edgewood; he taught me the ins and outs and the dos and don’ts of the sport. One of the earliest memories I have of these trips to Woods Edge is being a mere couple of inches from driving the cart into a pond while dad was teeing off; this would definitely be considered a don’t in the world of golf. I received my first set of clubs for Christmas when I was eight and a year later, a pass to Pin Oak. Boy was I thrilled. I began to golf by myself and learn my own lessons through my experiences on the course. But as I grew as a golfer on my own, my dad was still there tweaking my swing in the back yard and taking trips to Edgewood with me. My dad is a big reason why I have a passion for the game of golf.