Online
Golf Beginner Guide
Golf is played in
almost every country in the world and has a huge
following. The major tournaments are followed avidly
by large crowds and millions more watch on
television; the finest players are feted and
applauded, and the ordinary golfer marvels at the
supreme skill that they show.
For all players
- amateur, professional, novice and holiday hacker -
the beauty of golf lies in the search for perfection
which is ultimately unattainable. Yet the Goddess of
Fortune gives brief glimpses of this Nirvana. All
golfers will have struck one perfect shot, long
etched in the memory, where the ball soars straight
towards the distant flag or bounces twice on the
green before running into the hole. At that moment
the veriest amateur is on level terms with Nick
Faldo or Severiano Ballesteros.
The other great
advantage that golf has over all other games is the
handicapping system which allows competitive matches
to be played between players of vastly differing
abilities, and for women to play on equal terms with
men. This is golf's greatest asset.
Golf has a long
history and the origins are lost in the past. No-one
will ever be able to say for certain where golf
started and who struck the first shot. The theories
of the origins of the game are many and the history
of golf is outlined briefly here. Later will cover a
number of the great courses in the world, the
tournaments and the great players. There can be
little argument over any list of the really great
players. People may quibble over a list of the very
good players, whom to put in and whom to leave out,
but the really great players have all won a number
of the world's major championships. Their
achievements speak for themselves.
Golf courses
are often situated in beautiful surroundings;
Augusta, Cypress Point, Portmarnock. But for many
golfers the finest are the links courses of Scotland
where golf began. There the grass is short and
springy, the rough unplayable and the sea winds
sweep in over the dunes. That is golf at its best.
Online Golf Beginner Guide
