Golf

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, cannot and does not utilize a standardized playing area, and coping
with the varied terrains encountered on different courses is a key part of the game. The game at
the usual level is played on a course with an arranged progression of 18 holes, though
recreational courses can be smaller, often having nine holes. Each hole on the course must
contain a teeing ground to start from, and a putting green containing the actual hole or
cup 4+1⁄4 inches (11 cm) in diameter. There are other standard forms of terrain in between, such as
the fairway, rough (long grass), bunkers (or "sand traps"), and various hazards (water, rocks) but
each hole on a course is unique in its specific 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, but most especially at
the elite level.
The modern game of golf originated in 15th century Scotland. The 18-hole round was created at
the Old Course at St Andrews in 1764. Golf's first major, and the world's oldest tournament in
existence, is The Open Championship, also known as the British Open, which was first played in
1860 at the Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland. This is one of the four major
championships in men's professional golf, the other three being played in the United States: The
Masters, the U.S. Open, and the PGA Championship. Golf owes its fame in the British Isles to
the latitude-due natural vegetation exiguity.

Origin and history

While the modern game of golf originated in 15th-century Scotland, the game's 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 stuffed leather ball. One theory asserts that paganica spread throughout
Europe as the Romans conquered most of the continent, during the first century BC, and
eventually evolved into the modern game.[4]
Others cite chuiwan (捶丸; "chui" means striking and "wan" means small ball)[5] as the progenitor,
a Chinese game played between the eighth and fourteenth centuries.[6] A Ming Dynasty scroll by
the artist Youqiu 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.[5] The game is thought to have been introduced into Europe during the Middle
Ages.[7]
Another early game that resembled modern golf was known as cambuca in England and chambot
in France.[7] The Persian game chowkan is another possible ancient origin, albeit being more polo-
like. 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.
The modern game originated in Scotland, where the first written record of golf is James II's
banning of the game in 1457, as an unwelcome distraction to learning archery.[8] James IV lifted
the ban in 1502 when he became a golfer himself, with golf clubs first recorded in 1503–1504: "For
golf clubbes and balles to the King that he playit with".[9] To many golfers, the Old Course at St
Andrews, a links course dating to before 1574, is considered to be a site of pilgrimage.[10] In 1764,
the standard 18-hole golf course was created at St Andrews when members modified the course
from 22 to 18 holes.[11] Golf is documented as being played on Musselburgh Links, East Lothian,
Scotland as early as 2 March 1672, which is certified as the oldest golf course in the world
by Guinness World Records.
Play of the game
Every round of golf is based on playing a number of holes in a given order. A "round" typically
consists of 18 holes that are played in the order determined by the course layout. Each hole is
played once in the round on a standard course of 18 holes. The game can be played by any
number of people, although a typical group playing will have 1-4 people playing the round. The
typical amount of time required for pace of play for a 9-hole round is two hours and four hours for
an 18-hole round.

Equipment
Golf clubs are used to hit the golf ball. Each club is 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 distance. The actual physical length of
each club is longer or shorter, depending on the distance the club is intended to propel the
ball.
Golf clubs have traditionally been arranged into three basic types. Woods are large-headed,
long-shafted clubs meant to propel the ball a long distance from relatively "open" lies, such as
the teeing ground and fairway
20. Greg NormanThe star-crossed Norman is better remembered for his
spectacular failures than his successes, but we can't overlook his 20 career PGA Tour
wins and his 331 weeks spent as the world's No. 1 player in the Official World Golf
Rankings. A little better luck and a little more clutch play and he would have seven or
eight major wins instead of two (1986 and 1993 British Opens).

19. Rory McIlroyMcIlroy is a four-time major champion and is only a Green

Jacket away from holding a career Grand Slam. Yet there is a nagging suspicion that
the best may still be yet to come for the Northern Irishman, who has yet to return to the
giddy heights he scaled in 2014, when he won two majors. He's undoubtedly the player
on this list with the most upward mobility.

18. Vijay SinghHis career might be tainted on the front end by cheating allegations
and on the back end by association with performance-enhancing drugs, but it's hard to
deny Vijay a spot in the golf pantheon. He's won 34 times on the PGA Tour, including
two PGA Championships and a Masters win.

17. Billy CasperThe Big Three — Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player —
dominated the golf headlines in the 1960s, but the unassuming Casper was as good as
anybody in his era. Casper won 51 PGA Tour events, seventh all time, and earned
three majors, including the 1966 U.S. Open, where he denied Palmer a coveted win.

16. Ernie ElsWith four majors — two U.S. Opens and two British Opens — the Big
Easy is a legitimate challenger for the title of second-best player of the Tiger Woods
era. His smooth, easy swing is the envy of hackers from here to Johannesburg and has
led him to 19 PGA Tour victories.

15. Walter HagenThe flamboyant Hagen was the first ultra-successful touring pro
and raised the stature of the lowly pro golfer substantially in an era when amateurs like
Bobby Jones ruled the sport. Hagen won 11 professional majors — two U.S. Opens,
four British Opens and five PGAs — to set a record that would stand until the 1960s,
and he also won five Western Opens during a time when that tournament was
essentially a major.

14. Nick FaldoSir Nick dominated world golf for a time at the expense of chief rival
Greg Norman, whom he drubbed in a memorable British Open showdown in 1990 and
beat in the 1996 Masters following Norman's epic collapse. Faldo won six majors —
three Masters and three British Opens — and earned 30 wins on the European Tour
while providing a steadying influence on five Ryder Cup-winning teams.

13. Lee TrevinoThe Merry Mex got a lot out of an unorthodox, self-taught game,
winning 29 PGA Tour events and six majors. Four times, Trevino denied Nicklaus at a
major championship, adding to his legend as one of the few players who could stare
down the Golden Bear. Trevino also brought an unprecedented level of working-man
appeal and humor to the Tour, although, as he said, "I played the tour in 1967 and told
jokes and nobody laughed. Then I won the Open the next year, told the same jokes,
and everybody laughed like hell."

12. Byron NelsonFor a few months in 1945, Byron Nelson played better than
anyone ever has. That year, Lord Byron won 11 tournaments in a row, including the
PGA Championship. When you consider that Payne Stewart won 11 tournaments in his
career and is considered one of the all-time greats, you get a sense of the magnitude of
that accomplishment. More than one-fifth of Nelson’s 52 career wins came courtesy of
the Streak. And lest we dismiss the accomplishment on the basis of inferior
competition, remember that Sam Snead was nearing his prime and a young Ben Hogan
was making a name for himself. For one incredible spring and summer, Lord Byron
invented and patented The Zone. For the year, Nelson won a staggering 18 events and
was named AP Athlete of the Year. For his career, he was the game's greatest
gentleman.

11. Seve BallesterosMaybe we loved him because we could identify with him. We
were often hitting out of the woods, from bunkers, from parking lots, just like he was.
The difference? Seve Ballesteros would often make a birdie from the woods, or the
bunker, or the parking lot, and he’d do it with a style and grace that was impossible not
to admire and envy. Almost two decades before Tiger Woods, Ballesteros exploded
onto the scene as a precocious 19-year-old, finishing tied for second with the great
Jack Nicklaus at the 1976 British Open at Royal Birkdale. Having fashioned his game
by hitting rocks on the beaches of Pedrena, Spain, with a homemade 3-iron,
Ballesteros was ready to attack any lie, any condition, any circumstance, making him
ideally suited for the demanding conditions at Britain’s links courses.

10. Phil MickelsonTagged from the beginning as the Next Nicklaus, Mickelson has
always lived with massive expectations, some of them self-imposed, and Phil's failures
are almost as celebrated as his many successes. But there have been plenty of
successes — 45 PGA Tour wins (tied for eighth all time) and six majors, including three
Masters. His win at the 2021 PGA Championship — almost eight years after his last
one, at the 2013 British Open — was perhaps his most stunning, as he became the
oldest major winner in history at 50 years, 11 months, seven days, and the throng that
surrounded him on the 72nd hole spoke volumes of his undying popularity as his
generation's Arnold Palmer. He's also recorded a record six runner-up finishes in the
U.S. Open, but that only adds to his everyman appeal. His jaw-dropping 66 in the final
round of the 2013 British Open on baked, windswept Muirfield joins the ranks of the
greatest rounds in major championship history and vaulted Phil the Thrill into our top
10. As long as he continues to play the U.S. Open, hope remains alive for a career
Grand Slam, which would be a remarkable achievement for a guy who suffered through
countless crushing disappointments just to win his first major. But as he proved at
Kiawah, anything is possible where Phil is concerned.

9: Gene SarazenIt’s a shame, really, that Gene Sarazen is remembered primarily

for a single shot, when he meant so much more than that to the game. But what a shot
it was. It was his first Masters, 1935. He trailed Craig Wood by three shots on the final
day when he came to Augusta’s No. 15, a par-5 that is reachable in two shots. His tee
shot left him some 220 yards from the flag. The story goes that as he stood in the 15th
fairway, he turned to his caddie, Stovepipe, and said, “Should I play it safe?” “Noooo.
Go for it,” was Stovepipe’s response. Knowing he needed to get the ball in the air to
carry the small creek guarding the front of the green, Sarazen pulled out his 4-wood
and promptly made history, holing his shot for a double eagle that put him in a playoff
with Wood, which he won. And Bobby Jones’ little gathering in Augusta was never the
same.

8. Gary PlayerBefore Seve Ballesteros, before Greg Norman, before Ernie Els,
there was Gary Player, golf’s first great international ambassador. Before the diminutive
South African packed his wife and kids and a few suitcases and set out on his five-
decade international odyssey, golf was primarily dominated by British and American
players. Then along came the little man in black. Over a career than began in the mid-
1950s, Player has logged more air miles than the Space Shuttle, and he has saved
many of his greatest achievements for his trips to the States.

7. Tom WatsonWatson won eight majors and dominated golf’s oldest tournament,
the British Open, like no one else, winning five times in a nine-year span and coming
close to a historic sixth win in 2009 at age 59. Like Trevino, he won four memorable
duels with Jack Nicklaus in major championships, including the 1977 British Open, the
greatest head-to-head duel in golf history. Watson and Nicklaus so distanced
themselves from the rest of the field on that baked, windswept surface that Hubert
Green, who finished third, remarked, “I won the tournament I was playing. I don’t know
what tournament they were playing.” For the weekend, Nicklaus shot 65-66 — and lost.
Watson’s 65-65 gave him his second British Open title.

6. Bobby JonesIn the Golden Age of sports, nobody shone brighter than Bobby
Jones. Not Babe Ruth, not Red Grange, not Jack Dempsey. From 1923-30, a nation
that was truly embracing sports on an epic scale watched in awe as Jones won
everything in sight. Then, having no more worlds to conquer, he walked away from
competitive golf, at age 28. No sports legend accomplished more in a shorter period of
time, and no sports legend walked away at such a young age.A golf prodigy at age 14,
Jones really didn’t find his game until the ripe old age of 20, when he began his
remarkable run. He took the 1923 U.S. Open in an 18-hole playoff, then ripped off
another 12 majors before calling it a career. His record of 13 major championships
would stand for 40 years, before a

5. Ben HoganBrooding, temperamental, focused — Ben Hogan was not a

charismatic figure who rallied the masses to follow the game a la Arnold Palmer.
Instead, he was all about golf shots. The Hawk remains the greatest shotmaker golf
has ever produced. Rather than relying on today’s technologically advanced
equipment, Hogan used an uncanny ability to control the flight of his ball to win nine
majors — and a greater percentage of majors entered than even Jack Nicklaus. To
Hogan, “the Hawk,” “Bantam Ben,” who was 5’7”, 140 pounds when he was at the peak
of his game, striking a ball well was more important than scoring.Hogan’s life was one
struggle after another. The early years, when Hogan couldn’t control the hook. The later
years, when he battled back from a terrible 1949 auto crash that nearly killed him. But
he never gave in or gave out until suffering a major stroke after his mind and his body
had been ravaged by Alzheimer’s and colon cancer.

4. Arnold PalmerThere have been better players with prettier swings. But there has
never been a more important golfer than the King, Arnold Palmer. He quadrupled
purses, brought golf away from the country clubs and into our living rooms, and
assembled an Army of devoted followers. He won — and lost — with more flair than
any other athlete.From 1958 to 1968, Palmer reigned amid the azaleas and pines of
Augusta National, where Arnie’s Army first mustered. With the lone exception of 1963,
he was in contention at every Masters during that epic stretch, winning four times,
finishing second twice, third once and fourth twice.

3. Sam SneadIf winning is the standard for determining excellence, there is no

greater player in golf history than Sam Snead. Using a smooth, syrupy swing that
looked as natural and effortless as breathing, Slammin’ Sammy won more golf
tournaments than any other player — a staggering total of 82 PGA Tour titles, and
anywhere from 135 to 165 victories worldwide, depending on whom you ask. He posted
wins in four different decades, from the 1936 West Virginia Closed Pro to the 1965
Greater Greensboro Open (his eighth title in that event), when he was 52 years
old.Snead won three Masters, including a 1954 playoff triumph over friend and rival
Ben Hogan. He won three PGA Championships and a British Open.

2. Jack NicklausNicklaus brought out greatness in his opponents — Palmer,

Player, Watson, Trevino. But more importantly, he made golf a greater game through
his physical skill and strength, his mental toughness, his sustained level of excellence
and his genius for strategically dismantling golf courses around the world.You know the
litany of accomplishments. 18 major championships, more than Hogan and Palmer
combined. A mind-boggling 37 top twos in majors.And lest we think the Tour of the 21st
Century outshines the Tour in Jack’s prime, consider this: Nicklaus fought many of the
game’s greatest at their very peak and beat them all. And when he didn’t beat them, he
coaxed their very best out of them.

1. Tiger WoodsIn April 1997, Woods began a trajectory that led him directly to the
top of this list. He so dominated the most storied and tradition-steeped tournament in
golf that the sport was changed forever. We all remember the Masters-record 18-under
par total that Woods shot in his first Masters as a pro. We remember his incredible 12-
shot margin of victory. (Runner-up Tom Kite’s 282 total would have been good enough
to win 17 previous Masters, but it only got him within 12 shots of Tiger.) We remember
the way his mammoth drives turned the par-5s into pitch-and-putts. What many people
don’t remember about the 1997 Masters is how badly Tiger started the tournament. On
the front nine on Thursday, Woods went out in 40, leaving him 4-over par. That,
apparently, is when the stars aligned and the golf gods smiled. Over the next 63 holes,
Woods swept through Augusta National like a tornado, toying with the course and
demoralizing the greatest players in the world.

Rules and regulations

The rules of golf are internationally standardised and are jointly governed by The R&A, spun off in
2004 from The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (founded 1754), and the United States
Golf Association (USGA).[23][24] With the aim of simplifying the rules, in 2017 the USGA and R&A
undertook a complete rewrite.[25] The new rule book came into effect in January 2019.[26]

 A lost ball or a ball hit out of bounds (OB) results in a penalty of one stroke and
distance (Rule 18.2).
 With the exception of certain circumstances, a one-stroke penalty is assessed if a
player causes their ball to move (Rule 9.4).
 A one-stroke penalty is assessed if a player elects to take relief when their ball
comes to rest within a red or yellow penalty area (Rule 17), or from an unplayable lie
(Rule 19).
 A two-stroke penalty is incurred for making a stroke at the wrong ball (Rule 6.3c).
 A two-stroke penalty is incurred for hitting a fellow player's ball if both balls lay on
the green prior to the stroke (Rule 11.1a).
 Disqualification can result from cheating, signing for a lower score, or failing to
adhere to one or more rules that lead to improper play.[28]
 PROJECT
Theme : Sports

Worked By :
Keida Lila
Lorena Bala
Klevis Leka
Klevis Dupi