Association: IGF
First Played: 1764
Team Members: 1
Equipment: Golf clubs and golf ball
Area: Outdoors
Olympics Played: Included in the Summer Olympics in 1900.
Description:
Golf is a game played with golf clubs and a small hard ball on a specially made course in nature. The aim of the game is to complete the 18 designated courses (holes) of the course by making the fewest strokes with the golf ball.
History:
There are many different views on the beginning of the game of golf. According to one view, the game called chuiwan, defined as a game played by hitting the ball with a stick while walking in China between 1368-1644 during the Ming Dynasty, is the main origin of golf. It is believed that chuiwan was later spread to Europe by merchants in the Middle Ages. Another view is that golf emerged as a modern game in the countries conquered by the Romans in Europe during the 1st century BC, as a result of the development of civilization. During the reign of Caesar, the Romans played a game similar to golf called paganica, played by hitting feather-filled balls with stick-shaped branches. Book illustrations show that the Dutch played a similar game on frozen canals around the 15th century. It was also common in France and Belgium. There were games similar to paganica in various European countries, such as cambuca in England, jeu de mail in France and het kolven in the Netherlands. In 1457, golf was banned in Scotland because it was confused with archery, which was very important in defense. Despite this, the Scots continued to play on the seaside, called links, close to the coastline, despite the opposition of Parliament and the Church. Scotland is the home of one of the oldest golf courses, St. Andrews, which was used in the early 16th century. Golf was fully established in the 17th century due to the interest of James IV in Scotland and James I in England in golf. In 1754, the Royal and Ancient Golf Courses were established in St. Andrews, the cradle of golf.
Course Dimensions:
Golf has developed rapidly in the world, especially in England and the USA. There are more than 25,000 golf courses and 35 million golfers in the USA. It is a very common sport in all European countries. The countries where golf is most common include England, the USA, Spain, Sweden, France and Italy. The most important golf tournaments in the world are known as the four major tournaments. The season opens with The Masters in April and ends with the PGA. These four majors are; • The Masters • U.S. Open • The Open • PGA Championship
