The Golf Course - A Golfers Arena

The golf course is more than a stretch of open land that has had 18 holes carved into it - it is an arena in which golfers compete with themselves, each other and ultimately the particular hole they are playing with the sole aim of attaining their lowest score - of improving their handicap. This competition involves a whole host of skills which golfers spend years developing aimed at giving them maximum control over each shot that they take so that they can accurately pinpoint where their golf ball will land, allowing them to avoid the obstacles which a golf course is littered with.

This fundamental point of golf is largely misunderstood by new golfers who often mistake it for a game of power or distance when in fact Golf is a game of accuracy and golf courses are built to punish golfers who lack this refinement in skill. If you can drive 350 yards but you can't avoid the trees, water hazards or sand bunkers then your score and consequently your handicap is always going to be a lot higher than it would be if you had the ability to chose where to place each shot and then make that placement.

The standard golf course and the standard round of golf involves 18 holes. The 19th hole is the colloquial term for the bar at the club house. Each hole has a start - the tee, and a finish - the actual hole (or cup) where the flag is placed. The aim of the game is to get your ball from point A (the tee) and into point B (the hole) in the least number of shots possible. Each hole on a golf course is classified by its par. Par is the number of strokes that a skilled golfer should take to complete that hole. For example, a par four would expect the golfer to take one tee shot, one approach shot to get onto the Green and then two putts to finish the hole.

Traditionally each hole has been either a par three, par four or par five. A typical length for a par three hole is between 100 and 250 yds, for a par four, between 251 and 475 yds, and a par five between 476 and 690 yds. In recent years, as professional golfers have extended the distance of their driving, some par six holes have arisen which are always longer than the 690 yds of the average par five. The majority of 18-hole courses have approximately four par three, ten par four, and four par five holes.

The total par of a regulation course is 72. In many countries, courses are classified by a course rating in addition to the course's par. This rating describes the difficulty of a course and may be used to calculate a golfer's playing handicap for that individual course.

If you would like to find a Golf Course in your area World Golf is a great place to look.