Let's begin with an elemantary golf terminology and explain the most common phrases.
It's played on a course with different obstacles. You have to play with a golf club and a ball according to Rules of Golf. The goal is to put the ball in a hole by as few strokes as possible, thus beating your opponent or the golf course itself.
Standard course consist of 18 holes, but there are also 9-hole golf courses. It's about 5 to 6 kilometers long and the player usually walk double the distance: by getting from hole to hole, looking for the lost golf balls or to plan out the next stroke.
Each pit (also called "cup"), in which you have to put the ball, is allocated 1/18 of the entire golf course area, is called simply a hole. Every hole consist of a tee ground where you drive the ball, continue with a faiway and ends with a green with the cup itself, marked with flagpole.
Length of holes differ, on average the distance is between 90 to 550 metres. If the hole is on the edge of the course, the border is marked with white poles.
A place with even surface with marked teeing ground. It's the only spot where a player can place the ball on an elevated platform, in most cases it's a small peg, called simply tee.
Good to know:
Each player starts every round at a different place. More the player is experienced, further he/she starts from the cup. Teeing grounds are dotted with marked spots of various colours to indicate the difficulty level. Therefore, players are assigned different colours. Basic ones are red (closest to the cup), white (medium distance) and blue (the farthest). You can also come across other colours, such as black, green or gold.
About a hundred meters from the tee a fairway starts, with grass cut short so the ball is clearly visible. Outside the fairway, the grass is more dense and taller - also referred to as rough or semi-rough - which player tries to avoid since it presents a natural obstacle (hazard) for a next stroke.
Other hazards include bunkers (sand traps or grass depressions), rocks, shrubs, trees, forest and bodies of water (alongside the fairway marked red, across marked yellow).
The last part of the hole comes with the most manicured, dense and short grass. There is the hole itself, in which the ball is put by a special club - putter. The green can be undulated or feature several elevated terraces.
A game of golf starts with teeing at the first hole and ends with the last putt at 18th hole - actually, that's the end of the first round. In case of a 9-hole course, each hole is played twice. Some tournaments have 4 rounds in total, and the second round is followed by a cut, after which only a certain number of top players continue to play.
Golf require to follow strict rules of conduct and apparel. Even though the society tend to be more liberal nowadays and certain golf standards are being adjusted, there's still a plethora of rules that are untouchable. Breaking them is considered as rude as a loud burp in a theater or restaurant, for example. Rules also outline how to spend your time on a golf course effectively and in a safe manner.
Knowing the rules give the player ability to utilize a variety of advantages and odds that might help to improve the score. Your lack of knowledge of rules might cost you a penalty stroke. Rules of Golf are complex and complicated, thus the print version is updated every now and then. Last significant revision of the rules took place in 2019. You can find all the changes in the current edition of the Rules.Check the most important ones that are essential to the game.
We believe that after reading this article there's nothing to surprise you on a course. If you want to be sure that you have everything you need for your next game, check these golf sets.