How Golf Has Changed
The sport of golf is one of the oldest in the world. It started back in Scotland in the fifteenth century as a game that involved a stuffed leather ball and a bent stick. This is a long way from what we recognize the sport as today with its heavy duty endorsement deals and highly paid players. Golf itself is very different from other sports simply because the rules are very different. In other sports, the team that gets the most number of points in a game is declared the winner. Not so in golf. In golf, it is the person with the lowest scores that win. Some of the scores can even go into negative numbers, which doesn’t happen anywhere else in sports. Unlike any other playing field, in any other sport, golf courses range depending on difficulty, and they are each different. They all have different traps that are set in order to throw the player off, and disrupt their game. There are water features, sand traps, and any number of other traps that can increase the score, and cost a player the game.
The oldest golf course according to the Guinness Book of World Records is located in Scotland and it was the site of the oldest golf tournament, which was played on October 17, 1880. Back then, the club sizes were very different than they are today. The clubs were much bigger, and they were actually made of wood. The ball was much larger, and did not have a smooth surface. This made the game all the more difficult to play. Today’s woods are actually just a different type of metal. Irons are typically made out of titanium, and woods are made from a different type of metal all together. This change is due to companies such as Mizuno, which is a Japanese based sorting goods company that started supplying golfers with equipment back at the beginning of the early twentieth century. Mizuno Irons is also responsible for creating the titanium iron. The golf ball itself has changed in a number of ways since the games invention. Today’s golf balls are made of a smoother substance and has multiple layers which allow it to spin less once it is hit, and it also allows the ball to travel at a greater distance with more force. These reforms also help with the accuracy with which the ball is hit. Golfers now have a GPS type system that allows them to find their target and aim for it wit more accuracy. These kinds of systems also show yardages for the course, and also help with keeping score when you play.
Many people have a preconceived notion of the game of golf, and have believed certain stereotypes about the game and those who play it. There are those who think that those who play golf are older retired men who have nothing better to do than ride around in golf carts all day, but the game is opening up to many more women, and even younger players are getting involved in the game.