Golf Swing Essentials

Author: (Korean) Pyo Yong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: What is golf? Golf is a sport that has evolved from a game. It is a sport where players use golf clubs to hit a golf ball into designated holes. In other words, it is the process of sending a small golf ball hundreds of yards into a hole with a diameter of only 10.8 cm. The game is decided based on the number of strokes taken during this process. Overall, the pursuit of golf is to get the ball into the hole with as few strokes as possible. Golf courses can be built in fields, hills, mountains, coastal areas, and other locations. They are generally divided into coastal courses built by the sea and inland courses built inland. The area of a typical golf course is usually between 660,000 and 1,000,000 square meters. Within the vast golf course, there are many obstacle areas, which can be artificially constructed streams, ponds, or small hills. They can also be natural terrain features such as rivers, lakes, seas, or forests. A golf course is generally composed of tees, fairways, rough areas, bunkers, water hazards, greens, and holes. Among these, fairways and rough areas are collectively referred to as the "hole complex," while bunkers and water hazards are collectively referred to as "obstacles." Additionally, golf courses are usually marked with stakes or fences to indicate their boundaries. The area outside the boundaries marked by stakes or fences is called "out of bounds" (commonly referred to as OB). A standard golf course typically consists of 18 holes, divided into the front nine (IN COURSE) and the back nine (OUT COURSE). After completing a hole, players move on to the next one, and a full round of golf involves completing all 18 holes. Championship-level courses must be at least 6.50C yards long. However, early golf courses were not always 18 holes. Each course was designed with a different number of holes based on its specific conditions, typically ranging from 27 to 72 holes. By 1764, the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland, known as the "Holy Land of Golf," was converted into an 18-hole course. After that, all courses adopted this standard, and the number of holes on a course was unified to 18. This is when records of the lowest scores on a course began to be kept. Each hole on a golf course is designated with a standard number of strokes, known as "par" (commonly referred to as PAR). Par is divided into 3, 4, and 5 strokes, which are also known as PAR 3, PAR 4, and PAR 5 holes. This means that a PAR 3 hole is one where the ball is put into the hole with three strokes, and so on—PAR 4 holes are four strokes, and PAR 5 holes are five strokes. The ultimate goal of playing golf is to get the ball into the hole with a diameter of 10.8 cm. On the hole complex, the final step of putting the ball into the hole is extremely crucial, much like the highly detailed shooting process in billiards. Therefore, golf is considered a relatively comprehensive sport. Each hole on a golf course has a standard length. For men, a PAR 3 hole should be less than 250 yards long, a PAR 4 hole should be between 251 and 470 yards, and a PAR 5 hole should be no less than 471 yards. For women, a PAR 3 hole should be less than 210 yards long, a PAR 4 hole should be between 211 and 400 yards, and a PAR 5 hole should be no less than