Golf Sport - Scaling New Heights Of Popularity

If you love golf sport, you may have wondered about its history. In fact, its origins are unclear and it may have started as quite a different game in any of these places: China, France, Persia, Rome, England, Netherlands or Germany. In its many avatars, the game was played with a bent stick and a ball. In China the object was to hit the ball into a hole. The game as we know it began being played in Scotland (which is still known for its golfing greens) more than 600 years ago.

From humble beginnings it has grown into a multi-million dollar sporting event, with championships and tournaments galore. The top players are celebrities earning mind boggling figures, not only in terms of championship prizes but in endorsements and other advertising deals.

The difference between golf sport and other sports
Many popular sports are team sports with a number of players. They have to work collectively to win games, and each player has a special talent or a place on the team. There are individual sporting events too, where you have to be more self-reliant and golf is one of them. It lends itself best to single player games, though it may be played in variations as a team sport.

Another major difference is that all games have a set format and a fixed field. Golf courses are all individual, with different topography which offers more challenge to the players. The course may comprise of up to 18 holes. It will also feature hazards or obstacles, which the player has to overcome. These may be sand (bunkers), water, out of bounds, rough (long grass), trees etc., and golf playing when your ball lands on a hazard are governed by the rules of golf.

Golf is a very popular game worldwide, but it is also seen to be elitist. That is because you need specialized equipment which is expensive, possible membership to golf clubs and a proper dress code. Big business deals are also done on the golf course. For the genuine golf aficionado, who loves the game, but does not want to spend a lot of money on equipment, there are places which offer equipment on rent and there are public golf courses to go to which is cheaper to play at.

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