Global Sports: The Evolution Of Golf

Thursday, September 9, 2010

The Evolution Of Golf

By Clive Wheldon

Golf has been loved since its creation. What began as a pastime has turned into a sport now seen around the world and promoted on channels like ESPN. Watching as the golf club easily swings that white small golf ball has made us fall in love with this game. How did the game of golf evolve? Well, there are several responses available for that question.

During the 15th century in Scotland, the parliament had banished the playing of "gowf". Some people say this is just like our present day golf game, while some others say it's not. Some say during the 17th century that the game of golf was played in the Netherlands but this, too, is questionable. We know this as a game of 18 holes. However, research has shown that the game originally set off somewhere with around 11 holes. But because golfers would play up through the 11 holes and back, researchers have further claimed that golf started as a game of 22 holes.

The Professional Golf Association, which is the world's oldest organization for the game was founded in Britain in 1901. Then in 1911, Australia followed suit with the Professional Golfers' Association of Australia. As far as the United States went, we started to saw professional golf competitions arise somewhere in the 1920's. We couldn't see females playing the sport publicly till somewhere following World War II. So where exactly golf was created remains a controversial question.

But one thing is certain; this game has now fascinated the entire world. Switch on your television set and you are going to see participants from France, Africa, China, Australia, the United States, and more. We love players like Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson. Visit any city just about worldwide and you will definitely find a golf course, including one that is along the highway.

Constructing these courses to be more challenging has been a hot ticket for quite a while. Now you'll see flat courses, courses on hills, courses designed across waterways, etc. The more difficult the challenge the course provides the more the gamers love it. Now we have live telecast for the PGA Tour, allowing us to keep an eye on golfers like Tiger Woods. Fans would consider a trip across nations just to see such game played live before them.

Even though men continue to reign over the number of players of golf, ladies have also came forth as professional golfers for the last 60 years; with professionals like Annika Sorenstam, Natalie Gulbis, Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer, and Morgan Pressel. Women have been emerging at the lead through the years and have recently been providing men a run for their money in terms of fan base.

It is undeniably true that our society enjoys golf. Who could tell striking a tiny golf ball with a stick across an area and into a target could be so captivating? With a large number of fans, this game is already as widespread as football. Truly, this game is not just a trend that goes classic with time, but a sport that will definitely last long.

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment