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"Sport" Correction

It says This article is about the sport. For other uses, see Golf (disambiguation).

it means that: it's about the meaning of sport when a child is a sport. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Candy853 (talk • contribs) 19:19, 5 November 2010 (UTC)

History

There seems to be some debate as to which club is actually the oldest golf club in the World and when golf was first played on them. I had always thought that St Andrews golf links is the oldest in the World and that is confirmed in the Golf Monthly book by Beacon Books The Best Links of Britain and Ireland. It states that the oldest club in the World is at St Andrews "The reason is simple enough. St Andrews is the mother of all Golf Courses It is the oldest links in the World - golf was being played there long before Christopher Columbus discovered America" The book also goes on to say that the 3rd oldest club is Dornoch, 5th is Montrose, 6th is Royal Aberdeen and 7th is Crail. Looking on the internet I came across a web reference from Scottish Golf History who list the age of golf sites as follows Perth 1512, Carnoustie 1527, Montrose 1562, Musselburgh 1567, St Andrews 1574, Dornoch 1619 and Leith 1619. The web entry for Museelburgh golf club extends the debate further is it claims to be the oldest golf club in the world with golf being played there 10 years before St Andres. What appears to be missing from the Golf Monthly entry in the Best Links of Britain and Ireland is the entry of which are the 2nd and 4th oldest golf clubs in the World. - WillardWhite

Records are sketchy at best from the early days of golf, so it depends on how what evidence is considered reliable an acceptable. Musselburgh is generally recognised as the oldest links,[1]. As for golf clubs (institutions), variations in the definition of what constitutes a club allow many clubs lay claim to the title as the worlds oldest. _wjemather^bigissue 15:03, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Just to clarify the above comment, it is important to distinguish between a golf course (or links) and a golf club. The two were (and still are in many cases in Scotland) distinct. A golf course is an area of land where golf is played. A golf club is an organisation that arranges competitions for its members. For example, the links at St Andrews are owned by a public body, the Links Trust, in sucession to the Town Council that was abolished in the early 70's. The Links are effectively municipal, public golf courses. There are a number of seperate golf clubs, some with their own clubhouses, that play competitions on the links, including but not only the Royal & Ancient. Similar arrangements can be found in other parts of Scotland.WhaleyTim (talk) 08:56, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

Note: This does not just concern Scotland. Around the world there are municipal/public courses with private clubs and societies attached to them. _wjemather^bigissue 09:39, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

And, of course the other way round. Societies not attached to individual golf courses. WhaleyTim (talk) 09:45, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

Further, the existence of golf courses is mentioned in historical records before the existence of golf clubs. By their nature of being private, and perhaps informal and transient organisations there may have been many early clubs for which there is just no historical record. WhaleyTim (talk) 09:03, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

Why the reference to the first 18 hole course in america? if this was the first 18 hole course in the world, it should be described as such and the reference should remain. if it was only the first 18 hole course in america, shouldn't we refer to the first one in the world? (I think most 18 hole courses were from the old course, but i wouldn't want to guarantee someone else built one first —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.202.83.30 (talk) 20:16, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Title Picture

The title picture should be replaced because of the massive technical issues with the golfers swing. Wikipedia should have pictures with proper technique, or at the very least better technique. I understand the use of a professional golfer may not be appropriate, although could be used. If not the use of another picture could be used.

http://picasaweb.google.com/110558744294344659947/Golf#5538080455906246066 —Preceding unsigned comment added by CullH (talk • contribs) 00:24, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not a guide to golfing technique, so it really doesn't matter how poor the swing is, as long as it's clearly recognisable as golf. But if you have a better photo please feel free to add it. Personally I think the current photo is an good illustration of the game and quite picturesque into the bargain. --Escape Orbit ^(Talk) 23:24, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

LOUSY PICTURE —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.152.132.26 (talk) 16:40, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

What do people think of the current title picture? It is certainly a spectacular image of a unique golf hole, but does it uniqueness make it unsuitable to illustrate Golf? WhaleyTim (talk) 14:57, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

Approach?

Don't the term "approach" refer to the golf club? I believe there isn't anything mentioned about it in the materials section. Also, I know that there is pitching club and sand club.88.238.196.123 (talk) 18:13, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Section 7.3 (Other Forms of Play) is redundant with a separate article on Variations of golf

Section 7.3 (Other Forms of Play) is redundant with a separate article on Variations of golf. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variations_of_golf#Scoring_Variations

Should the two be merged? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Figz (talk • contribs) 19:02, 31 August 2011 (UTC)

PGA section

Should we add a section about the PGA? They are an important part of golf and its rules. Jjjliu (talk) 20:31, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

Moon

Alan Shepard played golf on the moon on Apollo 14 with a 6 iron.--LandonJaeger (talk) 16:54, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

He didn't "play golf." He only smacked the damn ball. And it wasn't a regulation course. --Michael K Smith^Talk 18:52, 16 December 2011 (UTC)

Missing information

I hear "slice" referred to by golfers. What is it? It's nowhere mentioned in the article. Shouldn't it be? 98.71.219.134 (talk) 03:42, 26 December 2009 (UTC)

Slicing on the golf course is frustrating, embarrassing, and typically uncontrollable. You stand there helplessly as you watch your ball make its way toward to rough and you know that you will be lucky to find it again.

Slicing the golf ball is the most common golfing ailment there is, and plenty of people who have wandered the golf course before you feel your pain. Slicing occurs when the body is improperly aligned with itself and the golf ball. Because both factors have to be fixed in order to improve the slice, it can be a very frustrating time in a golfer’s life. GolfBallPutter (talk) 22:57, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

Except none of you is differentiating between hooks and slices. My back yard overlooks the 10th fairway and I get a fair number of balls hooked into my flower beds -- but no slices. For that to happen, the golfers would have to be playing contraflow. --Michael K Smith^Talk 19:00, 16 December 2011 (UTC)

Or left handed. --Escape Orbit ^(Talk) 16:30, 17 December 2011 (UTC)

• See Glossary of golf for definition of 'Slice' and many other golfing terms.WhaleyTim (talk) 09:39, 29 March 2010 (UTC)

comments on the "swing mechanics" section

These three sentences can be removed entirely.

"Understanding the golf stroke is easier if one first understands the golfer's role. The golfer does not "hit the ball". The golfer's role is to swing the club, which then strikes the ball."

The final two sentences are not facts about the golf swing. They are swing thoughts that are prevalent in golf instruction.

A golfer most certainly hits the ball, just as a baseball player hits the ball. It's practically the definition of the word "hit". In training, a student is sometimes told not to "hit the ball" to keep the student from using too much hand action in the swing but it is not accurate to say that he doesn't "hit the ball" and I don't even know what the quotation marks are for.

TheCityGame (talk) 14:05, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Agreed. I've removed them. Apart from anything else, they read like a guide to improving your golf, which is not what Wikipedia is for. --Escape Orbit ^(Talk) 16:42, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Paganica - Roman golf or Victorian myth?

Along with many popular histories of the game, this article mentions a an ancient Roman game called Paganica as a possible precursor to golf. However the non-golf sources I have read only seem to mention Paganica as a ball stuffed with feathers. I get the distinct impression that sometime in the mid 19th century someone argued "Featherie = Golf ball stuffed with feathers","Paginica = Roman ball stuffed with feathers" therefore "Paginica = Roman Golf", which was taken as a fact by subsequent writers. Does anyone know of any reputable source of Roman history that describes Paganica as a golf-like game? WhaleyTim (talk) 14:40, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

Swearing

Is swearing really necessary? - Yes, swearing in golf is necessary because it actually believe it or not, reduces the amount of stress that is build up after a bad shot. If you get mental lessons, they may say otherwise but, when you hold your anger in, you actually get even more frustrated. It is a good thing to have a good mental game where all you do is think about the present. Once you hit your shot either good or bad and you get mad, you move on and forget about it. Think of each shot as a new game. You do not want to keep that stress throughout the round or you will "blowup" otherwise.

Indeed. As noted by P.G. Wodehouse in "Chester Forgets Himself" http://www.k5nd.net/chester-forgets-himself/ WhaleyTim (talk) 01:45, 20 December 2012 (UTC)

Field Hockey- A major fallacy with the article.

Regarding the origins of the game of golf; Golf is related to a variant of field hockey which is an ancient Greek game. The similarities to field hockey could substantiate the connection and history of Golf to Roman "Paganica".

At some point in history, the players of the game stopped moving the ball around the field as the objective, but rather stood still and only hit the ball. The target or goal became to sink the ball rather than shoot past a boundary line or net and scoring against an opponent was removed from the game, replaced by individual comparative scoring.

The proof exists but the historical record is fragmented. We know similar games existed in the distant past. This subject would be the most important topic to include in the article, because for anyone interested in history this aspect of other games that are related to golf is very interesting. It has great value to approach the issue of how Golf developed into a very unique game. To discover the details of the past would be fascinating. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.252.2.101 (talk) 08:03, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

Edit request on 25 May 2013

According to a 3 year study [2009-2012] by GolfTourney.com[1] they found that in United States each golf course hosts an average of 8 amateur golf tournaments per season. Some golf courses host up to 150 events per season while some do not host any at all. The most golf tournaments are hosted in the states, Florida, California, Texas, and Georgia.

[1] Emcrawfo (talk) 04:57, 25 May 2013 (UTC)

References

I think that might be overly detailed for this article. Perhaps there might be somewhere to mention it in the Golf course article? Begoon ^talk 05:44, 25 May 2013 (UTC)