"What a nutty game!", you might say, "hitting a ball until it rolls into the hole." Well, golf is definitely more than that. It is a game that requires quiet patience to do well. It also involves a lot of thinking and strategy, and most importantly, faith. (It's a small ball, and the distance is long.)

Golf is goofy. I think this is because of the high level of integrity players have. It's a gentleman's game. Top professionals have been known to lose tournaments because they called penalties upon themselves. In the British Open of 1983, Hale Irwin lost the tournament because of that. He had an easy putt a few inches from the hole, but he took a careless swipe and missed it. He holed the ball right after that. Although Hale could get away with it, he knew his honor was at stake here, and reported his mistake to the referee, thus losing the tournament by one stroke. Can you imagine that happening in another sport? It's rare. Man, what a way to lose a tournament! (and what a way to win it back!)

I have only played golf once at a golf course in real life, but I do it more on the computer. When I had my first 386 computer in 1991, one of the first games which I got was a golf game called World Class Leader Board by Access Software. Links-The Challenge of Golf was released a year after that, I think, and it since became the best golf simulator in the market. The graphics were good in those days, and Access kept improving on the game. In June '97, Access released the Links LS 98 edition, which I feel is the most beautiful piece of software ever produced.

How does golf work?

For those of you who are wondering what those guys with large bags walking on a golf course are doing, I shall explain to you the workings of the game.

About the screenshot

In the diagram above (a Links LS 98 screenshot), I'm making my first shot at hole 18. That means that I've already completed the previous 17 holes. The rectangle diagram at the right of the screen is the birdseye view of hole 18. If you look closely at the yellow lettering '18th', can you see a white dot directly under the 'h' and almost at the bottom of the birdseye view? That is the position I'm at right now (the tee), and this is the place which I will make my first stroke (of the 18th hole) to hit the ball.

Now, where's the hole of the 18th hole? Do you see a long stretch of light green from the '18th' to the top? That is known as the fairway of the 18th hole. The fairway has grass which is cut short, as compared to the darker green regions, known as the rough. It is more difficult to hit from the rough, so try your best to keep your ball in the fairway. Do you see a circular patch of green just at the end of the long fairway? This is called the green, where the grass is really short. The 18th hole is located in the green.

Surrounding the green are patches of white. These are called bunkers or sand traps, and it's not easy to hit a good ball when your ball lands in the sand.

To the right of the 18th fairway is the 10th fairway, with the 10th green at the bottom.

Walking round the golf course

A golf course normally contain 18 holes or more. So playing one round of golf usually means playing 18 holes. You start at the tee of the first hole, and then continuing from there to the 18th hole.

So, if all that info, I'm ready to tee off!! The strategy is to make the ball fly to the middle of the fairway for the first stroke. Then I'll walk to the middle of the fairway to take my second shot, and try to 'reach the green'. Then I'll walk some more to nearer the green and try to get the ball into the green. The following 2 strokes would be to putt the ball into the hole. After I've holed the ball, I'll walk to the tee of the next hole and make the first shot of the next hole. But in this case, I'm already at the last hole, so I'll just go into the clubhouse to have a drink.

How the scoring works

So, how many strokes does one normally take to hole the ball? Is there a standard? If you look at the top left of the screenshot, you will see Kapalua Village (a beautiful course at Maui, Hawaii), and then Hole 18 - Par 5, 552 yards (distance from the tee to the green). What does par 5 mean? It means that with the various clubs that's in your bag, it is possible to sink the ball in using 5 strokes or less. If I use 5 strokes at this 18th hole, I would get a score of par. If I use 6 strokes, then my score for this hole is +1 (bogey), 7 strokes = +2 (double bogey) and so on. If I'm really good and kind of feeling lucky that day, I might achieve the feat with only 4 strokes, a score of -1 (birdie), or -2 (eagle). If you can hole the ball with only 1 stroke, you will have to go to the clubhouse to announce that all drinks are on you that day (hole-in-one).

The 18th is a very long hole, so it has a par 5 rating. Some short holes which are 100 to 200 yards are given par 3 rating, and it's possible to get a hole-in-one for these holes, though it's still very rare.

You will see that the word "even" after my name. This means that for the past 17 holes, my average score is +0. I could have gotten a few birdies, pars or bogeys, and my average is +0. If you watch golf on television, the top professionals sometimes get -10 or more after 4 days of play (4 x 18 holes). I think +10 for 18 holes is a very good score for an amateur.

Chip here to continue.