Golf

 Golf is played on a golf course which has nine or eighteen holes. Players using golf clubs hit a ball into the holes on the greens. The players try to complete the course taking as few hits (called strokes) as possible.
There are three main types of clubs:
Irons have a head made of steel which is set on an angle. Irons are numbered depending on the sharpness of the angle, the higher the number the sharper the angle. Irons are used for hitting the ball shorter distances.
Woods have a wooden head or one made of light weight metal, and are used for longer shots.
Putters have flat, iron heads. They are used on the green to putt (hit) the ball into the hole.

Golf balls are very hard and have small dimples on them. They are 4.26 centimetres in diameter.

The game
Players hit off from an area known as the tee. Up to 4 players can play together. Each player hits a ball down a long stretch of grass called the fairway, to the green. The green is a smooth, mown area of grass containing the hole. Sometimes a green can be a sandy place.
Once each player has hit the ball into the hole they move to the next tee and hit off again. The player who takes the least number of shots to complete the course is the winner.

Traps for players
Around the course there are sandy traps and watery areas where a golfer might accidentally hit the ball. It takes more strokes to get the ball out of these areas and back onto the fairway or the green. The ball is sometimes hit into trees which are around the course too.

Scoring
Each hole is given a number representing the number of shots it should take a good player to get their ball onto the green and into the hole. This is called par, and a hole can be par 3, par 4, or par 5. A player who takes one less hit than par for a hole scores a 'birdie'. Two less strokes then par for the hole is called an 'eagle'. One more hit then par is a 'bogey', and two more than par is a 'double bogey'

History
Gold began in Scotland in the 1400s and players hit stones, not balls. There were similar games in Europe but the Scots thought of the idea of hitting the object into a hole. The game spread around the world and there are now golf clubs and golf tournament almost everywhere. Golf started in Australia in the 1820s when Scottish people migrated here. The first golf course was built in Tasmania in 1839.

Acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this:
Golf (2006). [Online], Available: www.kidcyber.com.au

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updated June 2006