Thread by @ArunKrishnan_

OK.. a small primer in golf for those struggling to understand it.

A golf course has 18 holes. So a "round of golf" is playing those 18 holes. In tournaments, they play 4 rounds of golf so a total of 72 holes.

Each hole has a par score attached to it. 1/n

The par score is the number of shots that a professional golfer is expected to go from the tee shot (the first shot) to sinking the ball into the cup (or hole) on the green (that flat piece of land with the hole and the flag).

2/n

The par score depends on:
a) DIstance from tee to whole
b) the difficulty of the course

Usual pars are 3,4 or 5.

So a par 4 hole means that you are supposed to take 4 shots to get the ball from the tee, into the cup. 3/n

the rule of thumb is 2 "putts" on the green to get the ball into the hole + the number of shots to get it from the tee to the green.

So for a par 3 hole, the distance will be shorter so you can expect to get onto the green from the tee in 1 shot and then 2-putt it.

If a hole has a par score of 4 and you take exactly 4 shots, then you have "parred" the hole.

If you take one less shot, it is a birdie.
2 less shots is an eagle.
3 less shots is an albatross (which usually can happen on par 5 holes, where the 2nd shot goes into the hole 5/n

A hole-in-one is hitting directly from the tee into the hole.. and happens on par 3 holes.

If you take more shots than the par shot for a hole, then they are called bogies.

+1 is a bogey.

The idea is to take the least number of shots to finish the round. 6/n

In a tournament, if there are 4 rounds to play, they play the first 2 rounds and then have a cutoff score. Only players BELOW that score play the final 2 rounds. This is called the "cut".

At the end of 4 rounds, the person with the lowest cumulative score over 4 rounds wins! 7/7

Something important that I missed. For amateurs, you will be given a Handicap score.
My handicap, for example is 18. Which means that on a par 72 course, I would be expected to finish in 72+18 = 90 shots.

A "scratch" golfer is one whose handicap is 0!

Another thing I missed.

So y do they have so many "clubs" in their bag?
Each club has a different "loft" or angle. The steeper the angle, the shorter the distance and the higher the ball goes in the air.
So for longer distance shots, u use a club with almost a straight clubface

4 shorter distances, you use steeper angled clubfaces. So the ball flies higher but shorter. Simple parabolic motion physics :)The trick is in judging which club to use where (which even amateurs become good at). And also being able to hit in the direction you want to. Difficult!

There are 2 types of clubs Drivers/Woods which have a bulbous head and are for LONG distances.

The irons are the ones used for shorter distances. Smaller the iron number, the longer the distance.
So a #1 iron could travel over 250 yards but a #9 will get you to 100 yards.

Then there are even shorter irons called Pitching Wedges and Sand Wedges. These are often used around the greens or the bunkers (the sand pits are called bunkers).

See how the "loft" changes as you go from 3-4-5-6-7-8-9-PW (pitching wedge)?

As the numbers go up, the loft (angle) becomes higher and higher.

One other thing. In tournaments, players are paired to play together. After the "cut", players with scores close to each other are paired together.
However, the players at the top of the leaderboard (lowest scores) start off last. So don't get up at 3:30AM tomorrow :)

Nelly Korda and Aditi Ashok will tee off after ALL the other folks, so that they can see who has got what score and play accordingly.

Players tee off at 10/15 minute intervals (called tee times). So I would expect to see Nelly and Aditi tee off only by 6:00 AM IST

A couple of things as we wait for the storm to move out.

One, the golf swing is super tough to master. It looks easy watching, but to get that ball up into the air is a struggle for amateurs when you start off. Most people will end up stopping the ball so it rolls on the ground

Or else will hit behind the ball. So dont be fooled by how easily the pros do it

Second. Putting is the most difficult bit. Amateurs, even decent ones, cam get the ball to the green and then waste 4 shots trying to get it into the cup.

Someone was asking why botnhit with one club by varying swing speed.
A golf swing is TOUGH to master. Idea is to keep the swing the same. The distance is determined by which club you use.