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Some have called golf the greatest game there ever was: a sport that pits man or woman against nature itself. Golf is a challenge that tests a player's skills in precision, coordination and endurance. Even veteran duffers with decades of time on the links say they aspire to play the perfect game on the perfect course with the perfect clubs and the perfect companions.
To some, golf is a special hobby, or even an acceptable form of exercise. To others, golf is a career. If you're great consistently, you can walk away with thousands, if not millions, of dollars on the tournament circuit. If you're consistently fairly good, you can at least get a job with a course, and go through training to become a pro and teach others about the game.
If your golfing skills are merely adequate, you can at least impress your friends or co-workers and have good stories to tell when you surprise everyone with a great shot. Of course, if you're simply consistently inconsistent, plenty of courses still happily take your money and let you wander around for a few hours swinging at things (hopefully the ball).
It's estimated that there are 32,000 golf courses worldwide, and half of them are in the U.S. Golf may be one of the oldest organized and sanctioned sports out there, centuries older than baseball, basketball and football. Opinions differ on the origins of golf, or at least who was the first to perform primitive versions of hitting a ball into a cup or hole with a stick. It may have been the Chinese in the 1100s or the Scots as early as the 1200s. The terrain, technology, and apparel have evolved, and these days millions tune in to watch prominent events. Families even plan vacations based on the courses and tournaments that are nearby.
The amount of available golfing information has also evolved. For years, pros or local golf associations were the keeper of golf secrets. You had to go to them for lessons, answers, and rule interpretation. To see the game, you had to watch tournaments or spend your Sundays in front of the TV.
Golf Goes Online
In addition to television and pros, now you can get your golf information online as well. To start with, you can find the official rules of golf at http://www.usga.org/playing/rules/rules.html
Golf's governing body takes golf very seriously. The actual document is more than 200 pages, including separate documents for very minor changes from the 2004 version. Videos also illustrate many of the more controversial examples.
The home page of the Professional Golf Association is another useful stop for everyone from beginners to experts. At this site, you find the latest news from the tournament world. Plus, you get plenty of commentary from pros along with more details than you ever thought possible about individual golfers, clubs, courses, and holes at various courses.
If you want a little more international flair, visit the Royal and Ancient Golf Club. This club is the global international golf body, and it is considered the birthplace/headquarters for classic golf. At this site, you can find the latest news, rumors, stuff to buy and more. You also can see the ranking of some of the top players worldwide.
Fantasy Golf
As with other sports, some people not only have their favorite players, but also want to track how they're doing. Much like fantasy football, basketball and baseball, with fantasy golf, you choose or are assigned a selection of players. When golfer on your fantasy roster does well in real life, your fantasy team benefits too. Depending on the particular game you're playing, you can win prizes or cash.
Fantasy golf sites include http://fantasy.pga.com/ where you can focus on the Master's. Even if it's too late to sign up for this year, but you can still get idea how it works and get ready for the next one.
Golfing Games
If you like playing golf on your computer, check out Utour. This online game has an interesting catch; it claims you can actually win money depending how well you can play.
If you yearn to talk golf with others, you might like Golflink, which is a community of golfers. A big portion of the site is a forum area, where you can post your golfing heart out about anything golf-related. People talk about everything from their new clubs to fun places to play and the status of national tournaments.
Before you think that everything in the online golf world is somber and rules-oriented, take a peek at Bad Golfer. The site is designed to poke fun at how seriously everyone else takes the game. The site has lots of jokes, videos, and tales of bad games. All in all, it's a good balance.
As with any other activity that doubles as both a recreational hobby and sanctioned sport, you can find thousands of other golf sites. Whether it's people who want to share their golf stories to businesses that want to make money, if you're a golfer, you can find lots of resources online.
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