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Golf
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Golf would be derived from a game played by Scottish shepherds in the 14th century, in which a wooden stick was used to hit small stones toward a specific
destination. In the early 15th century. Students at St. Andrews, near Dundee, in Scotland, became interested in the game, which they played with canes and
real balls. With the foundation of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and the publication of the first rules for the game in 1754, more people
began to play golf. The game spread throughout England and was taken to British colonies around the world; the Royal and Ancient became its main
authority, with some 1800 members who ensured that the rules were respected and changed when necessary. The British Open Championship of 1860 was
the first major tournament; the United States quickly followed with the US Open in 1895 and the creation of the Professional Golfers' Associated (PGA) in
1916, which gave rise to professional golf. Although the first women's tournaments apparently date from 1893, the Women's US Open was first played in
1946, and the Ladies' PGA championship in 1955.
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The Tournament
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Golf is a game of precision, in which players hit a ball with a club on a course composed of 18 holes, each with a start
point and a hole at the other end, into which the ball must drop. The objective is to play all 18 holes with a minimum of strokes. The major golf tournaments are played over a total of 4 rounds (72
holes), with one round played per day. This formula requires players to have remarkable consistency throughout the competition and rewards the player
best able to overcome the technical difficulties of the course.
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There are two generally recognized forms of competition:
• Match play, in which two players of two teams play a determined number of holes (18, 36, 54 or 72). A hole is won by the player or team that completes it
with the least number of strokes.
• Stroke play, in which individuals or teams play a determined number of holes (18, 36, 54 or 72). The winner is the player or team with the lowest total
number of strokes. Within these two types of competition are several variations:
• In singles, each golfer plays against several opponents (in stroke play) or a single opponent (in match play).
• In doubles, a team composed of two golfers plays against an opposing team. There are three types of team competition. In “foursomes”, each team puts a
single ball in play, and players on a team hit it in turn. In “greensome”, each player on each team puts a ball in play. At the second stroke, each team keeps
only its better-placed ball, which they then play in turn. In “four balls, best ball”, each player plays his own ball. After each hole the best score from each
team is kept.
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The Course
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A golf course has 18 holes set in a natural environment. Each course, laid out by a course designer, has its own characteristics. In addition to areas
landscaped for the purposes of the game, the course has natural obstacles, which present challenges that are different for each hole. Holes may be from 100
to 600 yards long.
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Indian golfers going
places
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Arjun Atwal, Jyoti Randhawa and Jeev Milkha Singh are Indian golf's “Big Three”. When Randhawa won the Volvo tourney five other Indians made the cut. It
is a sign of how golf has grown in a country breaking out of a corporate to a competitive image.
Twelve years since Jeev Milkha Singh turned pro in 1993, he may not have achieved personally much in terms of wins but can take the credit for mapping the
route for several youngsters. But with the likes of Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Atwal making waves both on the US PGA and Japanese Tours, the gap has
narrowed down. Indian golf is in the good hands of youngsters like Ashok Kumar, Shiv Kapur and Gurbaz Mann and they are at par with the best anywhere
in the world.
Starting with the Malaysian Open, Jeev will keep himself busy the next few months appearing in Myanmar, Qatar, Thailand, China, Japan and two
tournaments in India.
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On the International
circuit
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Vijay Singh is the leading player on the international circuit. Moreover Vijay Singh has already won, capturing the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Ernie Els, who
finished a stroke behind Singh, tied the course record with a final-round 62. And Tiger Woods, who did not play in the
tournament, tied Els for third place at
the season-opening Mercedes Championships, despite a miserable week of putting. Singh, Woods and Els are in their prime, free to take risks, without the
pressure of playing for status on the PGA Tour or financial security. Even others are
feeling the load of trying to beat Singh, who has eight consecutive
top-10 finishes, four of them victories. But for now, in a season that could be special, Singh is still riding on the crest of
waves. Vijay Singh, who once earned $10 a lesson as club pro in Borneo, won his ninth victory of the year, at the Chrysler Championship. The Fijian became golf's
first $10 million man. In a year that gets better with each week, Singh birdied the first two holes at Innisbrook and never let anyone get within two shots
the rest of the way. He closed with a 6-under 65 to win by five shorts, matching Tiger Woods for the most victories in a season on the PGA Tour since 1950. |
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He earned $900,000 for this victory, the easiest time he has had all year. It was Singh's largest margin of victory since he won by six shots in the 2002
Houston Open. Woods won nine times in 2000. No one else has won that many times since Sam Snead had 11 victories in 1950. It took Singh 173
tournaments over eight years to earn $10 million for this career. He has surpassed that with one incredible season, his victory at Innisbrook pushing his
total to $10725,166. That's more than $5 million more than Phil Mickelson, who is second on the money list. Singh put a quick and decisive end to the
Chrysler Championship, getting up-and-down for birdie on the first hole and making an 8-footer for birdie on the next hole.
It is interesting to learn that there is a stiff competition also on the State level. The United Services Club with adequate planning and great team work
emerged the worthy winners of the 9th Inter Club Golf Tournament at the Wellington Sports Club in Mumbai. The two day event a symbol of supremacy
among four clubs culminated with the winners finishing well ahead of its nearest rivals Bombay Presidency Golf Club.
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My
Point Of View - Ready to Serve an Ace on the World Stage
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Sania Mirza - fascinating experience at
Melbourne
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Let's start at the very beginning - how did Sania Mirza qualify for the Australian Open. Sania got a wild card entry for the Australian Open women's singles,
and the Hyderabad-based teenager must thank China's Na Li for making her maiden entry possible. By virtue of being the Asian Champion, the wild card was
reserved for Li. The Chinese player's present ranking of 78 is good enough to a direct entry. Hence Sania the Asian runner-up got the wild card. However,
in the second round with a degree of comfort she got past Pretra Mandula 6-2, 6-1. Thus Sania became the first Indian women tennis player to have reached
the third-round of a Grand Slam.
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I personally felt - after her participation in her first Grand Slam Sania achieved what she wanted to. Against Serena Williams in the third round she played
her heart out and gave the current champion a hard time in the second set with powerful forehand groundstrokes before bowing out of the tournament 6-1,
6-4.
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Triggered by Sania Mirza's stunning show at the Australian Open the tennis craze increased manifolds as the country erupted in cheerfulness over the Indian
prodigy's fighting performance against Serena Willians ranked No. 7 and who ultimately won the Women's Championship. Nonetheless Sania's attempt at
this stage proved to be a big education for her in terms of how seeded players raise their games and take their points seriously. For example during the
second set she was three break points up but the way Serena played out those points made Sania see the stark reality of the game on that level.
Women's tennis today has become more attractive and strenuous than ever before. For one thing there are a whole lot of teenagers out there ready to
carve a niche for themselves and switch over to the glamorous and popular world. And for another - the competition is stiff, the tour taxing and few survive
as some are unable to actualize their potential.
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Sania spends most of her time practicing. She attends college at St. Mary's where she is studying for her Bachelors in Mass Communication. She also needs
to be focused on her tennis career to make headway. She cannot afford to be distracted by public attention and media hype. All she needs to do is to carry
out a self analysis of her strengths and limitations. I wish her every success.
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