A Beginners Guide to Watching Golf

Few sports have become as popular as Golf has of late, so whether or not you are a spectator at a tournament or watching on TV from home, enjoying this game is easier than you think. Very popular in North America, Europe and Asia, golf is one of the world’s most popular sports around the globe with around 450 million viewers.

Golf has always been unique. It is played outdoors with Mother Nature and the birds, without a time clock or innings like other sports, and often with a caddy to help the golfer with a number of other things throughout a round of play.

Here in this article, we will talk about some of the basic things you will need to know to watch and enjoy the sport, including the basic rules and scoring, terminology in the game, who are the main governing bodies in the sport, who are the biggest names in the Men’s and Women’s game throughout history, and how and where you can get tickets for the events on the major tours.

What Are the Basic Rules in Golf?

The link contains many intricate Rules of Golf. Here, we will just talk about some of the basics.

Golf Scoring System

The scoring of Golf is pretty simple with each time you strike the ball counting as a stroke. Each hole has a specific par—usually 3, 4 or 5 strokes—and the total number of strokes you use on each hole to get the ball in the hole is compared to the actual par for that hole.

For example, if you are playing a par 3 hole, and it takes you five strokes to get the ball in a hole, you would have finished two over par (+2) for that hole. And if you were playing a par 5 hole, and it only took you four strokes, you would have finished one under par (-1).

The term par is officially defined as a “score that an expert player would be expected to make” by the USGA (United States Golf Association).

Negative scores on a hole or a round of golf are good for professional golfers. And positive scores on a given hole or a round are bad. All of the scores for the individual holes are added up for a total number of strokes for a round.

If you were under par at the end, that is perceived as a good thing as you beat the course, If you were over par after 18 holes of play, that is seen as the course beating you. And if you finish exactly at Even par, you used the number of expected strokes for that given course.

But remember, these mathematical judgments are for the pros and experts and not for the casual or novice golfer.

How long do 18 holes of golf take?

It depends on many factors like course length, speed of play, weather, intent, group size, other golfers on the course ahead of you, and other things, but it usually takes between three to five hours.

Basic Tee Box Rules

When teeing off on a hole, golfers must hit their shot behind the line and between the two tee markers. Players can tee it up as far back as two drivers lengths. No stroke is counted if your ball somehow falls off the tee before you tee off, and no stroke is counted if you are taking a practice swing and accidentally hitting the ball and knocking it off the tee.

But if you attempt to tee off and completely miss the ball, this counts as a stroke. If this happens, you cannot place the ball back on the tee, and you have to use your second shot from that spot where the ball was sitting. So it's obviously best to get a solid first tee shot off the tee. When standing on the tee, it is important not to stand within the tee box when other golfers hit the ball.

The order of play between golfers, usually four, is determined by who had the lowest score (number of strokes) on the previous hole.

In-Play Rules

Golfers must always play the ball where it lies on the fairway. This means no moving of the ball by hands or feet and no usage of a tee after you have teed off. But if you are on the green, you can pick your ball up and replace it with a marker.

Players aren't allowed to make their ball lie better. This means no patting down of the ground behind your ball with a club or your shoes—you can only stomp down behind the ball on your tee shot—but you can remove things like pebbles, sticks, feathers, or leaves that may be in the way. Removing or bending tree branches is forbidden.

The order of play is determined by which player's ball is farthest from the hole. The golfer, who is the greatest distance from the hole, shoots first. For more in-depth rules to be obeyed during a professional or recreational golf round, you can refer to this link.

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Equipment

Golfers can have a maximum of 14 clubs in their golf bag, of any combination of Woods and Irons, with a minimum of just 1 club. But putting with a driver or driving with a putter just doesn't make sense, so most pros and recreational players carry the standard 14.

Players must finish any hole with the golf ball they started with unless they lose it in the woods, water, or elsewhere. Then, it can be replaced. However, balls can be changed between holes.

Basic Golf Terminology

Golf Score Terms

• Condor: An extremely rare shot that results in a four-under-par (-4). A hole-in-one on a par-5. Two players who have actually recorded condors on par-5 holes include Larry Bruce, who had a hole-in-one from 243 yards out on the 5th hole at Hope Country Club in Hope, Arkansas, in 1968, and Shaun Lynch, a teenage linkster who had a hole-in-one on a par-5 9th hole in 1979 in Australia.

• Double Eagle (Albatross): Shooting three strokes under par on a hole (-3).

• Eagle: Shooting two strokes under par on a hole (-2).

• Birdie: Shooting one stroke under par on a hole (-1).

• Par: Shooting an equal number of strokes to par on a hole (E)

• Bogey: Shooting one stroke over par on a hole (+1).

• Double Bogey: Shooting two strokes over par on a hole (+2).

• Triple Bogey: Shooting three strokes over par on a hole (+3).

Golf General Terms

• Caddy: A caddy is a person who helps an individual golfer by carrying their golf bag, maintaining the course, providing moral support, and also providing information like distance to the pin, wind speed, and direction, club choice, etc., and offering advice on shots if asked.

• Round: A round of golf usually consists of 18 holes played by one to four players.

• Scorecard: A small piece of paper golfers carry in their pocket. It has a layout, specific hole information, and a grid to keep scores on each hole.

• Tee: A small wooden or plastic object used to elevate the ball when teeing off.

• Golf Clubs: These are the tools used to strike the golf ball, including woods (drivers), irons, pitching wedges, and putters.

  • Woods: These golf clubs are long-shafted and big-headed, used to strike the ball long distances. They are primarily used from the tee box and on the fairway.

  • Irons: These golf clubs, usually numbered 3 to 9 iron, have flat metal faces and are used for mid-range games. A 3 iron is used for less loft and to hit the ball a longer distance, while a 9 iron gives more loft and is used for shorter distances, often in approach shots to a green or a hole.

  • Putters: These golf clubs have flat-faced heads designed to give the best straight roll on a green and towards a hole. Some golfers use long putters—also called Broomstick or Belly Putters—which anchor the putt from the chest or the chin.

• Golf Shoes: Special shoes designed for maximum traction to be used playing on golf courses which are made with plastic or metal spikes on the sole.

• Golf Cart: A small, three- or four-wheeled battery-powered vehicle that golfers use to take their equipment and sometimes a fellow golfer throughout the course. Letting caddies in a golf cart usually depends on the specific course, its rules, and the tournament being played.

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Golf Play Terms

• Match Play: Scoring comes from points earned for winning holes.

• Stroke Play: Scoring in stroke play is simpler and more common. It simply counts the golfer's total number of strokes over a given round of play against the entire field of players or groups playing.

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Golf Field Terms

• The fairway is the area on a golf course closest to the tee box. It is made up of smooth, fresh-cut, even grass, which makes it much easier to play from.

• The Rough is an area on a golf course composed of tall or uncut grass or wood chips, often located next to the fairways and much harder to hit shots from.

• The Bunker or Sand Trap: These are relatively shallow pits of sand placed around greens, which are much harder to play out of when approaching a hole that requires pitching wedges or irons to make the shot.

• The Green: This is the smooth, short-cut grass area surrounding the hole on a course where golfers are always aiming to get their ball on. Putters are used from the greens.

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Who Are the Major Golf Governing Bodies and Organizers?

The major governing bodies in professional golf are the USGA and the R&A. They are responsible for growing the game of golf by organizing tournaments, setting equipment standards, interpreting rules, and determining amateur status.

The USGA was created by five charter golf clubs in 1894. It is the governing body in the United States and Mexico. It is in charge of some 14 national championships, including the recently completed US Open, the US Women's Open, and the US Senior Open.

The R&A is the governing body for all golf played outside of the USA and Mexico and was started in 1754 as the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St Andrews. The R&A also makes rules and sanctions for golf and separated itself from the historic golf club in 2004.

An organizer of pro golf tours in the USA and North America, the PGA TOUR is responsible for a yearly series of Men's tournaments—The PGA Tour—including events like the upcoming 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota, from July 22-28, the Wyndham Championship at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, NC from August 8-11, and the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California from January 22-25, 2025.

The PGA Tour is the biggest golf tour, but it doesn't organize the game's four Majors.

The newish LIV Tour is another pro golf tour for Men. It was launched in June 2022 at the Centurion Club at St Albans in Hertfordshire, UK, with the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational. The "LIV" name is in reference to the Roman numeral 54, which is the number of holes played (three rounds of 18 holes) on the tour.

The LPGA organizes pro golf tours for women in the USA. It is headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida, and manages and runs weekly tournaments for elite female golfers around the world.

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What Are the Majors in Men's and Women's Golf?

Like tennis, golf has major championships for men and women each calendar year. The four Men's Majors are the Master's Tournament, held at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, each April; the PGA Championship, held at different locations in the USA each May; the US Open, also held at various golf courses in the USA in June; and the Open Championship (British Open), held at a chosen links course in the UK in July.

In 2024, Scottie Scheffler won the Masters, Xander Schauffle won the PGA Championship, and Bryson DeChambeau won the US Open. So, three Americans won the first three Majors heading into the Open Championship.

The five Women's Majors are the Chevron Championship in April, the US Women's Open, the KPMG Women's PGA Championship in June, the Evian Championship in France in July, and the AIG Women's Open in August.

In 2024, the Chevron Championship was captured by American sensation Nelly Korda, the US Women's Open was won by Yuka Saso of Japan with the 2024 KPMG Women's PGA Championship underway with Korda in the hunt.

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Who Are the Greatest Men's and Women's Golfers?

There have been five Men's golfers who have won the four Majors in the game over their careers: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods, with Nicklaus winning 18 majors and Woods capturing 15. Along with these five legends, Bobby Jones (9 PGA wins, helped design Augusta), Arnold Palmer (5 majors), Walter Hagen (11 majors), Gary Player (11 majors), and Sam Snead (7 majors) may make up the 10 best Men's golfers of all time.

Living legend Woods has fallen on some pretty tough times of late and has not won a major tournament since The Masters in 2019, something we talked about here at TicketX in our How Is Tiger Woods Doing in Golf Today? feature.

There have been seven Women's golfers who have won four of the now five Majors—any four wins considered a Grand Slam—including Louise Suggs (11 majors, helped found LPGA), Mickey Wright (13 majors), Pat Bradley (6 majors), Juli Inkster, Karrie Webb—the only person to win all five Majors on the LPGA circuit (Super Grand Slam winner)—Annika Sörenstam (10 majors), and Las Vegas native Inbee Park (7 majors).

And no list of the greatest Women's golfers would be complete without legends Kathy Whitworth (88 LPGA Tour wins), Patty Berg (a record 15 majors), and Babe Didrikson Zaharias (double Olympic Gold medalist), maybe the greatest female athlete in history.

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Who Are the Hottest Men's and Women's Golfers Right Now?

The two hottest golfers in the world right now are Americans, Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda. Scheffler was ranked No. 1 in the PGA Tour rankings, 314.5514 points ahead of No. 2 ranked Rory McIlroy. Texas native Scheffler had already won six of the first 14 tournaments (12 Top 10 finishes) in which he played heading into the 2024 US Open.

After capturing the Mizuho Americas Open in May, Bradenton, Florida, native Korda made it six LPGA titles in her first seven events with $2,943,708 in prize money. Korda, who won the aforementioned Chevron Championship in the first major of 2024, was competing in the third Major of the year, the 2024 KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington.

Where Can You Find Men's and Women's Golf Rankings?

• PGA Tour Official World Men's Golf Rankings

• Rolex World Women's Golf Rankings

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Where Can You Get Golf Tickets?

You can purchase Golf tickets from many places, including the hosting courses themselves, the 2024 PGA Tour website, the 2024 LPGA Tour website, the 2024 LIV Tour website as well as secondary ticket markets sources like TicketX, which is offering up a special 10% discount for first-time users this June with this special promo code.

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Is Golf a Sport?

The debate about whether golf is a game or a sport may never be settled, as solid cases can be made for it being both. Although most of the major sports—baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, and Soccer—are played between teams of players, golf, like Tennis, Boxing, and MMA, is contested between individuals, with only one winner at the end of a match.

The long length of a round (or four) of golf does require some physical endurance abilities, use of the core muscle groups, strategy, and a certain mental capacity. Whether played professionally or for recreation, golf is highly competitive.

But compared to the average number of calories burned in an hour playing Football (727) or Soccer (900), golf just isn't exerting enough, using only 360 calories an hour. Also, there are caddies, golf carts, and mulligans in golf and no defenders, making it seem much more like a game than a sport.

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Where Does Golf Have Its Origins?

Although many cultures in the past had games very similar to golf, the modern iteration of the game has its roots in Scotland. A team sport called La soule (choule) was invented in 1421 by a Scottish regiment aiding the French in the Battle of Baugé. The choule was the game's ball made of either leather or wood.

Three of the original players of La Soule—Hugh Kennedy, John Smale, and Robert Stewart—took the game back to Scotland. The first written record of golf is seen in 1457, when the Scots Parliament of James II banned the game, along with Medieval football, in a failed effort to prevent the two from stunting the learning of Archery in the country.

After James III upheld the ban, James IV, who had become a golfer, finally lifted it in Scotland in 1502. The first record of golf clubs can be dated to 1503-1504. The Mecca of golf is considered to be the Old Course at St Andrews, located in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, and dating back to before 1574. The Open Championship (British Open) has been contested at historic St Andrews 30 times now, the last one coming in 2022.

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