Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit a ball into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.

There are several standard forms of terrain between the tee and the green, such as the fairway, rough (tall grass), and various hazards that may be water, rocks, or sand-filled bunkers.

Some historians[3] trace the sport back to the Roman game of paganica, in which participants used a bent stick to hit a stuffed leather ball.

One theory asserts that paganica spread throughout Europe as the Romans conquered most of the continent, during the first century BC, and eventually evolved into the modern game.

[6] A Ming Dynasty scroll by the artist Youqiu dating back to 1368 entitled "The Autumn Banquet" shows a member of the Chinese Imperial court swinging what appears to be a golf club at a small ball with the aim of sinking it into a hole.

In addition, kolven (a game involving a ball and curved bats) was played annually in Loenen, Netherlands, beginning in 1297, to commemorate the capture of the assassin of Floris V, a year earlier.

[17][18] Early Scottish golf courses were primarily laid out on links land, soil-covered sand dunes directly inland from beaches.

[19] This gave rise to the term "golf links", particularly applied to seaside courses and those built on naturally sandy soil inland.

[29] Alternatively, in competition, the committee may designate a maximum score possible for a hole for the same reasons, while formalizing the surrender or "pick-up" rule.

At some courses, gas or electric golf carts are used to travel between shots, which can speed-up play and allows participation by individuals unable to walk a whole round.

As stated on the back cover of the official rule book: There are strict regulations regarding the amateur status of golfers.

Etiquette guidelines cover matters such as safety, fairness, pace of play, and a player's obligation to contribute to the care of the course.

Woods are large-headed, long-shafted clubs meant to propel the ball a long distance from relatively "open" lies, such as the teeing ground and fairway.

Of particular importance is the driver or "1-wood", which is the lowest lofted wood club, and in modern times has become highly specialized for making extremely long-distance tee shots, up to 300 yards (270 m), or more, in a professional golfer's hands.

The third class is the putter, which evolved from the irons to create a low-lofted, balanced club designed to roll the ball along the green and into the hole.

Many golfers wear golf shoes with metal or plastic spikes designed to increase traction, thus allowing for longer and more accurate shots.

Golf bags have several pockets designed for carrying equipment and supplies such as tees, balls, and gloves.

However, unlike many of these motions, the result of the swing is highly dependent on several sub-motions being properly aligned and timed.

The ability to do this consistently, across a complete set of clubs with a wide range of shaft lengths and clubface areas, is a key skill for any golfer, and takes a significant effort to achieve.

A proper golf swing is a complex combination of motions, and slight variations in posture or positioning can make a great deal of difference in how well the ball is hit and how straight it travels.

As the game of golf has evolved, there have been many different putting techniques and grips that have been devised to give golfers the best chance to make putts.

Factors affecting the calculation include altitude, gradient of the land from the tee to green, and forced "lay-ups" due to dog-legs (sharp bends) or obstacles (e.g. bunkers, water hazards).

When the game is tied after the predetermined number of holes have been played, it may be continued until one side takes a one-hole lead.

[55] Golf courses are assessed and rated according to the average good score of a scratch golfer, taking into account a multitude of factors affecting play, such as length, obstacles, undulations, etc.

They do this by means of assessing and rating courses according to the average good score of a "bogey golfer", a player with a handicap of around 20.

Touring professionals typically start as amateur players, who attain their "pro" status after success in major tournaments that win them either prize money and/or notice from corporate sponsors.

Proficiency in teaching golf instruction requires not only technical and physical ability but also knowledge of the rules and etiquette of the game.

Professional golf instructors can use physical conditioning, mental visualization, classroom sessions, club fitting, driving range instruction, on-course play under real conditions, and review of videotaped swings in slow motion to teach golf to prepare the golfer for the course.

In 1891, the newly built Shinnecock Hills nine-hole course in Southampton, New York became the first club to offer membership to women golfers.

"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any education program or activities receiving Federal financial assistance.