Golf equipment

Beginning between the 14th and 16th centuries, more expensive golf balls were made of a leather skin stuffed with down feathers; these were called "featheries".

Around the mid-1800s, a new material called gutta-percha, made from the latex of the East Asian sapodilla tree, started to be used to create more inexpensive golf balls nicknamed "gutties", which had similar flight characteristics as featheries.

These then progressed to "brambles" in the later 1800s, using a raised dimple pattern and resembling bramble fruit, and then to "meshies" beginning in the early 1900s, where ball manufacturers started experimenting with latex rubber cores and wound mesh skins that created recessed patterns over the ball's surface.

[1] A player usually carries several clubs during the game (but no more than fourteen, the limit defined by the rules).

Wedges are played from difficult ground such as sand or the rough and for approach shots to the green.

Putters have minimal loft, meaning the ball stays close to the ground when struck.

Conventional golf tees are basically spikes with a small cup on the head to hold the ball, and are usually made of wood or plastic.

Wooden tees are generally very inexpensive and quite disposable; a player may damage or break many of these during the course of a round.

Before the invention of the wooden spike tee, this was the only accepted method of lifting the ball for the initial shot.

The traditional way to play was to walk, but the use of golf carts is very common due to a number of factors.

Soft ground due to rain or recent maintenance work may require a "cart path only" driving rule to protect the turf, and a similar policy may apply in general to the areas around tee boxes and greens (and on shorter par-3 holes where fairway shots are not expected).

The use of carts is banned altogether at most major PGA tournaments; players walk the course assisted by a caddy who carries equipment.

In general, training aids are intended for use only while practicing, with use during competitive play prohibited in the rules.

Specialized golf attire (including shirts, pants, and shorts) is designed to be nonrestrictive to a player's range of motion and to keep the player warm or cool and dry while being fashionable, although a common stereotype of amateur golfers is that of wearing clothes that have long been out of fashion, such as plus fours.

Country club dress codes typically require players to wear collared shirts and prohibit work clothes, e.g. jeans.

Spikes on most golf shoes are replaceable, being attached using one of two common methods: a thread or a twist lock.