The game of golf was invented in Scotland back in the 15th century. Players were hitting a pebble using a primitive golf club. Defined in the Rules of Golf as "playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules." The game beging to popularize in the 16th century as it spread out to England and later introduced to France. As the British Empire began to expand, golf clubs were established in Bangalore, India (1820), Cape Town (1885), St Andrew's of New York (1888) and Royal Hong Kong (1889).

The 20th century with all its technological breakthroughs gave birth to the modern game of golf. In 1902, the grooved-faced irons were created. Then three years later, William Taylor invented the first dimpled ball. In 1910, Arthur Knight introduced steel-shafted clubs and that's who golfers were able to hit further and with more accuracy than ever before. The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) of America was formed in 1916. The Ryder Cup, which is popular nowadays, started in 1927 as a competition between USA and European golfers.

There are a lot of interesting terms related with the game of golf. Golf is played on an area of land known as 'the course'. A course consists of series of holes, usually eighteen. Tee is a term defining the area from where a ball is first hit. Hole means the hole in the ground as well as the distance from the tee. Every player makes his first stroke from the tee. Every golfer tries to keep the ball in the fairway and staying away from the rough. The fairway holds a big advantage, because its grass is cut shorter, so the player can cleanly strike the ball, while the grass on the rough is generally much longer, negatively affecting the flight of the ball.

Golf courses have hazardous areas, such as - water hazards (lakes, rivers); man made hazards (bunkers); lateral hazards (bushlands, gardens). If the ball can not be played from the hazard, then the golfer can hit from another location, with a penalty of one stroke. The position of the location is defined by strict rules. A very important rule is that the when in hazard, a player can not touch the ground with his club before playing the ball.

To putt means to hit the ball with a special golf club, called putter. When putting, the ball must not leave the ground. This is the final shot, which the golfer tries to put the ball into the hole. Every golf course has certain borders and when a player hits a ball beyond those pre-defined borders (out of bounds), he must hit the ball from the same position with a one stroke penalty.

The goal of every golfer is to finish the course with as few shots as possible. A hole is defined by its par - "the number of strokes that a skilled golfer should require to complete the hole." Finishing with one stroke more than par is called a bogey. One stroke under par is called birdie.