Golf! Glorious Golf! Enjoying Golf a Game of Skill and Frustration .

Golf used to be one of those games I thought I would never ever play. These days I play rain or shine at every opportunity. It is a game of skill that is a self challenge or one that may be played with a partner or a small group. Golf demands that you understand the basics, how to hold the clubs and which one to choose for each occasion, how to tee up the ball, how to hit the ball, the rules of the game, how to score and the terms used in golf. It doesn't take long to learn them and you spend the rest of your life trying to master the game. Whoever you are playing with, you are also playing against yourself so it is a continual challenge. The social aspects of the game are many as most clubs have a bar or restaurant at the "Nineteenth Hole" for needed refreshment.

Golf courses sometimes called links, by their very nature are beautiful. They consist of nine or eighteen holes. The holes refer to the cups sunk into beautifully manicured greens which are at the end of fairways. These are a strip of the mown grass leading to the green, up which you are supposed to drive the ball from the the tee. This is not as simple as one would imagine as the fairway may have a dogleg bend or be littered with hazards. These may be trees, bushes, ponds, lakes, sand traps or bunkers, rocks and the fairway is usually far from level ground. All this makes golf interesting and a challenge There are usually public courses in most areas that charge a reasonable fee for a round. New Zealand is where I play most and the public courses there are of a very high quality and very reasonably priced. The perfect destination for a golfing holiday!

If exercise is your main aim, then golf gives you a good a walk and even a small nine hole course is around three miles not counting the detours to retrieve balls inadvertently set into the wrong orbit or balls that have rolled down hill in the wrong direction. I don't use a golf cart as I enjoy the walk but some courses will insist you use one so that you get round faster. In Florida a golf cart is used for safety as poisonous snakes and alligators abound.

Unless you belong to a club with strict dress code, smart casual dress is adequate with sports shoes, spikes are no longer used as they can damage the greens. Clubs may usually be hired at most courses for a small fee. Sets of clubs turn up regularly at thrift shops for very little money As soon as you decide that golf is the game for you, it is great to indulge in top quality clubs as they can add enjoyment, and even help to improve your game. It is sensible to make sure you are protected against the sun and a hat is advisable to shade your eyes when playing into the sun.

Each time I play, the golf course being a safe haven for wild life i see many birds, rabbits , butterflies and lots of different fungi. Golf courses are now being designed to enhance this aspect with animal proof fences so that herds of deer and other wildlife can roam safely to the delight of people using the course.

My only regret is that I didn't take up the game sooner. I have a bright pink golf ball and challenge myself not to loose it during a round. A few bottles of beer add to the fun and do not overload your golf bag too much. I recently upgraded to some hybrid clubs which are much easier to use. A few lessons from a professional attached to most clubs is a good investment. I am fortunate to visit New Zealand frequently where the whole country looks like a golf course. The fees there are very reasonable and may be as low as $8 NZ per person. The courses are very well designed and some have puffs of steam rising from the ground to add to the excitement! If you haven't tried it yet, give it a try, you won't regret it! Enjoy!