Curiosities of Golf II

1. The largest golfing green is that of the 695-yard, 5th hole, a par 6 at the International Golf Club in Massachusetts , with an area in excess of 28,000 square feet.

2. The driver swing speed of an average lady golfer is 62mph; 96mph for an average LPGA professional; 84mph for an average male golfer; 108mph for an average PGA Tour player; 130mph for Tiger Woods; 148-152mph for a national long drive champion.

3. There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.

4. The first golf balls were made of thin leather stuffed with feathers. Tightly-packed feathers made balls that flew the farthest. Feather balls were used until 1848.

5. The youngest golfer to shoot a hole-in-one was Coby Orr, who was five years old at the time. It happened in Littleton , Colorado , in 1975.

6. 22.8% of golfers are women.

7. Golf was banned in Scotland from 1457 to 1502 to ensure citizens wouldn’t waste time when preparing for an English invasion

8. The term birdie comes from an American named Ab Smith. While playing 1899, he played what he described as a “bird of a shot”, which became “birdie” over time.

9. The word golf does not mean “Gentleman Only, Ladies Forbidden”. This is an internet myth. It is thought the word golf comes from the Dutch word “kolf” or “kolve”, meaning “club”. Historians believe this was passed on to the Scottish, whose own dialect changed this to “golve,” “gowl” or “gouf”. By the sixteenth century, this had evolved into the word we know today.

10. Don’t feel bad about your high handicap —- 80% of all golfers will never achieve a handicap of less than 18.