Golf is a sport played on golf courses, typically 9 or 18 holes where a group of four (called flight) will attempt to sink the ball into the hole with as few strokes as possible. The whole objective is to finish the round (9 holes or 18 holes) with the least strokes as possible.
One thing about golf is that it is not merely a sport where you compete with your opponents. Golf is the only sport (that I know of) that has no referee. You keep tabs of your scores, and you declare your scores. Sure you can cheat to post better scores, but do that, and either you’ll end up losing your golfing buddies, or be hacked to death with a seven iron. So in short, golf is a game that you actually compete with yourself. Physically you will be tested as you will be walking around the course for more than 4 hours and lose 3 kgs of water (that’s my average) over a round of 18 holes. Mentally, your patience will be tested to not break your club to half and stab your buggy mate to death every time you lose your ball, or when you hit your shot against the trees and the ball bounces 20 meters backwards.
Many perceive golf as an expensive sport. Yes, it is pretty expensive as a typical round of golf on an average golf course will cost you between RM 100 to RM 150. But there are ways to play at good courses without forcing you to starve your family to death. No don’t do that. Be a responsible family man, and you may enjoy better golf. That however will be elaborated further in my future postings.
Getting started. Equipments. The basic equipments that’s needed to start, is a golf set (consists of a bag, irons, driver, and putter) golf shoes, golf balls, tees, and you’re ready to go. So how much for the equipments? Well, this is actually subjective. It ranges from less than RM 200 (if you can convince your dad or uncle to give his old set to you) to more than RM 5,000 if you’re brand conscious and refuse to use anything that is second hand. Two years ago, when I started golf, here is what I spent on;
- Golf Set (irons, putter, and bag) – RM 650
- Driver – FOC (used friends old driver)
- Shoes – FOC (a friend gave me his old pair of shoes)
- Golf balls – RM 1.00 to RM 1.50 each
So in total, I spent less than RM 700 to start. Today, you can get a decent complete gear for less than RM 1,000. All you need to do is ask around for golf sales, or browse the internet i.e. e-bay, mudah.com and you may land yourself with a pretty good set and start hacking away!
