Golf is a genteel sport that has become a global passion, especially in the business world. Golf trophies carry the reward of instant fame and fortune. Golf tours of certain regions are avidly followed by fans worldwide, and toughly contested for. Legends like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have captured international attention.

Golf is a game where individuals or teams hit a ball into a hole using several clubs. It involves manipulating the ball with a club from the teeing ground to the hole with a series of strokes, according to certain rules. Golf is played on a tract of land called a course, which consists of a series of holes. A hole represents the distance between the tee (the starting point) and the green (where the actual hole is). Most golf courses have 9 or 18 holes. Experienced players take fewer strokes to manipulate balls into the holes. Courses also have impediments like bunkers, sand traps and water hazards (like rivers or streams).

Par is the theoretical number of strokes which an expert golfer needs to get his ball into any particular hole. Every game of golf is based on playing a number of holes in a given order. The two major forms of playing golf are match play and stroke play.

Golf is regarded as a Scottish invention, and has been played in British Isles for centuries. It has also its origins in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century, where golf clubs were used to play balls into holes. The term golf is evolved from the Germanic word for club. The oldest course in the world is the Old Links at Musselburgh, where the game has been played since 1672. The links at St. Andrews occupy a narrow strip of land along the sea. Golfers on that course established a customary route through that terrain playing holes suited to the topography.

Golf is viewed as an elite pastime but is attracting more players from all backgrounds. In the U.S., golf is the unofficial game of the business world, so much so that business schools train students in golf. In 2005, Golf Digest found that there were nearly 32,000 golf courses in the world, with half of them in the U.S.A. Some other golf-loving countries include Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Canada and Sweden. Japan and South Korea are catching up.

Golf is a major professional sport with many coveted tours and trophies. There are at least 20 professional tours, each run by a PGA or an independent tour organization responsible for organizing the tournament. The most famous is the PGA Tour, a leading mens tour which carries a prize of around US$800,000. The PGA Tour also brings endorsement and advertising deals, and the fame that comes with beating the best of the best. The PGA European Tour is only second to the PGA Tour, and is equally attractive to professional golfers worldwide.

Golf is unique for having lucrative competitions for older players. The US-based Champions tour is one among tours for senior citizens. There are five major tours for women golfers. The most coveted is the US based LPGA Tour.

The major mens championships are as follows: the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship. Golfer Tiger Woods made sporting history by winning all four majors in one season and earning the name Tiger Slam.

The major womens tournament run by the LPGA Tour consists of four majors- the

Kraft Nabisco Championship, U.S. Womens Open, LPGA championship, and Womens British Open.

Golf trophies may be made of crystal, silver or gold, resin, pewter, acrylic or bronze. A common shape is that of a golfer in action.