‘Focus,’ I tell myself. This next shot is key. The ball flies through the air but does not reach its target. This is when perseverance and patience become vital. Leaning over the ball, I think, ‘This next shot has a chance to go in.’ The game of golf is not for the easily tempered or impatient.

Golf is played on an eighteen-hole course that consists of two sides: a front and a back nine. Par, or the amount of shots it should take to complete the course, is usually seventy-two: thirty-six strokes on both the front and back. Depending on the setup, the course itself can be one of many types. Just a handful of these different types include links, parkland, and desert. A links style course is basically a strip of grassy area with dunes and longer grass in between, thus creating a linked pattern. Links courses also tend to have few to no trees. Because of the terrain of the United States, a parkland course is very common here. This type of course contains lush grass that is different lengths in different places, many trees, and several sand bunkers. Desert courses are like an oasis in the middle of nowhere. These courses look as if pieces of lush green land were arranged and placed down in the desert. Because of the location, trees are about as easy to find as snow at the equator on desert courses. Therefore, these courses are what most golfers dream about.

There are many components of a golf course. The tee box is a section of low cut, thick grass in which a ball can be hit from a tee or off the ground. Fairways are areas of low cut grass that lead up to the hole and usually have trees lining them at parkland courses. For easier and more accurate ball striking, fairway grass is longer in length than the tee box grass but shorter than the rough, or the portion of longer grass on either side of the fairway. Bunkers, or pits of sand, can be found along the fairway and next to the green. If a ball lands in the bunker, the shot becomes much harder than if the ball is hit from the grass. When this happens during a round, my main goal changes from trying to get the ball close to the hole to just attempting to get the ball out of the bunker and onto the green in one shot. The green, a portion of grass in which the hole resides, is the part of the course where the putter comes into play. The grass on the green is very short, basically like carpet. The final component of many courses comes in the form of water. Whether it is a stream or a pond, areas of water can be found anywhere on a golf course.

The sport of golf can be, and often is, very frustrating. Many factors such as wind, trajectory, distance, and many others play into the quality of a shot. Therefore, a shot can change from good to bad if just one of these factors has an affect on the ball. However, anything can happen in the sport of golf. Whether a ball hits a tree and bounces back in bounds or hits the flagstick and drops into the hole, a person never knows what will happen on each shot. Frustration only leads to bad shots and more strokes. Therefore, to succeed in golf, a person must never give up and must always have a positive and optimistic attitude. These aspects make golf a valuable sport to play. If played the right way, it can be a fun and somewhat relaxing sport.

Golf matches consist of several teams playing against each other and are scored based on the combined strokes of the top four golfers on each team. High school matches, which can be nine or eighteen holes, are generally played on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. In a match of nine holes, my goal is to shoot in the high thirties to low forties. Unfortunately, goals don’t always become reality. Whether it be an unfortunate bounce or a troublesome hole, a good round can turn bad in an instant. However, a golfer who is patient and optimistic will overcome adversities and still come in with a good score.

Auglaize Golf Club tops my list of courses because of the way it’s set up and the decent scores of low forties I usually shoot there. If no range or putting green time is provided, the first hole or two of a round presents difficulties, but scores usually become better as the round goes along. However, hole seven on the front nine at Auglaize always gives me troubles. It is a straight, long par five with no water, but there are several sand bunkers on the hole. These bunkers are not, however, the source of the trouble. I always seem to find the trees lining the fairway with my tee shot. Once I am in the trees, I can never seem to get out of them easily. Therefore, instead of the birdie or par that I should get on the hole, a bogey or double bogey becomes the reality. In my head, I hear the voice of Matt saying, “C’mon, buddy boy. Just tap it in!” A little of the frustration caused by hole seven then seems to go away.
In very few other sports will a person find a better venue than in golf. During the early morning, the sparkling dew on the grass, colorful sunrise, and rising mist over the water make for an incredible scene. Nature surrounds every spot on a golf course. Birds constantly tweet their sweet song; all the while the cold bite of the air nips at the skin. I appreciate the serenity of nature on a golf course. If it is played properly, the sport of golf can be fun and relaxing. It presents a challenge and teaches patience and perseverance. All of these aspects combined explain why I believe golf is the greatest game in the world.