AS Yuka Saso and Bianca Pagdanganan compete in the final events of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, interest in the sport of golf has reached an all-time high in the Philippines.
But the sudden interest has also revealed that golf is one of the sports that casual fans have little knowledge of when it comes to its rules and how it is scored.
Allow us to explain the very basic mechanics and rules of the sport.
How a golf tournament is conducted
The Olympic golf tournament, just like other major tournaments, holds 18-hole rounds a day. The competition will have four rounds, with the best score at the end of 72 holes declared as the gold medalist.
How the winner is determined
The player with the least number of strokes in the entire four rounds is declared the winner. For reference, let’s take the first round of the women’s Olympic golf on Wednesday as an example with Madeline Sagstrom of Sweden leading the competition with a 66 and Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines in seventh with a 69.
Mechanics
During a round, each player's performance is measured in relation to “par,” which is the number of strokes it will take for a top player to put the ball in the hole. Par-3 holes are therefore the shortest and par-5 holes - and at times par-6 - are the longest.
Strategy
To achieve the least strokes possible, a player, as much as possible, must score belowt he par being designated for each of hole. In short, if you are playing a par-3 hole, putting the ball in the hole after two strokes and doing it on a consistent basis gives the player a better chance of winning. Same goes with par 4 and par 5 holes.
Terminologies
If you hear the word birdie, that means the player was able to put the ball in the hole one stroke below par. The more birdies, the better. Matching the par in each hole is a par. Players avoid scoring a bogey which is the number of strokes over par. The more bogeys (double bogeys, triple bogeys, quadruple bogeys, etc.), the less the chances of winning.
Getting an eagle means that you score two strokes below par, while an ace or hole in one is perhaps the hardest feats to do during a round of golf, converting the ball in just one stroke.
So there, that’s just a few of the intricacies of golf. Hope this helps as you follow the campaign of Saso and Pagdanganan in the Olympics.
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