There has been a renewed interest in golf lately among the younger generations with the rise in popularity of golf phenomenon Tiger Woods. These days, golf is enjoyed by young and old alike. It gives fathers time to spend with sons and daughters, brothers with sisters, and friends with other friends.

The game of golf is played on both the amateur and professional levels with notoriety coming to good players locally and nationally. The professional golfers who are most famous are well-known world-wide, and often people strive to emulate them and their amazing play styles.

Of course, golf isnt without its stressors. Its nice to be out on the course when its a sunny spring day with a mild breeze, but it can be spoiled by bad shots, horrible lies, water hazards, and missed putts. You see, golf isnt an exact science. There are many variables that go into a good golf swing, and its nearly impossible to perfect them all all at the same time.

Even so, golf can become an obsession with some people as they strive to lower their scores and beat their friends. Millions of dollars is spent every year on golf lessons, magazines, how-to videos, and programs that purport to improve your golf swing and lower your score.

Golf equipment is also big business as clubs are always evolving with new technologies and equipment to build them. Big head drivers, graphite shafts, and other equipment advancements are touted as being the new best things in golf. They are advertised heavily and make claims that you just have to have these products if you want to play good golf.

If youre not a golfer, you might wonder whats so wonderful about this game. After all, taking a stick and hitting a little ball into a hole doesnt sound like very much fun. But golf is challenging and involves much more than just physical ability. It requires thinking skills, deduction skills, and mental clarity. Because its nearly impossible to perfect a golf game, its a great way to challenge yourself as well as others.

We highly suggest you take up golf if you want a ways to meet new people, connect with old friends, and enjoy a fun, challenging activity. The golf course is also a great place to conduct business. Theres so much we can say about golf, but nothing extols the virtues of this sport like getting out on the links and just doing it!

Woods was a child prodigy who began to play golf at the age of two. In 1978, he putted against comedian Bob Hope in a television appearance on The Mike Douglas Show. At age three, Woods shot a 48 over nine holes at the Navy Golf Club in Cypress, California, and at age five, he appeared in Golf Digest and on ABC’s That’s Incredible.

At the age of 15 Tiger Woods became the youngest U.S. Junior Amateur Open Champion in golf history. He would go on to win the tournament three more times making him the events only multiple winner as well as the youngest. Continuing his record breaking career, Woods was the youngest to win the U.S. Amateur Championship which bought him a ticket into the PGA Masters. He tied for 41st making him the only amateur to make the cut.

His professional career has been just as prolific. Immediately upon turn pro, Tiger signed endorsement deals worth $60 million with Nike and Titleist. He played his first round of professional golf at the Greater Milwaukee Open. He tied for 60th place in his pro debut, but would go on to win two events in the next three months, and qualify for the Tour Championship.

Tiger Woods is the only golfer to win the PGA Player of the Year award in the year following his rookie season. The following April, Woods won his first golf major, The Masters, by a record margin of 12 strokes, became the youngest Masters winner, and the first winner of African or Asian descent.

He eventually set a total of 20 Masters records and tied 6 others, and has been the highest-profile golfer in the world ever since. He would go on to win an additional three PGA Tour events that year, and on June 15, 1997, Woods rose to the number one spot in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time. Tiger Woods achieved this in only his 42nd week as a professional the fastest ever ascent to the No. 1 ranking.

Currently ranked #1 in the world, theres no doubt about it that Tiger Woods is one of the greatest golfers of all time. He has made the game of golf fun again as we all watch to see him continue to break records and win tournaments.

In 1934 Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts wanted to provide a service to golf by hosting an annual golf tournament. Roberts proposed the event be called the Masters Tournament, but Jones objected thinking it sounded too presumptuous. The name Augusta National Invitation Tournament was adopted and that title was used for five years until 1939 when Jones relented and the name was officially changed.

The tournament is held at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, GA, where it is still hosted today. Many decisions made in the early days of the Masters still remain today. Among these are

* The four-day stroke playing of 18 holes each day instead of the then customary 36 holes on the third day
* Eliminating qualifying rounds
* Denying permission for anyone except the player and the caddie to be in the playing area
* Commercialization in any form of the tournament was limited.

The first Masters Tournament was held on March 22, 1934, and beginning in 1940, the Masters was scheduled each year during the first full week in April. That first tournament was won by Horton Smith. In 1935 Gene Sarazen hit the shot heard round the world scoring a double eagle on the par five 15th hole tying Craig Wood and forcing a playoff. Sarazen won the 36-hole playoff the following day winning by five strokes.

In 1942, Ben Hogan lost to Byron Nelson by one stroke in an 18-hole playoff and the tournament was not played the following three years: 1943, 1944, and 1945 during World War II. To assist the war efforts, cattle and turkeys were raised on the Augusta National grounds.

Many milestones have occurred throughout the history of the Masters. In 1965 and 1966, Jack Nicklaus became the first Masters champion to defend his title successfully. Many others would have consecutive wins, but The Golden Bear was the first. Tiger Woods broke the four-day scoring record that has stood for 32 years in 1997.

The Masters is characterized by offering the winner a green jacket and having that jacket is considered a great honor in the golfing world. The previous years winner would always present the jacket to the current years winner and it is done with great flourish.

The Masters is one of golfs greatest tournaments. The best part is that amateurs can gain entry into the tournament by invitation only giving them dreams of winning the big prize against the best in the field!

Each Ryder Cup team is captained by an experienced golfer. They will get to choose some of the golfers who will play on the team, but most of the team is chosen according to how well they have played since the last Ryder Cup. There is a point system that is in place and their position on the team is dependent on their points.

The matches in the Ryder cup involve various match play matches. Currently, the matches consist of eight foursome matches, eight four ball matches, and twelve singles matches. The winner of each match scores a point for their team with point each for any match that is tied after 18 holes.

A foursome match is competition between two teams of two golfers. The golfers on the same team take alternate shots throughout the match with the same ball. A team takes the hole when it completes the hole with the fewest shots.

A four ball match in the Ryder Cup is also a competition between two teams of two golfers, but all four golfers play their own ball throughout the round rather than alternating shots. Whichever golfer completes the hole with the lowest score wins the hole.

A singles match is a standard match play competition between two golfers.

Many changes have been made to the Ryder Cup over the years, but it still remains one of the most exciting and competitive tournaments in the golf world. The next Ryder Cup competition will be held in 2008 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.

While teams have yet to be officially picked, we do know that the United States Ryder Cup team will be captained by Paul Azinger. Right now, it appears well probably see Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, and Davis Love III as team members based on their points they have accumulated.

The European Ryder Cup team will be captained by Nick Faldo. Expect to see names like Colin Montgomerie, Sergio Garcia, and Luke Donald as probably team members.

Nonetheless, it is a dream of many golfers to play professional golf one day and make a living doing something that they truly, truly love. Your office is the course, and your co-workers are people who love the game just as much as you do. You share common interests at the professional level of golf and it can be a very satisfying career. But isnt that obvious?

Qualifying to play professional golf is another story altogether. The field is very competitive and it can be extremely difficult to break through. Some people try their whole lives to qualify and always come up short. It takes a lot of practice, a lot of dedication, and an ability to take a lot of disappointment to play professional golf, so know what youre in for!

To get started playing professional golf, you will first have to qualify for Q School or Qualifying School. Q Schools are annual qualifying tournament for leading golf tours like the PGA and the LPGA. In Q School, a fixed number of players win membership to the tour for the following season. In professional golf, this is referred to as your tour card. You will then be able to play in most of the tours events without having to qualify.

Getting through the Q school is very competitive and most professional golfers never achieve it. There can be up to four stages to negotiate each of them like a regular golf tournament with only a small number of players going on to the next state. The final qualifying school may be played over up to six rounds compared with the standard four rounds in a professional golf tournament. However, players who are successful at Q school can reach the elite level of competition very quickly.

You can also qualify to play professional golf in other ways. Finishing near the top of the money list on the tours developmental tour, winning a tournament on the tour after qualifying or as a sponsors invitee, or winning enough money on multiple events on the tour to meet whatever criteria the tour may lay down for promotion to full membership. This last one was how Tiger Woods gained his first tour card.

Playing professional golf is not an easy career to pursue, but it is a great way to make a living! Persistence, patience, and a great game of golf can all get you on your way to playing professional golf, but be realistic and know that it will take time.

For example, there are 57 million people all over the world who call themselves golfers. In the last ten years, there have been 7,800 new golf courses open up all over the globe. The average male golfer can drive the golf ball 195 yards while the average drive by women is 145 yards. The record for longest drive is 415 yards.

Golf statistics are especially important for the professional golfer as well. They are ranked according to their showing in various tournaments and assigned points that determine who is the best golfer. These golf statistics are especially important in years when the Ryder Cup is played as their point totals determine who will play in this prestigious tournament.

There are also golf statistics that keep track of how much money a player has made which is another way of ranking their abilities. As of the writing of this article, Vijay Singh is the worldwide money leader with Tiger Woods following closely behind.

Because there are many, many golf leagues at golf clubs all over the world, keeping track of player statistics is essential in the running of these leagues. Often players will also want to keep track of their own statistics to track their progress. Luckily, there are a lot of software programs that can help with this. Many of them are even free for download on the Internet.

Here are a few programs weve found that seem to be pretty comprehensive for keeping track of golf statistics:

* Stat Doctor keeps track of handicap, golf statistics, and overall game performance in an easy-to-use program. Available for download at www.golfstatdoctor.com

* Keep My Golf Score this is an online golf statistic software program where you join for free and input your playing information. The program will then compute your golf statistics and keep track of your performance. www.keepmygolfscore.com

* Golf Tracker their website states simply, You golf. We keep score. This is also an online golf statistics program that is free to use. You input your information and they will keep track of them. www.golftracker.com

Some people think that statistics are dry and boring especially golf statistics, but if you are a golfer who is interested in improving your game, you will want to keep track of your golf statistics and then watch as your golf game improves!