What is "golf"

Golf \Golf\ (g[o^]lf), n. [D. kolf club or bat, also a Dutch game played in an inclosed area with clubs and balls; akin to G. kolben club, but end, Icel. k?lfr tongue of a bell. bolt, Sw. kolf bolt, dart, but end, Dan. kolv bolt, arrow. Cf. Club, Globe.] A game played with a small ball and a bat or club crooked at the lower end. He who drives the ball into each of a series of small holes in the ground and brings it into the last hole with the fewest strokes is the winner. [Scot.]
--Strutt.

Golf \Golf\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Golfed; p. pr. & vb. n. Golfing.] To play at golf.

Last mystery of all, he learned to golf.
--Kipling.

mid-15c., Scottish gouf, usually taken as an alteration of Middle Dutch colf, colve "stick, club, bat," from Proto-Germanic *kulth- (cognates: Old Norse kolfr "clapper of a bell," German Kolben "mace, club"). The game is from 14c., the word is first mentioned (along with fut-bol) in a 1457 Scottish statute on forbidden games. Golf ball attested from 1540s. Despite what you read on the Internet, "golf" is not an acronym. Golf widow is from 1890.\n\nOh! who a golfer's bride would be,\n
Fast mated with a laddie\n
Who every day goes out to tee\n
And with him takes the caddie.\n

["The Golf Widow's Lament," in "Golf," Oct. 31, 1890]

c.1800, golf (n.). Related: Golfed; golfing.

n. 1 (context sports English) A ball game played by individuals competing against one another in which the object is to hit a ball into each of a series of (usually 18 or nine) holes in the minimum number of strokes. 2 The letter ''G'' in the ICAO spelling alphabet. vb. (cx intransitive English) To play the game of golf.

n. a game played on a large open course with 9 or 18 holes; the object is use as few strokes as possible in playing all the holes [syn: golf game]

v. play golf

Golf is a sport.

Golf or GOLF may also refer to:

Golf billiards (also referred to as simply golf in clear context, and sometimes called golf pool or golf pocket billiards) is a pocket billiards game usually played for money. Unlike the majority of such games, it allows more than two people to play without compromises or rule changes. The game borrows concepts from the outdoor game of golf, which is historically related to the cue sports. It is usually played on 10–foot or 12–foot snooker tables as their size and structure are more appropriate (even in billiard halls in the United States where it is in fact more popular than snooker itself, according to the Billiard Congress of America).

Golf (also known as Polish Polka, Polish Poker, Turtle, Hara Kiri, Poison, or Crazy Nines) is a card game where players try to earn the lowest number of points (as in golf, the sport) over the course of nine deals (or "holes" to further use golfing terminology). It is a game for four or more players using a double-deck of 108 cards, and has little in common with its solitaire cousin.

Golf is a 1980 video game for the Atari 2600 based on the sport of the same name. The game was developed and published by Atari. In this game, one or two players can play nine holes of golf. It was rereleased on Microsoft's Game Room online service on November 10, 2010.

is a sports-simulation video game released in 1984 for the NES. The golfer is a mustached man who resembles Mario.

The player one character wears a white shirt and shoes with blue pants and uses a white ball, while the player two character wears a red shirt and shoes with black pants and uses a red ball.

Golf is a 1922 American silent comedy film featuring Oliver Hardy. The film has been released on DVD.

Golf is a Patience card game where players try to earn the lowest number of points (as in golf, the sport) over the course of nine deals (or " holes," also borrowing from golf terminology). It has a tableau of 35 face-up cards and a higher ratio of skill to luck than most other solitaire card games.

Golf, known in Japan as , is a golf video game that was released within months of the Virtual Boy console's launch. Golf was developed and published by T&E Soft in Japan and published by Nintendo in North America. It was directed by Tadashi Nakatsuji and its sound specialist was Ken Kojima. The game uses standard golf rules and is set in the fictional 18-hole Papillion Golf & Country Club. Hazards include water, sand traps, trees, and deep rough grass, and players can choose their club and various aspects of the club's swing, including speed, direction, stance, swing power, and the ball impact point. The direction the ball will go in is determined by these things as well as the speed and direction of the wind. It is displayed in the Virtual Boy's standard red and black color scheme with 3D effects by use of a 3D processor. It was met with critical praise for its controls and physics and mixed reviews for its graphics. Nintendo Power called it the third best Virtual Boy release of its year.

Golf is a club and ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.

Golf is one of the few ball games that do not require a standardized playing area. The game is played on a course with an arranged progression of either nine or 18 holes. Each hole on the course must contain a tee box to start from, and a putting green containing the actual cup. There are other standard forms of terrain in between, such as the fairway, rough, and hazards, but each hole on a course is unique in its specific layout and arrangement.

Golf is played for the lowest number of strokes by an individual, known as stroke play, or the lowest score on the most individual holes in a complete round by an individual or team, known as match play. Stroke play is the most commonly seen format at all levels.