Things you did not know about golf
I recently visited the Driving Range Wilanów and gave golf a go.
Golf is a sport that I am only learning, but I like it already. I recently paid a visit to the Driving Range Wilanówwhere I learned the tricks of this noble sport. This inspired me to put together a few fun facts about the discipline that you might enjoy.
The first mention of a sport resembling golf dates back to the 13thcentury. This was when people in Holland played a game using a stick and a ball. In fact, the word golf originates from the Dutch name “kolf” which means a stick. Scotland is considered to be the homeland of golf and the game is said to have been born in the Middle Ages. In any case, the oldest golf course in the world is the Old Links al Musselburgh Racecourse in Scotland founded in 1672.
The popularity of golf was invariably growing since the 19thcentury. In 1900-1904, golf was even one of the Olympic sports(it was reinstated as an official discipline during the Rio de Janeiro Olympics). But it was not until the second half of the 20thcentury that it was to become a sport accessible to practically anyone as long as they could afford to buy the gear, pay the club fee and rent a course. One of the reasons behind its popularity was that golf could be practiced by both the very young and the very old because of the little physical effort required to play it.
The best golfers are making quite a lot of money. The perfect example of this is the world’s best golfer, Tiger Woods, who had been the best paid sportsperson for many years. For instance, in 2009, he made USD 110 million. Sadly, his reputation was tarnished by the scandals he was involved in which translated into a drop in his earnings.
In Poland, golf did not become popular until after the regime transformation of 1989. In the early 1990s, the first golf courses were established and the Polish Golf Association was founded in 1993. Many domestic celebrities and sportspeople have developed a love for golf, such as: Wiktor Zborowski, Krzysztof Materna, Piotr Gąsowski, Mateusz Kusznierewicz, Mariusz Czerkawski and Jerzy Dudek.
