Golf Is The Best Sport In The World (Arguably)

Arguments as to which sport is the bin the world always generate passion and inciteful debate, with almost everyone believing that the one in which they participate in, is better than anything else.

Perhaps surprisingly, badminton is the biggest individual 'participation' sport with 225 million players worldwide. However, golf comes very high on the list with over 60 million participants, and there are some very good reasons why we think it is such a great game.

First and foremost, there is no age limit. The world's oldest golfer is 103, and Tiger Woods started to play aged 2! What's more, because of the handicap system you can play on level terms with anybody no matter how competent (or otherwise!) you may be. You can compete with a professional – try doing that in tennis, snooker, or boxing.

You can get plenty of exercise, OK, it's not the same as running a marathon, but on average in an 18-hole round of golf, you walk about six miles. When you consider that most health professionals agree that to keep healthy you should walk a mile a day, one round of golf on a Saturday or Sunday is near enough all the exercise you need for a week.

Golf is also the only sport in which you can eat or drink while you are playing it.

You can wander along the fairway while you eat an apple, a sandwich, a sausage roll, or a pizza if you like although we wouldn't advise it if you wish to score well.

On some course, you can have a pint of beer? (depending on the licensing laws of the venue). Or take your own beverage with you. Some golfer are known to keep a hip flask topped up with whisky, brandy, port, or whatever your favourite tipple is, and celebrate every time you score par.

Or maybe have a extra swig if you get a birdie. Hey, you could even take a bottle of wine if you have somewhere to keep in chilled

Golf Etiquetee and good manners...

Golf can teach you many things, respect and good manners are just some of the life skills golf can educate you with and there are far too few of them about in the 21st century.

There are unwritten rules, such as shaking hands at the end of every round, never walking on your partner's putting lines, and the way everyone gets together to hunt for lost balls – unless they're in the lake, of course.

Every course is different. You are out in the countryside – hopefully in the sun – with nothing around you but beautiful scenery, yet that aside, each course has its own particular ambience. Even your own local course differs from day to day according to the weather, the light, the temperature, the season, and more.

You can play as many holes as you like. The standard 9 and 18, but if you want to take it easy you can quite often just play loops of five or six holes. Equally, if you're up for it, you could play up to four or five rounds in a day, if your legs can take it!

You can play as an individual, but you can also play as part of a team. You can have teams of any number you like. Pairs, three-balls, and four-balls are common, but you can make up a team with any number of players that you choose.

Golf is hard!

Golf can be hard to learn but also so rewarding. Not just physically but mentally.... But it can also be frustrating, agonising, and downright disheartening – especially when you keep hitting 100+ scores. For example, it maybe you just can't seem to break 90, however hard you try, and however many hours you put in. But when you do finally break that 90 it is the greatest feeling in the world! All that time, effort, and practice that you put in suddenly becomes worth it. Now it's onwards to sub 80!

Of course, there is a great camaraderie in golf...

This is not just in your local clubhouse, but you can also now have your membership via an online golf club, or take out annual online golf club membership via one of the many now popular website networks.

Joining a modern and forward thinking online golf club will introduce you to all sorts of other players close to home and further afield. You will get advice, learn tips, and improve your game just by spending some time online. Of course, nothing beats getting out there on the course playing, but you can still pick up a lot of tips online. You may also find that you can play other courses, and you will get other players' opinions of courses that you might wish to visit.

Finally, of course, no two rounds of golf are ever identical. Even if you only play at your own local course, the conditions are never the same, you play with different people, and your game is never the same either.

The Social Golfer offers online golf club membership and believes that you should be able to play golf anywhere, at any time, regardless of whether you are a club member or not. It is a real social network where the emphasis is on getting away from your laptop and getting out into the real world where you meet more people and play more golf.

The Social Golfer is an online golf community that helps to find new partners as well as societies. they also run different golf societiesand golf groups.