Badge 9: Golf

A picture of a golfer much better than me teeing off

Golf. A fun game for some, a source of great frustration for others.  Of all the sports I’ve played in my life, golf has definitely caused me the most anger. You’d think that being in the sunshine and fresh air would have a calming effect on a person, but one can only take so many 12 over par scores before they stop having fun.

The first golf-like game emerged way back in the 1297 but golf as we know it came to be in Scotland in the middle of the 15^th century. While golf was initially banned by King James II of Scotland (for distracting men from their archery practice for military purposes) the game quickly caught fire and became ubiquitous in Scotland and later the entire world.

Here is a quick origin of some of golf’s more interesting terms:

Birdie: this term for scoring one stroke under par, came from the early 20^th century slang term, “Bird”, which just meant anything excellent.

The 'Eighteenth Hole' Badge

Bogey: a term for scoring one stroke over par. Came from the 16^th century Scottish terms 'bogle' which meant goblin and a Bogey-man which was a widely used term for a goblin or devil.

Caddie: the term for the person who carries a golfer’s clubs during a round. The word derives from the French word 'le cadet', meaning 'the boy' or the youngest of the family.

The task required to attain this week’s golf related badge was simple: Play 25 Golf themed games. I powered through the quizzes, mostly about the four Major Tournaments, and scored the badge with little incident or fanfare. I hope this week’s post was on par with your expectations.

ALSO                                                                                                                       

Sporcle released new badges this week and I received the ‘When in 2010’ through previous quiz play. So that’s good. Find out more about it here.

The 'When in 2010' Badge