Interesting Golf Facts

These are just a few of the random, assorted, interesting golf facts I've come across over the years. 

There are about 27 million golfers worldwide.

A golf ball may only be replaced by another during play of a hole if it is destroyed (Rule 5-3), lost (Rule 27-1), or unplayable (Rule 28), or at some other time permitted by the Rules.
Modern golf balls have a two-, three-, or four-layer design constructed from various synthetic materials.
If a golfer hits the ball out of the course, into the "out of bounds", he/she must hit a ball from the same position the last one was, with a penalty of one stroke.
The direction of growth of individual blades of grass often affects the roll of a golf ball and is called the grain.
The par of a hole is primarily, but not exclusively, determined by the distance from tee to green.
Golf is said to have originated in the Netherlands, but has been played for at least five centuries in the British Isles.
A golf ball with little backspin will usually roll out for a few yards/meters while a ball with more backspin may not roll at all, even backwards.
Before the modern tee came into use, early golfers often used a small pyramid of sand to hold the ball.
A round typically consists of 18 holes that are played in the order determined by the course layout.
The cup is always found within the green, and must have a diameter of 108 mm.
Handicap systems are not used in professional golf.
Par five holes are typically at between 435 and 630 m (476 and 690 yds).
A golf ball acquires spin when it is hit.
The wooden golf tee was invented in the 1930s.
Special rules apply to playing golf balls that come to rest in a hazard.
A few par six holes now exist, but will not be found on a traditional golf course.
A hole of golf consists of hitting a ball from a tee on the teeing box (a marked area designated for the first shot of a hole, a tee shot), and once the ball comes to rest, striking it again.
Conversely, a green is termed "slow" if a stronger stroke is required to roll the ball the required distance.
Par is the number of strokes that a skilled golfer should require to complete the hole.
Backspin is imparted for almost every shot due to the golf club's loft.
The slope of the green, called the break, also affects the roll of the ball. 
The successful conduct of business golf (which extends beyond merely knowing the game) is considered a useful business skill; various schools, including prestigious universities such as Stanford University, have started both undergraduate and graduate-level courses that teach "business golf".
Left handers usually use right handed golf clubs. This may have been due to the difficulty of finding left-handed golf clubs.
Golfers describe a green as being "fast" if a light stroke of the ball allows it to roll a long distance.
The Scots regard golf to be a Scottish invention, as the game was supposedly mentioned in two 15th-century laws prohibiting the playing of the game of "gowf".
Golf, in essentially the form we know today, has been played on Scotland's Musselburgh Links (today's oldest golf course world-wide) since 1672, while earlier versions of the game had been played in the British Isles and the low-countries of Northern Europe for several centuries before that.
The grass of the putting green (or more commonly the green) is cut very short so that a ball can roll easily over distances of several yards.
A hole is classified by its par.
A golf ball in any type of hazard may be played as it lies without penalty.
The cup usually has a flag on a pole positioned in it so that it may be seen from some distance, but not necessarily from the tee.
As stated on the back cover of the official rule book: "play the ball as it lies", "play the course as you find it", and "if you can't do either, do what is fair".
The major changes in equipment since the 19th century have been better mowers, especially for the greens, and better golf ball designs, using rubber and man-made materials since about 1900.
A golfer who plays right-handed, but holds the club left-hand-below-right is said to be "cack-handed".
Each player acts as marker for one other player in the group, that is, he or she records the score on a score card.
Exactly where the ball may be played outside a hazard is governed by strict rules.
The difference between your number of strokes and the par determines your handicap.
The two basic forms of playing golf are match play and stroke play.
A typical length for a par three hole is anywhere between 91 and 224 m (100 and 250 yds). 
The first type of golf ball was feathery, made out of leather and feathers.
A golf school is often associated with a golf course or golf club.
On some golf courses, walking is prohibited, and the cart fee is often included with the green fee.
A hole means both the hole in the ground into which the ball is played (also called the cup), as well as the total distance from the tee (a pre-determined area from where a ball is first hit) to the green (the low cut area surrounding the actual hole in the ground).
Teeing grounds on most golf courses are relatively flat, in order for the golfer to have a perfect lie for the first shot on a hole.
Playing the ball from the fairway is an advantage because the fairway grass is kept very short and even, allowing the player to cleanly strike the ball, while playing from the rough is a disadvantage because the grass in the rough is generally much longer and the player doesn't have as good of an idea as to how the ball will fly out of the rough.
Every game of golf is based on playing a number of holes in a given order.
In the United States, golf is the unofficial sport of the business world.
Putting greens are not of all the same quality.
The origin of golf is open to debate among Chinese, Dutch and Scottish. Golf was first mentioned in Dongxuan Records (Chinese).
Generally, the finest quality greens are well kept so that a ball will roll smoothly over the closely mowed grass.
A golf hole is traditionally either a par three, four, or five.

Not too long ago breast cancer was found to be the highest among women professional golfers over all other sports.  It was finally discovered that the herbicides on the golf course was the cause.  Herbicides are estrogen mimickers and the body thinks it's getting more estrogen, hence the increased rate of estrogen-positive breast cancers. This may also be implicated in prostate cancers, because of the hormone relationship.  Most golf courses have stopped using herbicides.  If your favorite golf courses haven't, ask why not.