The objective of golf is essentially to get from the "tee" to the "green" (see Golf Course Guide) in as few shots as possible through the use of the various golf clubs in your golf bag (see golf equipment).

A round of golf consists of 18 holes, each of which has a different design, length and level of difficulty. These factors help to establish each hole's "par", which is basically the number of shots it should take a skilled golfer to get from the beginning to the end of the hole.

You begin each hole at the tee, generally using your "driver" (see golf equipment) to strike the ball in the direction of the pin (the flag indicating the hole's location on the green). Once the ball comes to rest, you continue to hit the ball with fairway drivers or irons until you reach the green. Along the way, your ball may wind up in natural and man-made hazards such as long grass, trees, bunkers (ditches filled with sand) and bodies of water. Once you reach the green, you use your putter to get the ball to land in the cup.

Each time you hit the ball counts as a stroke; the total numer of strokes per hole that it takes you to get the ball from the tee to the cup must be recorded on the score card. At the end of the round, all of your strokes are added up and the final sum is recorded. The lower your score, the better!