Major Features of a Golf Course – Know Your Way Around the Greens

It's all about your putting technique when you are out on the green. This is the area blanketed by a lush carpet of green grass whose blades are kept finely trimmed; here the main aim is to keep the ball rolling. Out on the green is where you'll find the holy grail, or rather, the holy hole – use your well-honed putting skills to gently roll the ball along into the hole to the adulation of adoring crowds (imagined or real). The trick to mastering the green includes not just working on your putting technique, but also identifying the state of particular areas of the green (which can be done by observing details such as the subtle colour differences of blades of grass), and then adjusting your technique accordingly. For example, if you notice that certain patches are moister than others, then you will have to put a little more force behind your club in order to move the ball further along, while the reverse will hold true for patches of grass which offer less resistance to the ball.

The tee, teeing ground or tee box as it is called, is the flat area that leads up to the hole which is situated on the green. Its name comes from the little golf tee, which is a slim, two or three in tall peg made out of plastic or wood, and is used to elevate and hold the ball in place before the golfer makes the first stroke on the tee box, towards the hole. Therefore, the teeing ground can be said to be where the real game begins, and if you've heard the term 'a hole in one', this is the part of the golf course where such a shot can be accomplished. Also known as an ace shot (somewhat comparable to an ace serve in tennis), the hole in one is made when upon having taken their first attempt from the tee box, the golfer manages to get the ball into the hole in one fell swoop.

This is the well-maintained stretch of grassland between you, when you are out there on the teeing ground, ready to take aim, and the green on which the hole is situated. As it's the grass here is also kept quite short, it makes for one of the easiest places on the whole golfing course to control the ball and get it rolling along. Therefore in most situations, most players, when taking their shot from the tee, aim to get the ball first into the fairway, in hopes of making it easier to later get the ball onto the green near the hole.

There are also hazards that are incorporated into golfing fields in order to make things more interesting for players. These challenges usually come in the form of water or bunkers. If you are faced with a hazard of the former type you will have to overcome the difficulties of golfing near ponds, lakes, rivers, creeks or sometimes even the sea if your course lies along the coast. If your hazard is of the latter type, i.e to do with bunkers, then what you are facing is golfing over sand-filled trenches in the ground. Usually, you will find bunkers lining the green and the fairway.

Malaysia is full of golf courses these days, with almost every major reason having at least one. From the capital of Kuala Lumpur to Malacca and Kota Kinabalu, there are golfing greens just about anywhere. So if you or your friends and family have booked a vacation at a Johor golf course in the country, such as The Els Club Malaysia, or at one of the many others spread out across the land, you had better brush up on your golfing skills so that you don't get left behind!