FA CUP THIRD ROUND PREVIEWS – SATURDAY JANUARY – SUNDAY JANUARY 10

Wycombe Wanderers v Aston Villa – Saturday 1245

Positions: Wycombe 6^th (League Two), Aston Villa 20^th (Premier League)

·         On the one hand, Villa may think it is a blessed relief to be playing cup football with their winless run in the league now standing at 19 matches. However, confidence will not be high at Villa Park and few would be surprised to see them lose here. Villa’s Adama Traore is facing a 10 week lay off.

Arsenal v Sunderland – Saturday 1500

Positions: Arsenal 1^st, Sunderland 19^th (both Premier League)

·         Both clubs may be tempted to rest players, but Sunderland may make the most changes, given how anxious they are to stay up and benefit from next season’s massive increase in TV revenue. Because of this, and the fact Arsenal have greater strength in depth, expect the league form book to be maintained here.

Eastleigh v Bolton Wanderers – Saturday 1500

Positions: Eastleigh 4^th (National League Premier), Bolton 24^th (Championship)

·         Things could scarcely be worse at Bolton, with financial troubles mounting and the players’ salary payments delayed in both November and December. Eastleigh are the last non-league side in the competition, and their biggest problem might be how they cope with being seen as favourites for this match in many quarters.

Everton v Dagenham & Redbridge – Saturday 1500

Positions: Everton 11^th (Premier League), Dagenham 22^nd (League Two)

·         Dagenham sit just two places above the bottom of the lowest tier of the English Football League, and their chances at Goodison appear slim – they should be able to concentrate on preserving their League status once this match has concluded. The money they earn from the match will be very welcome though.

Norwich City v Manchester City – Saturday 1500

Positions: Norwich 15^th, Man City 3^rd (both Premier League)

·         Norwich have produced some memorable wins this season, and City are always vulnerable when Vincent Kompany does not play. But City’s goal threat – some of their recent strikes have been genuine Goal of the Season contenders – must make them favourites.

Manchester United v Sheffield United – Saturday 1730

Positions: Man Utd 5^th (Premier League), Sheff Utd 8^th (League One)

·         The pressure on Louis van Gaal appears to have eased, and this match is certainly not comparable to Alex Ferguson’s situation going into his third round match back in 1990 – was British football’s most successful manager really just one game from the sack? After good performances against Chelsea and Swansea, Manchester United start as favourites, especially given Sheffield United’s inconsistent form. After going six without a win, the Blades then put together a winning run of three matches, before losing last time out. But with the Old Trafford side this season, sometimes you just never know!

Oxford City v Swansea City – Sunday 1200

Positions: Oxford 3^rd (League Two), Swansea 17^th (Premier League)

·         If you’re seeking a genuine upset where a small club beats a team from several divisions higher, is this the one? Swansea are struggling in the league and may rest players, while Oxford are riding high three divisions lower.

Chelsea v Scunthorpe – Sunday 1400

Positions: Chelsea 14^th (Premier League), Scunthorpe 15^th (League One)

·         As with Manchester United, one could say that anything can happen with Chelsea this year. However, they come into this fixture on the back of their best league performance of the season, and opponents Scunthorpe are not having a great season. Given Chelsea are so far off the pace in the Premier League, expect them to give the Cup a higher priority.

Tottenham Hotspur v Leicester City – Sunday 1600

Positions: Tottenham 4^th, Leicester 2^nd (both Premier League)

·         Two of the top four in English football meet here, just days before the league encounter between the same teams. Either side could win if they play to their potential, but with Leicester’s goals starting to dry up and their defensive record far from exemplary, Spurs may be marginal favourites.

The History & Fact File Of Golf (Part Three)

Unofficial team variations  

  

Scramble: also known as ambrose or best-shot; each player in a team tees off on each hole, and the players decide which shot was best. Every player then plays their second shot from within a club length of where the best shot has come to rest, and the procedure is repeated until the hole is finished. This system is very common at informal tournaments such as for charity, as it speeds play, allows teams of varying sizes, and allows players of widely varying skill levels to participate without a profoundly negative impact on team score.

Champagne scramble: a combination of a scramble and best-ball, only the first shot of each hole is a scramble; all players tee off, decide on the best tee shot, then each player plays their own ball starting at that point until they hole out, without deciding any further "best shots". The best score amongst the team's players is counted.

Better ball or best-ball: like fourball, each player plays the hole as normal, but the lowest score of all the players on the team counts as the team's score for the hole.

Greensome : also called modified alternate shot, this is played in pairs; both players tee off, and then pick the best shot as in a scramble. The player who did not shoot the best first shot plays the second shot. The play then alternates as in a foursome. A variant of greensome is sometimes played where the opposing team chooses which of their opponent's tee shots the opponents should use. The player who did not shoot the chosen first shot plays the second shot. Play then continues as a greensome.

Wolf : a version of match play; with a foursome an order of play for each player is established for the duration of the round. The first player hits a ball from the tee, then waits for each successive player to hit . After each player hits the 1st player has the option of choosing a partner for the hole  usually by calling Wolf before the next player hits. Once a partner is picked, each two-some  scores their total strokes and the winning two-some is awarded 1-point each for winning a hole and zero points for tying. The next hole, the rotation moves forward . A Wolf can decide to go alone to win extra points, but they must beat all other players in stroke play on that hole. If alone, the Wolf is awarded 2-points for going alone after everyone has hit or 4 points for declaring Lone Wolf before anyone else hits. If the Lone Wolf loses, to even one player, the 3 other players get 1-point each. The winner is the player with the most points at the end of the round. Strategically, care must be taken not to let a low-handicap player run away with all the points by being constantly paired with the Wolf.

Shotgun starts are mainly used for amateur tournament play. In this variant, each of the groups playing starts their game on a different hole, allowing for all players to start and end their round at roughly the same time. All 18 holes are still played, but a player or foursome may, for instance, start on hole 5, play through to the 18th hole, then continue with hole 1 and end on hole 4. This speeds the completion of the entire event as players are not kept waiting for progressive tee times at the first hole. This form of play, as a minor variation to stroke or match play, is neither defined nor disallowed by strict rules and so is used according to local rules for an event.

Handicap systems 

 

A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's ability to play golf over the course of 18 holes. A player's handicap generally represents the number of strokes above par that the player will make over the course of an above-average round of golf. The better the player the lower their handicap is. Someone with a handicap of 0 or less is often called a scratch golfer, and would typically score or beat the course par on a round of play.

Calculating a handicap is often complicated, the general reason being that golf courses are not uniformly challenging from course to course or between skill levels. A player scoring even par on Course A might average four over par on course B, while a player averaging 20 over par on course A might average only 16 over on course B. So, to the "scratch golfer", Course B is more difficult, but to the "bogey golfer", Course A is more difficult. The reasons for this are inherent in the types of challenges presented by the same course to both golfers. Distance is often a problem for amateur "bogey" golfers with slower swing speeds, who get less distance with each club, and so typically require more shots to get to the green, raising their score compared to a scratch golfer with a stronger swing. However, courses are often designed with hazard placement to mitigate this advantage, forcing the scratch player to "lay up" to avoid bunkers or water, while the bogey golfer is more or less unaffected as the hazard lies out of their range. Finally, terrain features and fairway maintenance can affect golfers of all skill levels; narrowing the fairway by adding obstacles or widening the rough on each side will typically increase the percentage of shots made from disadvantageous lies, increasing the challenge for all players.

By USGA rules, handicap calculation first requires calculating a "Handicap Differential" for each round of play the player has completed by strict rules. That in itself is a function of the player's "gross adjusted score"  and two course-specific difficulty ratings: the Course Rating, a calculated expected score for a hypothetical "scratch golfer": and the Slope Rating, a number based on how much worse a hypothetical 20-handicap "bogey golfer" would score compared to the "scratch golfer". The average Slope Rating of all USGA-rated courses as of 2012 is 113, which also factors into the Differential computation.

The most recent Differentials are logged, up to 20 of them, and then the best of these  are selected, averaged, multiplied by .96, and truncated to the tenths place to produce the "Handicap Index". Additional calculations can be used to place higher significance on a player's recent tournament scores. A player's Handicap Index is then multiplied by the Slope Rating of the course to be played, divided by the average Slope Rating of 113, then rounded to the nearest integer to produce the player's Course Handicap.

Once calculated, the Course Handicap is applied in stroke play by simply reducing the player's gross score by the handicap, to produce a net score. So, a gross score of 96 with a handicap of 22 would produce a net score of 74. In match play, the lower handicap is subtracted from the higher handicap, and the resulting handicap strokes are awarded to the higher handicapper by distributing them among the holes according to each hole's difficulty; holes are ranked on the scorecard from 1 to 18, and one stroke is applied to each hole from the most difficult to the least difficult. So, if one player has a 9 handicap and another has a 25 handicap, the 25-handicap player receives one handicap stroke on each of the most difficult 16 holes . If the 25-handicapper were playing against a "scratch golfer", all 25 strokes would be distributed, first by applying one stroke to each hole, then applying the remaining strokes, one each, to the most difficult 7 holes; so, the handicap player would subtract 2 strokes from each of the most difficult 7 holes, and 1 each from the remaining 11.

Handicap systems have potential for abuse by players who may intentionally play badly to increase their handicap  before playing to their potential at an important event with a valuable prize. For this reason, professional golf associations do not use them, but they can be calculated and used along with other criteria to determine the relative strengths of various professional players. Touring professionals, being the best of the best, often have negative handicaps; they can be expected, on average, to score lower than the Course Rating on any course.

Tipster Street.

The History & Fact File of Golf (Part Two)

Today we continue our look at the sport of golf.

Stroke mechanics 

The golf swing is outwardly similar to many other motions involving swinging a tool or playing implement, such as an axe or a baseball bat; however, unlike many of these motions, the result of the swing is highly dependent on several sub-motions being properly aligned and timed, to ensure that the club travels up to the ball in line with the desired path, the clubface is in line with the swing path, and the ball impacts the centre or "sweet spot" of the clubface. The ability to do this consistently, across a complete set of clubs with a wide range of shaft lengths and clubface areas, is a key skill for any golfer, and takes a significant effort to achieve.

Golfers start with the non-dominant side of the body facing the target. At address, the player's body and the centerline of the club face are positioned parallel to the desired line of travel, with the feet either perpendicular to that line or slightly splayed outward. The feet are commonly shoulder-width apart for middle irons and putters, narrower for short irons and wider for long irons and woods. The ball is typically positioned more to the "front" of the player's stance  for lower-lofted clubs, with the usual ball position for a drive being just behind the arch of the leading foot. The ball is placed further "back" in the player's stance  as the loft of the club to be used increases. Most iron shots and putts are made with the ball roughly centered in the stance, while a few mid- and short-iron shots are made with the ball slightly behind the centre of the stance to ensure consistent contact between the ball and clubface, so the ball is on its way before the club continues down into the turf.

The golfer chooses a golf club, grip, and stroke appropriate to the distance:

The "drive" or "full swing" is used on the teeing ground and fairway, typically with a wood or long iron, to produce the maximum distance capable with the club. In the extreme, the windup can end with the shaft of the club parallel to the ground above the player's shoulders.

The "approach" or "3/4 swing" is used in medium- and long-distance situations where an exact distance and good accuracy is preferable to maximum possible distance, such as to place the ball on the green or "lay up" in front of a hazard. The windup or "backswing" of such a shot typically ends up with the shaft of the club pointing straight upwards or slightly towards the player.

The "chip" or "half-swing" is used for relatively short-distance shots near the green, with high-lofted irons and wedges. The goal of the chip is to land the ball safely on the green, allowing it to roll out towards the hole. It can also be used from other places to accurately position the ball into a more advantageous lie. The backswing typically ends with the head of the club between hip and head height.

The "putt" is used in short-distance shots on or near the green, typically made with the eponymous "putter", although similar strokes can be made with medium to high-numbered irons to carry a short distance in the air and then roll . the backswing and follow-through of the putt are both abbreviated compared to other strokes, with the head of the club rarely rising above the knee. The goal of the putt is usually to put the ball in the hole, although a long-distance putt may be called a "lag" and is made with the primary intention of simply closing distance to the hole or otherwise placing the ball advantageously. 

Having chosen a club and stroke to produce the desired distance, the player addresses the ball by taking their stance to the side of it and  grounding the club behind the ball. The golfer then takes their backswing, rotating the club, their arms and their upper body away from the ball, and then begins their swing, bringing the clubhead back down and around to hit the ball. A proper golf swing is a complex combination of motions, and slight variations in posture or positioning can make a great deal of difference in how well the ball is hit and how straight it travels. The general goal of a player making a full swing is to propel the clubhead as fast as possible while maintaining a single "plane" of motion of the club and clubhead, to send the clubhead into the ball along the desired path of travel and with the clubhead also pointing that direction.

Accuracy and consistency is typically stressed over pure distance. A player with a straight drive that travels only will nevertheless be able to accurately place the ball into a favourable lie on the fairway, and can make up for the lesser distance of any given club by simply using "more club"  on their tee shot or on subsequent fairway and approach shots. However, a golfer with a drive that may go but often doesn't fly straight will be less able to position their ball advantageously; the ball may "hook", "pull", "draw", "fade", "push" or "slice" off the intended line and land out of bounds or in the rough or hazards, and thus the player will require many more strokes to hole out.

Musculature  

A golf stroke uses muscles on core, hamstring, shoulder, and wrist. Stronger muscles on wrist can prevent wrists from being twisted at swings, while stronger shoulders increase the turning force. Weak wrists can also deliver the impacts to elbows and even neck and lead to injury of them.  Golf is a unilateral exercise that can break body balances, requiring exercises to keep the balance in muscles.

Types of Putting 

  

Putting is considered to be the most important component of the game of golf. As the game of golf has evolved, there have been many different putting techniques and grips that have been devised to give golfers the best chance to make putts. When the game originated, golfers would putt with their dominate hand on the bottom of the grip and their weak hand on top of the grip. This grip and putting style is known as "conventional". There are many variations of conventional including overlap, where the golfer overlaps the off hand index finger onto off the dominant pinky; interlock, where the offhand index finger interlocks with the dominant pinky and ring finger; double or triple overlap and so on. Recently, "cross handed" putting has become a popular trend amongst professional golfers and amateurs. Cross handed putting is the idea that the dominant hand is on top of the grip where the weak hand is on the bottom. This grip restricts the motion in your dominant hand and eliminates the possibility of wrist breakdowns through the putting stroke.

Other notable putting styles include "the claw", a style that has the grip directly in between the thumb and index finger of the dominant hand while the palm faces the target. The weak hand placed normally on the putter. Anchored putting, a style that requires a longer putter shaft that can be anchored into the players stomach or below the chin; the idea is to stabilize one end of the putter thus creating a more consistent pendulum stroke. This style will be banned in 2016 on the profession circuits.

Scoring and handicapping

Par

A hole is classified by its par, meaning the number of strokes a skilled golfer should require to complete play of the hole. Missing a GIR does not necessarily mean a golfer won't make par, but it does make doing so more difficult as it reduces the number of putts available; conversely, making a GIR does not guarantee a par, as the player might require three or more putts to "hole out". Professional golfers typically make between 60% and 70% of greens in regulation.

The primary factor for classifying the par of a relatively straight, hazard-free hole is the distance from the tee to the green. A typical par-3 hole is less than 250 yards  in length, with a par-4 hole ranging between 251 and 475 yards, and a par-5 hole being longer than 475 yards . The rare par-6s can stretch well over 650 yards . These distances are based on the typical scratch golfer's drive distance of between ; a green further than the average player's drive will require additional shots from the fairway. However, other considerations must be taken into account; the key question is "how many strokes would a scratch golfer take to make the green by playing along the fairway?". The grade of the land from the tee to the hole might increase or decrease the carry and rolling distance of shots as measured linearly along the ground. Sharp turns or hazards may require golfers to "lay up" on the fairway in order to change direction or hit over the hazard with their next shot. These design considerations will affect how even a scratch golfer would play the hole, irrespective of total distance from tee to green, and must be included in a determination of par. However, a par score never includes "expected" penalty strokes, as a scratch player is never "expected" to hit a ball into a water hazard or other unplayable situation. So, the placement of hazards only affect par when considering how a scratch golfer would avoid them.

Eighteen-hole courses typically total to an overall par score of 72 for a complete round; this is based on an average par of 4 for every hole, and so is often arrived at by designing a course with an equal number of par-5 and par-3 holes, the rest being par-4. Many combinations exist that total to par-72, and other course pars exist from 68 up to 76, and are not less worthy than courses of par-72. Additionally, in some countries including the United States, courses are classified according to their play difficulty, which may be used to calculate a golfer's playing handicap for a given course.

The two primary difficulty ratings in the U.S. are the Course Rating, which is effectively the expected score for a zero-handicap "scratch golfer" playing the course, and the Slope Rating, which is a measure of how much worse a "bogey golfer"  would be expected to play than a "scratch golfer". These two numbers are available for any USGA-sanctioned course, and are used in a weighted system to calculate handicaps.

Scoring  

 

The goal is to play as few strokes per round as possible. A golfer's score is usually expressed as the difference between the player's number of strokes and the par score. A hole in one  occurs when a golfer sinks his ball into the cup with his first stroke from the tee. Common scores for a hole also have specific terms.

Stableford 

  

The Stableford system is a simplification of stroke play that awards players points based on their score relative to the hole's par; the score for a hole is calculated by taking the par score, adding 2, then subtracting the player's hole score, making the result zero if negative. Alternately stated, a double bogey or worse is zero points, a bogey is worth one point, par is two, a birdie three, an eagle four, and so on. The advantages of this system over stroke play are a more natural "higher is better" scoring, the ability to compare Stableford scores between plays on courses with different total par scores, discouraging the tendency to abandon the entire game after playing a particularly bad hole, and the ability to simply pick up one's ball once it is impossible to score any points for the hole, which speeds play.

The USGA and R&A sanction a "Modified Stableford" system for scratch players, which makes par worth zero, a birdie worth 2, eagle 5 and double-eagle 8, while a bogey is a penalty of -1 and a double-bogey or worse -3. As with the original system, the highest score wins the game, and terrible scores on one or two holes won't wreck an entire game, but this system rewards "bogey-birdie" play more than the original, encouraging golfers to try to make the riskier birdie putt or eagle chipshot instead of simply parring each hole.

Fourball: defined in Rules 30 and 31, this is also played between two teams of two players each, but every player plays their own ball and for each team, the lower score on each hole counts. Fourballs can be played as match play or stroke play.

Part Three Coming Tomorrow.

Tipster Street.

The History & Fact File Of Golf (Part One)

Tomorrow sees the start of golf in 2016.

So what a better time to take a look at 'all things' golf here on the blog in the next few days!

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Golf is a club and ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.

Golf is one of the few ball games that do not require a standardized playing area. The game is played on a course with an arranged progression of either nine or 18 holes. Each hole on the course must contain a tee box to start from, and a putting green containing the actual cup. There are other standard forms of terrain in between, such as the fairway, rough, and hazards, but each hole on a course is unique in its specific layout and arrangement.

Golf is played for the lowest number of strokes by an individual, known as stroke play, or the lowest score on the most individual holes in a complete round by an individual or team, known as match play. Stroke play is the most commonly seen format at all levels.

Origin 

While the modern game of golf originated in 15th-century Scotland, the game's ancient origins are unclear and much debated. Some historians trace the sport back to the Roman game of paganica, in which participants used a bent stick to hit a stuffed leather ball. One theory asserts that paganica spread throughout Europe as the Romans conquered most of the continent, during the first century BC, and eventually evolved into the modern game. Others cite chuiwan  as the progenitor, a Chinese game played between the eighth and 14th centuries. A Ming Dynasty scroll dating back to 1368 entitled "The Autumn Banquet" shows a member of the Chinese Imperial court swinging what appears to be a golf club at a small ball with the aim of sinking it into a hole. The game is thought to have been introduced into Europe during the Middle Ages. Another early game that resembled modern golf was known as cambuca in England and chambot in France. The Persian game chaugán is another possible ancient origin. In addition, kolven  was played annually in Loenen, Netherlands, beginning in 1297, to commemorate the capture of the assassin of Floris V, a year earlier.

The modern game originated in Scotland, where the first written record of golf is James II's banning of the game in 1457, as an unwelcome distraction to learning archery. James IV lifted the ban in 1502 when he became a golfer himself, with golf clubs first recorded in 1503-1504: "For golf clubbes and balles to the King that he playit with". To many golfers, the Old Course at St Andrews, a links course dating to before 1574, is considered to be a site of pilgrimage. In 1764, the standard 18 hole golf course was created at St Andrews when members modified the course from 22 to 18 holes. Golf is documented as being played on Musselburgh Links, East Lothian, Scotland as early as 2 March 1672, which is certified as the oldest golf course in the world by Guinness World Records. The oldest surviving rules of golf were compiled in March 1744 for the Company of Gentlemen Golfers, later renamed The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, which was played at Leith, Scotland. The world's oldest golf tournament in existence, and golf's first major, is The Open Championship, which was first played on 17 October 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club, in Ayrshire, Scotland, with Scottish golfers winning the earliest majors. Two Scotsmen from Dunfermline, John Reid and Robert Lockhart, first demonstrated golf in the US by setting up a hole in an orchard in 1888, with Reid setting up America's first golf club the same year, St. Andrews Golf Club in Yonkers, New York.

Golf course 

A golf course consists of either 9 or 18 holes, each with a teeing ground that is set off by two markers showing the bounds of the legal tee area, fairway, rough and other hazards, and the putting green surrounded by the fringe with the pin  and cup.

The levels of grass are varied to increase difficulty, or to allow for putting in the case of the green. While many holes are designed with a direct line-of-sight from the teeing area to the green, some holes may bend either to the left or to the right. This is commonly called a "dogleg", in reference to a dog's knee. The hole is called a "dogleg left" if the hole angles leftwards and "dogleg right" if it bends right. Sometimes, a hole's direction may bend twice; this is called a "double dogleg".

A regular golf course consists of 18 holes, but nine-hole courses are common and can be played twice through for a full round of 18 holes.

Early Scottish golf courses were primarily laid out on links land, soil-covered sand dunes directly inland from beaches. This gave rise to the term "golf links", particularly applied to seaside courses and those built on naturally sandy soil inland.

The first 18-hole golf course in the United States was on a sheep farm in Downers Grove, Illinois, in 1892. The course is still there today.

Play of the game 

Every round of golf is based on playing a number of holes in a given order. A "round" typically consists of 18 holes that are played in the order determined by the course layout. Each hole is played once in the round on a standard course of 18 holes; on a nine-hole course, players may play a "short game" playing each hole once, or a "full round" by playing each hole twice.

Playing a hole on a golf course is initiated by putting a ball into play by striking it with a club on the teeing ground . For this first shot on each hole, it is allowed but not required for the golfer to place the ball on a tee prior to striking it. A tee is a small peg that can be used to elevate the ball slightly above the ground up to a few centimetres high. Tees are commonly made of wood but may be constructed of any material, including plastic. Traditionally, golfers used mounds of sand to elevate the ball, and containers of sand were provided for the purpose. A few courses still require sand to be used instead of peg tees, to reduce litter and reduce damage to the teeing ground. Tees help reduce the interference of the ground or grass on the movement of the club making the ball easier to hit, and also places the ball in the very centre of the striking face of the club  for better distance.

When the initial shot on a hole is intended to move the ball a long distance, the shot is commonly called a "drive" and is generally made with a long-shafted, large-headed wood club called a "driver". Shorter holes may be initiated with other clubs, such as higher-numbered woods or irons. Once the ball comes to rest, the golfer strikes it again as many times as necessary using shots that are variously known as a "lay-up", an "approach", a "pitch", or a "chip", until the ball reaches the green, where he or she then "putts" the ball into the hole . The goal of getting the ball into the hole  in as few strokes as possible may be impeded by obstacles such as areas of longer grass called "rough", which both slows any ball that contacts it and makes it harder to advance a ball that has stopped on it; "doglegs", which are changes in the direction of the fairway that often require shorter shots to play around them; bunkers ; and water hazards such as ponds or streams. A caddy's advice can only be given to the player or players for whom the caddy is working, and not to other competing players.

Rules and regulations 

The rules of golf are internationally standardised and are jointly governed by The R&A, spun off in 2004 from The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, and the United States Golf Association .

The underlying principle of the rules is fairness. As stated on the back cover of the official rule book:

There are strict regulations regarding the amateur status of golfers. Essentially, anybody who has ever received payment or compensation for giving instruction, or played golf for money, is not considered an amateur and may not participate in competitions limited solely to amateurs. However, amateur golfers may receive expenses that comply with strict guidelines and they may accept non-cash prizes within the limits established by the Rules of Amateur Status.

In addition to the officially printed rules, golfers also abide by a set of guidelines called golf etiquette. Etiquette guidelines cover matters such as safety, fairness, pace of play, and a player's obligation to contribute to the care of the course. Though there are no penalties for breach of etiquette rules, players generally follow the rules of golf etiquette in an effort to improve everyone's playing experience.

Penalties  

Penalties are incurred in certain situations. They are counted towards a player's score as if there were extra swing at the ball. Strokes are added for rule infractions or for hitting one's ball into an unplayable situation.

A lost ball or a ball hit out of bounds result in a penalty of one stroke and distance . A one-stroke penalty is assessed if a player's equipment causes the ball to move or the removal of a loose impediment causes the ball to move . If a golfer makes a stroke at the wrong ball  or hits a fellow golfer's ball with a putt, the player incurs a two-stroke penalty. Most rule infractions lead to stroke penalties but also can lead to disqualification. Disqualification could be from cheating, signing for a lower score, or from rule infractions that lead to improper play.

Equipment 

Golf clubs are used to hit the golf ball. Each club is composed of a shaft with a lance  on the top end and a club head on the bottom. Long clubs, which have a lower amount of degree loft, are those meant to propel the ball a comparatively longer distance, and short clubs a higher degree of loft and a comparatively shorter distance. The actual physical length of each club is longer or shorter, depending on the distance the club is intended to propel the ball.

Golf clubs have traditionally been arranged into three basic types. Woods are large-headed, long-shafted clubs meant to propel the ball a long distance from relatively "open" lies, such as the tee box and fairway. Of particular importance is the driver or "1-wood", which is the lowest lofted wood club, and in modern times has become highly specialized for making extremely long-distance tee shots, up to or more in the hands of a professional golfer. Traditionally these clubs had heads made of a hardwood, hence the name, but virtually all modern woods are now made of metal such as titanium, or of composite materials. Irons are shorter-shafted clubs with a metal head primarily consisting of a flat, angled striking face. Traditionally the clubhead was forged from iron; modern iron clubheads are investment-cast from a steel alloy. Irons of varying loft are used for a variety of shots from virtually anywhere on the course, but most often for shorter-distance shots approaching the green, or to get the ball out of tricky lies such as sand traps. The third class is the putter, which evolved from the irons to create a low-lofted, balanced club designed to roll the ball along the green and into the hole. Putters are virtually always used on the green or in the surrounding rough/fringe. A fourth class, called hybrids, evolved as a cross between woods and irons, and are typically seen replacing the low-lofted irons with a club that provides similar distance, but a higher launch angle and a more forgiving nature.

A maximum of 14 clubs is allowed in a player's bag at one time during a stipulated round. The choice of clubs is at the golfer's discretion, although every club must be constructed in accordance with parameters outlined in the rules.  Violation of these rules can result in disqualification.

The exact shot hit at any given time on a golf course, and which club is used to accomplish the shot, are always completely at the discretion of the golfer; in other words, there is no restriction whatsoever on which club a golfer may or may not use at any time for any shot.

Golf balls are spherical, usually white, and minutely pock-marked by dimples that decrease aerodynamic drag by increasing air turbulence around the ball in motion, which delays "boundary layer" separation and reduces the drag-inducing "wake" behind the ball, thereby allowing the ball to fly farther.

A tee is allowed only for the first stroke on each hole, unless the player must hit a provisional tee shot or replay his or her first shot from the tee.

Many golfers wear golf shoes with metal or plastic spikes designed to increase traction, thus allowing for longer and more accurate shots.

A golf bag is used to transport golf clubs and the player's other or personal equipment. Golf bags have several pockets designed for carrying equipment and supplies such as tees, balls, and gloves. Golf bags can be carried, pulled on a trolley or harnessed to a motorized golf cart during play. Golf bags have both a hand strap and shoulder strap for carrying, and sometimes have retractable legs that allow the bag to stand upright when at rest.

Part Two Tomorrow.

Tipster Street.

Lingfield & Southwell Racecourses

With sport being thin on the ground today.

We thought we would take a look at horse racing, and today's two meetings at Southwell & Lingfield Park.

We take a brief look at the history of these two racecourses today.


Southwell

Southwell Racecourse  is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located near Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England. It is one of only five racecourses in the UK to have an all-weather track and is the only one with a fibresand surface. Fibresand is a mixture of sand and wispy fibres.

The racing is also of significance. The now unique fibresand racing surface is quite deep and so makes the track a good stamina test. Ability to stay the distance and fitness are therefore big advantages at Southwell. The track also often features many of the most hardworking jockeys throughout the winter, as well as plenty of high-profile stars from time to time.

National Hunt racing also occurs here. In 2007, the Great Yorkshire  Chase was held at Southwell, whilst Doncaster closed for redevelopment.

Southwell racecourse will always be associated with female jockey Hayley Turner, who grew up locally and had her first job in racing with a trainer based adjacent to the track.

The racecourse was forced to close temporarily in December 2012 when flooding caused major damage to both the track and the buildings on site. Meetings scheduled for the all weather flat course were transferred to Wolverhampton and Lingfield. The course successfully re-opened on 5 February 2013 with a seven-race flat meeting. Initial meetings following the re-opening will have a limited capacity while renovations continue.

Lingfield Park

Lingfield Park Racecourse  is a horse racing course at Lingfield in Surrey, United Kingdom. It is owned by the ARC Racing and Leisure Group, formerly Arena Leisure Plc.

Lingfield is best known as a winter all-weather flat-racing course; the track is Polytrack, rather than the usual turf found in the UK. There are only four other all weather courses in the UK, the others being at Southwell, Kempton, Wolverhampton and Chelmsford City. Lingfield stages flat racing on turf in the summer and National Hunt races are also run on turf.

Lingfield Railway Station adjoins the course, served by trains from London to East Grinstead via Oxted. 

History 

The racecourse is located in a estate and was opened in 1890 by the Prince of Wales, who also agreed to let Lingfield incorporate the Prince of Wales feathers into its official heading. The course initially held jumps racing only, but in 1894 the Jockey Club granted permission for flat racing to be held. Racing has been held continuously ever since, with the only exception being during World War II when the War Office requisitioned the course. Ladbrokes sold the course in 1982 and the new owners installed flood defences on the estate to alleviate the flooding that had become a major problem in the years immediately after the war. A golf course was developed and this opened in June 1987. Arena Leisure purchased the course in 1991, and in 2001 made the decision to replace the Equitrack all weather surface with Polytrack, opening in November 2001. Other recent developments have been the re-laying of the back straight on the turf course in 2002/2003 and the construction of a £5.5 million grandstand in 2004. In early 2009 the course had another record broken as Matsunosuke became the highest rated horse to win on the all weather surface rated 112 or 117 by Racing Post rating. This was dubbed as the greatest all weather horse of all time in the UK.

The racecourse is featured in the 1954 film The Rainbow Jacket.

Tipster Street.

What Is A Tipster

A tipster is someone who regularly provides information  on the likely outcomes of sporting events.
In the past tips were bartered for and traded but nowadays, thanks largely to the Internet and premium rate telephone lines, they are usually exchanged for money, and many tipsters operate websites. Some of them are free and some require subscription.

A tip, in gambling is a bet suggested by a third party who is perceived to be more knowledgeable about that subject than the bookmaker who sets the initial prices.  Thus a tip is not even regarded by the tipster as a certainty but that the bookmaker has set a price too low  from what the true risk is: it is a form of financial derivative, since the tipster himself risks none of his own money but sells his expert knowledge to others to try to "beat the bookie".

The Tipster must overcome the profit margin integrated into sports betting odds by bookmakers trading teams and then also obtain an additional edge to deliver profit over the long term.

However, many tipping services are scam operations that play on the Behavioral addiction of betting.
Tipsters are often insiders of a particular sport able to provide bettors with information not publicly available. There are other tipsters who provide equally respectable results through analysis of commonly accessible information.

Good tipsters use statistical based estimations and extensive research about the outcome of a game, and compare this estimation with the bookmaker's odds. If there is a gap between the estimate odds and the bookmakers odds, the tipster is said to identify "value", and a person who bets on such odds when they perceive not a certainty but a "gap in the book" is said to be a "value bettor". When value is found, the tipster is recommending the bettor to place a bet.

A tip that is considered to be a racing certainty, that is, almost completely certain to be true, is also called a nap and tipsters in newspapers will tend to indicate the "nap".

Tipping is mostly associated with horse racing but can apply to any sport that has odds offered on it. The relaxed cultural attitude towards gambling in the UK is increasingly resulting in a gambling element being promoted alongside sport coverage in the media.

  
Newspapers

Most National newspapers in the UK employ a tipster or columnist who provides horse racing tips. Rather than pick a tip for each race that occurs on a given day the normal protocol is to provide a Nap and nb selection.

Nap  indicates this is the tipster's most confident selection of the day.

nb   "Next best" and indicates another selection that the tipster rates highly.

Both types of selections would be counted in calculating the tipsters running profit/loss figure which states how far in profit or loss an individual would be if they had backed every tip with a level stake.

Television 
  
The popular Channel 4 television programme The Morning Line previews weekend horse racing on a Saturday morning culminating in the panel of experts and guests providing their selections for the day. Sky Sports News runs a similar preview segment including expert analysis of the teams and betting odds relating to Premier League football fixtures on a Saturday.

Radio
  
The United Kingdom, morning national Radio 4 Today Programme usually includes a couple of racing tips in its short sports section  but these are not taken too seriously : but the programme tracks Richardson's performance as a tipster for amusement value: he is usually quite well "down" but just very occasionally is "up" after a correct tip at a long price.

Scams 
  
Premium tipping services charge a fee for accessing a tip or tips by telephone, internet or post. The more reputable companies will keep an accurate record of their tipping activities enabling a prospective client to assess their past form and so anticipate potential future performance. There is a lot of scope for less reputable operations to massage these figures or even to fabricate figures in order to attract new customers. In 2008, the Office of Fair Trading state the figure lost to tipster scams each year is between £1 million and £4 million in the UK alone.

Derren Brown's Channel 4 programme ''The System exposed one method by which tipping services operate. By giving out different tips to different people  in a horse race, one person must win . The bettor who won might then assume that they received real insight into the race outcome from the tipster and may then pay for subsequent tips.

Australia 

Australia has led the way in the emergence of tipping competitions where the object is to win prizes for registering virtual bets. The focus of the majority of these competitions has been Australian rules football but the commonly referred to term for the activity of Footy tipping now also covers Soccer, Rugby League and Rugby Union. In the UK there are a growing number of such competitions but most relate to the Horse Racing industry.

In theory, tipping for prizes in a free competition provides a viable alternative to gambling for real. However, many will take the opposite view that it makes gambling more accessible to a wider audience by creating what is perceived to be a safe route in. There is also a lot of scope for gamblers looking to identify good tips using such competitions as an information resource given some competitions publish current tips entered and historical records for the tipsters involved.

Internet 

Internet forums are increasingly being used as a means to share ideas and information within web communities and many such forums exist in the gambling arena as a means of discussing views on events or simply offering advice and tips.

While many in the gambling community view this as a way in which they can earn respect from their peers in an otherwise isolated profession, tipping services also use these areas to attract users to their premium schemes.

Stocks and shares
 
While the term gambling is often considered to be confined to sports betting or at least the services offered by a bookmaker, the classification can also be applied to investing in stocks where the gamble relates to a share or commodity price moving in a certain direction. Stock tips, as publicised in the financial sections of the media, are largely directed at the casual investor but their interrelation and interest to the business sector has proven to be controversial.

The increase in spread betting as a financial derivative also blurs the distinction between financial investment and gambling: since in the United Kingdom a win on a bet pays no tax, but another form of investment might require payment of Capital Gains Tax, there may be a financial advantage to "betting".

Derivatives
   
Many newspapers and other betting journals such as the Racing Post track the leading newspapers' tipsters and see how well their predictions match the actual outcome, by assuming a nominal £1 bet on every tip that the tipster makes, and calculating the theoretical return. Thus, tipsters themselves can be "tipped" as being a good or bad tipster.

Therefore, it is actually possible in theory to bet on whether a tipster's prediction will be correct .

Other uses 
  
Tipster is also a term used in the United Kingdom for a person who gives information regarding potential news stories, particularly those involving celebrities, to journalists, often in exchange for cash; or more generally an informant.


Tipster Street.

PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH PREVIEWS SATURDAY JANUARY 2 – SUNDAY JANUARY 3

West Ham United v Liverpool – Saturday 1245

Positions: West Ham 8^th, Liverpool 7^th

Form: (League matches only – earliest matches first):

West Ham

DDDDDW (8pts)

Liverpool

WLLLWW (9pts)

• West Ham’s run of draws came to an end with a win over Southampton, and Liverpool may find them tough to beat, even though Christian Benteke is back in the goal habit.

Arsenal v Newcastle United – Saturday 1500

Positions: Arsenal 1^st, Newcastle 18^th

Form:

Arsenal

DWWWLW (13pts)

Newcastle

LWWDLL (7pts)

• No trophies are awarded in December, but Arsenal can take heart from leading the pack at year end, as well as having comfortably the highest Premier League points total for the calendar year. They will be strong favourites to start 2016 with three points here.

Leicester City v Bournemouth – Saturday 1500

Positions: Leicester 2^nd, Bournemouth 16^th

Form:

Leicester

DWWWLD (11pts)

Bournemouth

DWWWDL (11pts)

• Leicester remain the joint highest scorers in the league, but after no goal in their last two matches, are the cracks starting to show? Only goal difference keeps the Foxes off the top though, and they will be favourites, but not overwhelmingly so, against a Bournemouth side who went seven matches unbeaten prior to their defeat by Arsenal.

Manchester United v Swansea City – Saturday 1500

Positions: Man Utd 6^th, Swansea 17^th

Form:

Man Utd

DDLLLD (3pts)

Swansea

LLLDWD (5pts)

• Surely there has been no other occasion in United’s recent history when a draw at home to the team in 14^th place was so widely acclaimed. However, the performance, if not the result, against Chelsea on Monday has restored some optimism around Old Trafford, and may have granted Louis van Gaal a stay of execution. Despite Swansea’s lowly position, several indicators are not good for United – they have no win in six, have scored two goals in the last five. Swansea have put together a run of three games unbeaten, all without conceding.

Norwich City v Southampton – Saturday 1500

Positions: Norwich 15^th, Southampton 12^th

Form:

Norwich

DLDWLW (8pts)

Southampton

LDLLWL (4pts)

• Norwich’s form remains inconsistent, but they stand a good chance here at home to a Saints side with just one win in seven.

Sunderland v Aston Villa – Saturday 1500

Positions: Sunderland 19^th, Aston Villa 20^th

Form:

Sunderland

WLLLLL (6pts)

Aston Villa

LDLDDL (3pts)

• The battle of the bottom two. Aston Villa, 11 points from safety, have already been written off in many quarters after their devastating loss to Norwich this week. However, Sunderland are themselves seven points adrift, and if their losing run continues here, their situation will look increasingly forlorn.

West Bromwich Albion v Stoke City – Saturday 1500

Positions: West Brom 13^th, Stoke 10^th

Form:

West Brom

DDDLLW (6pts)

Stoke

LWDLWW (10pts)

• Stoke’s games have often been low scoring, cagey affairs this year, so their 4-3 encounter with Everton this week may have come as something of a shock. The Potters still emerged triumphant though, and will be favourites to win again here. Standing just two points shy of fifth spot, three points could also propel them up the table.

Watford v Manchester City – Saturday 1730

Positions: Watford 9^th, Man City 3^rd

Form:

Watford

WWWWDL (13pts)

Man City

WLWLWD (10pts)

• A tough match for City, even though they remain in strong title contention. Watford were in terrific form until their defeat by Tottenham, and in Odion Ighalo they have a striker well capable of punishing City’s defensive frailties, with Vincent Kompany sidelined for another four weeks.

Crystal Palace v Chelsea – Sunday 1330

Positions: Crystal Palace 5^th, Chelsea 14^th

Form:

Crystal Palace

WDWWDD (12pts)

Chelsea

DLLWDD (6pts)

• Palace’s unbeaten run of six suggest Chelsea will once again not find this an easy task. The biggest doubt over Palace’s ability to win might be their lack of firepower – their last two matches have ended 0-0 and they have scored just four in five since their demolition of Newcastle.

Everton v Tottenham Hotspur – Sunday 1600

Positions: Everton 11^th, Tottenham 4^th

Form:

Everton

DDDLWL (6pts)

Tottenham

DDLWWW (11pts)

After three wins in a row, Tottenham are again being spoken of as title contenders. They stand four points off the pace and have the league’s best defensive record. After losing both of their last two home games, despite scoring five goals in the process, Everton will have their work cut out to stop Spurs’ run here.

Tipster Street.