Special Olympics Golf is golf played by competitors with physical or mental disabilities.

Special Olympics golf is a form of competitive golf geared solely towards athletes with physical or mental disabilities. Athletes may participate in Skills, 9 hole stroke play or 18 hole stroke play. Golf is one of the few ball games that does not use a standardized playing area; rather, the game is played on golf "courses," each one of which has a unique design and typically consists of either 9 or 18 holes.

The goal of golf is to use a varying set of golf clubs to hit a small, white ball down a course and into a whole. The player with the fewest strokes at the end of play wins.

The rules of golf are internationally standardized and are jointly governed by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A), which was founded 1754 and the United States Golf Association (USGA). By agreement with the R&A, USGA jurisdiction on the enforcement and interpretation of the rules is limited to the United States and Mexico. The national golf associations of other countries use the rules laid down by the R&A and there is a formal procedure for referring any points of doubt to the R&A.

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. On a nine-hole course, a standard round consists of two successive nine-hole rounds. Playing a hole on the golf course 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. This process is repeated until the ball is in the hole. Once the ball is on the green the ball is usually putted into the hole. The goal of resting the ball in the hole in as few strokes as possible may be impeded by hazards, such as bunkers and water hazards. In most typical forms of gameplay, each player plays his or her ball from the tee until it is holed.

Players can walk or drive in motorized carts over the course, either singly or in groups of two, three, or four, sometimes accompanied by caddies who carry and manage the players' equipment and give them advice.

Each player often acts as scorer for one other player in the group, that is, he or she records the score on a score card. In stroke play, the score consists of the number of strokes played plus any penalty strokes incurred.

The first game of golf for which records survive was played at Bruntsfield Links, in Edinburgh, Scotland, in A.D. 1456, recorded in the archives of the Edinburgh Burgess Golfing Society, now The Royal Burgess Golfing Society. The modern game of golf spread from Scotland to England and has now become a worldwide game, with golf courses in the majority of countries. Golf debuted at the 1995 Special Olympics World Summer Games in New Haven, Connecticut. Participation in the sport steadily increased and by the 2003 World Summer Games in Dublin, Ireland, 119 athletes from 12 programs competed in the sport. By 2005, 13, 916 Special Olympics athletes participated in the sport of golf.

Golf Balls
Golf Bag
Golf Clubs
Golf Shoes
Tees

The Special Olympics golf program is centered on two educational phases designed to encompass all skill levels: learning to swing a golf club and learning to play the game.

Ace - a hole in one

Birdie - one stroke under par for a hole

Bogey - one stroke over par for a hole

Double Bogey - two strokes over par for a hole

Double Eagle - three strokes under par for a hole

Driver - the longest hitting club

Eagle - two strokes under par for a hole

Fairway - area on the course between the tee and the green

Green - the putting surface

Iron - any one of a number of clubs with a head made of iron or steel

Par - the number of strokes a player should take to complete a round with good performance

Putter - a short-shafted club with a flat face used for putting

Tee - area where the ball is hit on the first shot of the hole, or a wooden peg on which the ball is placed for driving

http://www.specialolympics.org/Special+Olympics+Public+Website/English/Coach/Sports_Offered/Golf.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf