The Bible of Golf?

I’ve been doing a lot of research into the whole golf culture for our new golf site re-launch. I won’t bore the experts among us with golf’s interesting and colorful history. Even the sports we Americans love these days pale in comparison to the timeless appeal of hitting the little ball into the little cup — baseball, basketball are what, just over 100 years old, and football, at least the American variety, is also right around the century mark. We haven’t even had 50 Super Bowls yet.

But golf dates back 300 plus years and amazingly, it’s pretty much the same basic rules. They just keep on adding new exceptions and circumstances and interpretations. Don’t believe me, or your course pro? Then, as they say, read the book… There is a 300-plus-page tome of the offical U.S.Golf Association Rules of Golf, avaialable at www.usga.org . It is what you might call comprehensive, offering official interpretations and definititions. We’re currently working on getting some kind of reference to it on our site as a service to our site visitors, but as you would imagine, the USGA is very particular on even where their rules can appear. There’s plenty of legal stuff to even include a link to it.

Again, this isn’t news to some of you. But how many of you, even the serious golfers, have actually sat down and read the thing? Is it required reading for PGA certification? Is it something that people who go beyond simple hobbyists read for fun? I really don’t know.   For those who have poked around or skimmed for the highlights, what are the more interesting parts? Have any of you ever had to reference to resolve a challenge? I’d love to hear it!