Lesson 4: Golf Around the World Today
Today, golf is played in over 200 countries across every continent. From the frozen courses of Iceland that operate only in summer, to the desert courses of Dubai that use salt-resistant grass, to the cliff-edge courses of South Africa overlooking the ocean — golf has found a home everywhere.
Golf was included in the Olympic Games in 1900 and 1904, then dropped for over a century, and brought back for the 2016 Rio Olympics — returning golf to the world stage it deserves.
The diversity of people playing golf today — different nationalities, backgrounds, ages, and skill levels — is something the Scottish shepherds who first hit stones across links land could never have imagined. But they started something that proved irresistible to human beings everywhere.
Golf’s story is far from over. New generations of players are finding the game every day. Maybe you are one of them.
Golf is now played in over 200 countries worldwide and returned to the Olympic Games in 2016.
Find three golf courses in three very different countries — try to find ones in unusual or surprising locations. For each one, write: where it is, what makes it unique, and one reason you would or would not want to play there. You can search ‘most unusual golf courses in the world’ with your parent to find amazing options.
The unusual golf courses research is reliably wonderful — courses on volcanoes, Arctic courses, underwater putting greens. This lesson is designed to end Stage 1 Week 4 with wonder, which is exactly the emotion that sustains long-term interest in learning.