Golf in Wallingford, Oxfordshire

Golf is a sport in which a player, using many types of clubs including a driver and a putter, hits a ball into each hole on a golf course in the lowest possible number of strokes. 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. Golf is defined in the Rules of Golf as "playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules."

Golf has increasingly turned into a spectator game, with several different levels of professional and amateur tours in many regions of the world. People such as Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam have become well recognized sports figures across the world. Sponsorship has also become a huge part of the game and players often earn more from their sponsorship contracts than they do from the game itself.

A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's ability to play golf over 18 holes. Handicaps can be applied either for stroke play competition or match play competition. In either competition, a handicap generally represents the number of strokes above par that a player will achieve on an above average day.

Find Out More About Golf At Springs Golf Club in Wallingford, Oxfordshire

Wallingford is a small market town and civil parish in the upper Thames Valley in the English administrative county of Oxfordshire, and the historic county of Berkshire.

Wallingford sits on the western side of the River Thames. Across the river is the village of Crowmarsh Gifford. The two are linked by Wallingford Bridge, a notable 900 ft long medieval stone bridge across the Thames and adjacent.

The centre of Wallingford has the feel of a typical old market town, with a large open town-square around the war memorial, the 17th century arcaded town hall and the church of St Mary-le-More, and flanked by numerous shops.

The main employers based in Wallingford are primarily on the Hithercroft Trading Estate (established in the 1970s), and include Habitat, Rowse Honey, Youngsters, Royal Mail and Fugro.

A.F.C. Wallingford is the local football club. Other sports clubs include the rugby club Wallingford RFC, Wallingford Hockey Club, Wallingford Rowing Club, Wallingford Cricket Club and the Portcullis Tennis Club.