Golf is being played on big grass area with natural and artificial obstacles. The main aim of the game is put the ball into the holes with various point values by using jigger. Golf is formed with the combination of physical talent, cardiovascular condition, practical intelligence and strategy togother with various ethical rules. With this dimension golf is performed on such a respect and tolerance basis that no other sports have. Some of them name golf is “a green life style” and there are some define it as “sport of educated people”.
A new type of meditation in nature: Cross Golf
It is possible to feel immediately respect, courtesy and manners unwritten rules of golf connected to aristocrat traditions. We can say that this tradition is valid exactly in cross golf. If you play cross golf, like claasic golfers, you need to pay attentions to details such as your clothing , your timing, yeur behaviors on the field and your equipments. Mutual trust, and tolerance are basic elements of cross golf like the classic one.
The main difference is the play ground. Golf is being played on the grounds which are constructed by serious investments and dressed up by artificial barriers but on the other hand cross golf is being played on totally natural grounds. In cross golf, which does not have ant kind of permanent intervention to natura, the protectionits approach is very important. Of course, consuming the underground water supplies fpr the irrigation of large grass areas and enormous energy need, the main criticized problems of golf are not being faced in cross golf. In this sense, cross golf extremely economic. In addition, during the game, the main principle is not to give any king of harm to creatures in their natural environments and the second is not leave any kind of trace on the play ground after the game. Even carriage of your equipments is compatible with nature. For example, in classic golf, the small cars are being used but in cross golf horses are assumed this duty during the organizations in Cappadocia. As we consider that natural park areas of Cappadocia, under the label of Unesco, are the only places in the world for cross golf, the importance of protecting and respect to natura becomes more important.
How to play cross golf?
In Turkey, cross golf activities are organized only in Cappadocia between April and October. Today there is a company in Cappadocia, organizing cross golf activities. This company defined 5 racecourses different from each other in the region. The racecoruses are being defined very carefully in order to prevent the harm to the fairy chimneys, caused by the ball. In cross golf instead of hole, the nets are being used. The racecourses are designed due to essence of 9 and 18 holes (nets). Before the game starts, the players have a short trip around the racecourse and they choose their own ones to play. Cross golf is not very different from golf expect some points occur because of its being plyed in the nature.
Cross golf is more enjoyable and more tactical if you compare to classc one; it can be played in small groups of 2 and 6 people. The limit for number of players in one racecourse is 6. Each hole (net) has a starting point and ending area, called “yard”. Yard is an area formed around the net by using a certain diameter. This area is marked with flags which can be see from a distance. It is important to school the ball into this area because the player succeeds in have the chance of turning the net according to the shooting direction. The distance between the starting and the ending point of the hole (net) is maximum 250 m. Since the shooting distance in classic golf is kept approximately in this game, the swing memorization of classic golf can be used as well. At the starting point the ball is placed on golf pin and the shooting is done by the jigger. In order to prevent possible risk without any suitable fire signal, the shooting can not be performed. In classic golf there are two types of games. These are match play an stroke play. Match play is based on winning the holes. The player, who wins more holes than the competitor, wins the game. Stroke play is based on putting the ball into the hole with the less number shooting. In cross golf generally stroke play style is preffered by keeping the difficulty of the field in mind.
Cross golf might seem as a game shooting the ball into holes (nets) but it is necessary to conside the cardiovascular condition it requires. In an ordinary game, the player should walk 7 – 8 km to play 4 – 5 hours. In addition there are 100 – 150 shooting moments. As a conclusion we can say that cross golf is an ideal sportive activity especially for middle aged ones.
Cross golf equipments
The equipments are the same used in classic golf. The equipments are very basic but have variety. The basic equipments are enough amounts of golf pin, jigger (minimum 14 pieces) and jigger bag. There is no need to mention that all of these equipments are very expensive and there are several brands for each of them.
Cross golf in Turkey and in the world
If we consider that the roots of golf goes back to Roman period, cross golf is a new outdoor activity having its roots from clasic golf In 1989, Burton Silver from New Zealand developed cross golf as n alternative golf, a popular game among aristocrat during the centuries. Cross golf is accepted in the world in a short time and become very popular. Today it is played in various countries in the world such as; UK, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand and Australia. During the last two years is included among these countries. For the first time in Turkey, cross golf was played in April 2008 in Cappadocia. Cross golf organizations in Cappadocia
