As more and more people take up golf, the game is growing so fast it's getting hard to keep track of everything that is happening. More golf courses are being built every day, creating a growing demand for golf equipment, which in turn gives manufacturers incentive to produce new, better equipment. Today we have the pleasure of playing with clubs and balls of a quality that was unimaginable even just a decade ago. As levels of equipment, proficiency and expectations rise, so do the quality, difficulty and aesthetic beauty of golf courses.

After the arrival of the Tiger Woods phenomenon, the game took on a new dimension. The scoring ability of players, their driving distances, accuracy and mental and physical fitness have reached new heights. Televised professional events get more viewers than ever before, and so sponsors are willing to invest more in prizes. As a result, players improve their competitive skills to win awesome amounts of money. Leading players on the professional tour circuits practice up to nine hours a day, and spend additional time on fitness and mental training. It takes hard work to be a top professional.

Players are getting into the sport younger, and there is a growing hungry, determined group (which includes Sergio Garcia, Charles Howell III, Aaron Bradley and Adam Scott) rubbing shoulders with the big boys and already making waves in the international golf scene. Other even younger players are being groomed as future champions, and are currently preparing in "Golf Universities" in the US and European countries. With growing amounts of prize money in all the coveted golf tours, and the constant appearance of lots of new talent, the popularity of this game is building up to dizzying heights.

Watching golf on television, the game almost looks too easy. The players have smooth effortless swings and the ball seems to fly ever so far and straight. But believe me, when you first start golf, forget about straight shots. Just getting the ball up in the air or even just hitting it will be quite an achievement.

Well, to hit a golf ball, you need golf clubs. Golfers love to know what equipment the world's top players use and how far they can hit the ball. Below is what Tiger Woods carries in his golf bag, and the distances he produces with each club.

WOODS
Driver: Nike Forged Titanium steel shaft to 43? inches 285
3-wood: Titleist Pro Trajectory, 15 degrees 265

IRONS - Nike Forged, 2-PW, 1 degree upright with a D-4 swing weight and standard-size Tour Velvet grips. The shaft on every club is a True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 steel.
2-iron: 245
3-iron: 230
4-iron: 220
5-iron: 208
6-iron: 190
7-iron: 172
8-iron: 158
9-iron: 142
PW: 128
SW: 106
LW: Titleist Vokey Design, 58 degrees
(bent to 56) and 60 degrees. 92

Putter
Scotty Cameron by Titleist, Studio Stainless, Newport 2, standard loft and lie, 35 inches long.

Deepak Acharya is a golf instructor and Head Golf Professional at Gokarna Forest Golf Resort & Spa, Kathmandu. [email protected]