New respect found in golf, terms are misunderstood

I don't know much about golf. Sure I know about golf clubs, carts and plaid sweater vests, but I'm clueless about the rules and the lingo.

So traveling to Hershey, Pa. to cover the University's men's golf team in the NCAA Div. III National Championship was a little unnerving.

Allie Abel

It couldn't be too difficult to write about - I thought - and I was excited to see the game played live at Hershey Country Club.

I noticed the players didn't have caddies like they do on television.

I guess they have to go pro for that. I'm glad I had my own golf cart to zoom around the course.

As I followed our players to each hole I also learned new terms and customs.

Par 4?

Isn't that a candy bar?

And the back 9?

Maybe they had some ribs for lunch.

A chip shot?

Seems like food is a theme in this game.

I also realized golf is a quiet sport.

No one cheered, gave a high five or chanted like when I played high school volleyball.

It's very quiet on the course. Intense. The players are in a zone of concentration.

The only celebration by the fans was soft clapping.

I guess doing a wheelie in the golf cart and shouting, "GO TEAM" is out of the question.

I noticed sand pits around several holes.

I thought they were designed to give the solid green course more of a color scheme.

Wrong again! Players actually try to avoid these bunkers.

I saw a player trying to hit the ball out of the sand. It didn't look easy.

By the 18th hole I had learned more than I imagined.

There is more to golf than just walking around on manicured grass.

Golf takes a higher level of patience and skill.

A player must have endurance and be able to focus on challenges that come with each hole.

Players use a kind of quiet strategy I haven't seen in any other sport.

I might not know the correct terms or even how to hit a shot properly, but I now realize golf is more difficult than you realize.

I have a newfound respect for the game and techniques for hitting little white balls into a hole.