The Bing Golf Quiz

A smooth golf ball would travel roughly half the distance of a dimpled one. Dimples create a thin layer of turbulent air around the ball that reduces drag and allows it to stay in the air longer. The number of dimples on a regulation golf ball typically ranges from 300 to 500. Each dimple is precisely engineered to optimise lift and distance.

Most amateur golfers try to hit the ball as hard as possible without considering launch angle. Professional golfers work with club designers and launch monitors to find the precise angle at which ball speed, backspin, and trajectory combine for maximum carry distance. This is why professional equipment is fitted individually and not bought off a shelf.

The collision between club and ball lasts approximately 0.0004 seconds. In that fraction of time, the ball compresses against the club face, stores energy, and releases it as it launches away. The entire shape of a golf shot is determined in less time than it takes to blink.

The earliest recorded reference to golf dates to 1457 when King James II of Scotland banned it because it was distracting men from archery practice. The ban was lifted in 1502 when King James IV took up the game himself. St Andrews in Scotland has been a centre of golf since the 16th century and remains the spiritual home of the sport.

British seed merchant Samuel Ryder watched an informal match between British and American golfers at Wentworth in 1926 and offered to donate a gold trophy for future competitions. The first official Ryder Cup was played in 1927. It has since become one of the most watched team competitions in all of sport with no prize money — players compete purely for the trophy and national pride.

Golf was part of the Olympic programme in 1900 and 1904 but was then dropped for over a century. It returned at the 2016 Rio Olympics as a 72 hole individual stroke play event for both men and women. The return was not universally welcomed by professional golfers at the time but has since grown in prestige with each subsequent Games.

Golf became enormously popular in Japan following the country's postwar economic expansion. At its peak in the 1990s, Japan had over 2,400 golf courses. Japanese golf culture is deeply ingrained with its own customs, etiquette, and professional tour that operates independently of the PGA and European Tours.

South Korean players have won more than 40 percent of LPGA Tour events in recent years. Inbee Park, Se Ri Pak, Ko Jin-young, and Nelly Korda's South Korean competitors have transformed the women's game. Se Ri Pak's 1998 US Women's Open victory is credited with inspiring an entire generation of South Korean golfers.

Nick Price from Zimbabwe won three major championships — the 1992 PGA Championship, the 1994 Open Championship, and the 1994 PGA Championship. He was ranked world number one for 43 weeks in the mid-1990s. His success helped establish Africa as a genuine contributor to world class professional golf alongside South Africa's Gary Player, who won nine majors across three decades.