document_title: Golf course

question_text: how much land does a golf course need

question_tokens: how much land does a golf course need

text: Golf course

text: Design[edit]

text:
Although a specialty within landscape design or landscape architecture, golf course architecture is considered a separate field of study. Some golf course architects become celebrities in their own right, such as Robert Trent Jones, Jr.; others are professional golfers of high standing and demonstrated appreciation for golf course composition, such as Jack Nicklaus. The field is partially represented by the American Society of Golf Course Architects, the European Institute of Golf Course Architects, and the Society of Australian Golf Course Architects, though many of the finest golf course architects in the world choose not to become members of any such group, as associations of architects are not government-sanctioned licensing bodies, but private groups.
While golf courses often follow the original landscape, some modification is unavoidable. This is increasingly the case as new courses are more likely to be sited on less optimal land. Bunkers and sand traps are almost always artificial, although other hazards may be natural.

text: The layout of a course follows certain traditional principles, such as the number of holes (nine and 18 being most common), their par values, and the number of holes of each par value per course. It is also preferable to arrange greens to be close to the tee box of the next playable hole, to minimize travel distance while playing a round, and to vary the mix of shorter and longer holes. Combined with the need to package all the fairways within what is frequently a compact square or rectangular plot of land, the fairways of a course tend to form an oppositional tiling pattern. In complex areas, two holes may share the same tee box, fairway, or even green. It is also common for separate tee-off points to be positioned for men, women, and amateurs, each one respectively lying closer to the green. Eighteen-hole courses are traditionally broken down into a "front 9" (holes 1–9) and a "back 9" (holes 10–18). On older courses (especially links courses, like the Old Course at St. Andrews), the holes may be laid out in one long loop, beginning and ending at the clubhouse, and thus the front 9 is referred to on the scorecard as "out" (heading out away from clubhouse) and the back 9 as "in" (heading back in toward the clubhouse). More recent courses (and especially inland courses) tend to be designed with the front 9 and the back 9 each constituting a separate loop beginning and ending at the clubhouse. This is partly for the convenience of the players and the club, as then it is easier to play just a 9-hole round, if preferred, or stop at the clubhouse for a snack between the front 9 and the back 9.

text: A successful design is as visually pleasing as it is playable. With golf being a form of outdoor recreation, the strong designer is an adept student of natural landscaping who understands the aesthetic cohesion of vegetation, water bodies, paths, grasses, stonework, and woodwork, among other elements.

text: Par[edit]

text: Most golf courses have only par-3, −4, and −5 holes, though some courses include par-6 holes. (The Ananti CC and the Satsuki golf course in Sano, Japan are the only courses with par 7 holes.)[2] Typical distances for the various holes from standard tees are as follows.

text: Men

text:
Par 3 – 250 yards (230 m) and below
Par 4 – 251–450 yards (230–411 m)
Par 5 – 451–690 yards (412–631 m)

text: Women

text:
Par 3 – 210 yards (190 m) and below
Par 4 – 211–400 yards (193–366 m)
Par 5 – 401–575 yards (367–526 m)

text: Harder or easier courses may have longer- or shorter-distance holes, respectively. Terrain can also be a factor, so that a long downhill hole might be rated par 4, but a shorter uphill or severely treacherous hole might be rated par 5. Tournament players will usually play from a longer-distance tee box (the Championship or Tournament tee)  that is behind the standard men's tee, which increases the typical distance of each par; a par-3 hole can be up to 290 yards (270 m), and longer par-4 holes can measure up to 520 yards (480 m), which can also be accomplished by converting a par-5 hole into a long par-4 hole for tournament players. This compensates for the generally longer distance pro players can put on tee and fairway shots as compared to the average "bogey golfer".

text: Parts[edit]

text: Teeing area[edit]

text: The game of golf is played in what is called a "round".  This consists of playing a set number of holes in an order predetermined by the course.  When playing on an 18-hole course, each hole is played once; whereas, on a nine-hole course each hole can be played twice to complete a round.  To begin a hole, players start by striking the ball off a tee.  Playing the ball off a tee can only be used on the first shot of every hole although it is not required to use a tee on the first shot.  Tees are a small wooden or plastic peg used to hold the ball up, so that when hit by the club the ball travels as far as possible.

text: The first section of every hole consists of the teeing ground, or tee-box. There is typically more than one available box where a player places his ball, each one a different distance from the hole (and possibly with a different angle of approach to the green or fairway) to provide differing difficulty. The teeing ground is generally as level as feasible, with closely mown grass very similar to that of a putting green, and most are slightly raised from the surrounding fairway.

text: Each tee box has two markers showing the bounds of the legal tee area. The teeing area spans the distance between the markers, and extends two-club lengths behind the markers. A golfer may play the ball standing outside the teeing area, but the ball itself must be placed and struck from within the area.[3] A golfer may place his ball directly on the surface of the teeing ground (called hitting it "off the deck"), or the ball may be supported by a manufactured tee (limited to a height of four inches), or by any natural substance, such as a mound of sand placed on the teeing surface

text: The tee markers are often color-coded for easy identification of the tee box; the order of colors, their names where appropriate, and the distance of each tee to the hole is provided on the scorecard and/or on signs identifying each hole. Most U.S. courses have four tee boxes:[4]

text:
Red – Closest to the hole and often placed to minimize the influence of major hazards like water; typically used by ladies of all ages, juniors (up to age 12), and novice players of any age/gender.
Gold- Next farthest, typically used by teenage boys, low-handicap ladies, and senior or high-handicap men.
White – Farther still, typically used by low-to-average-handicap men and low-handicap teenage boys.
Black or Blue – The farthest tee from the hole and with the most exposure to any major hazards; typically used only during tournaments or by zero-handicap ("scratch") male players.

text: There may be additional tees available, depending on the course, and they may be labeled or colored differently depending on the club and its normal patronage. A club catering to senior players, for instance, may offer an additional tee further forward of the ladies' tee, labeled for "senior ladies". A municipal course may label a similarly placed tee the "junior" or "novice" tees. Silver and gold may be used to denote senior ladies' and men's tees, with the regular men's tee being white and the tournament tee being blue.

text: In casual play, the tee a player hits from is usually their prerogative (there is no rule prohibiting a man from hitting off the closest tee box, nor any prohibiting a woman from using the tournament tee), but players will generally gravitate toward the traditional tee for their gender and/or age, as this will provide the best results given a player's nominal drive distance. Groups are often encouraged to compromise on one tee box, as this speeds the group's play. In tournaments, golfers generally tee off from the box one level further from the "normal" box for their class (men use the tournament tee, ladies use the senior or men's tee, and juniors use the ladies' tee).

text: Fairway and rough[edit]

text: After the first shot from the tee ("teeing off"), the player whose ball is farthest from the green hits the ball from where it came to rest; this spot is known as its "lie". When the ball is in play and not out of bounds or in a hazard you must play the ball as it lies.[5] The area between the tee box and the putting green where the grass is cut even and short is called the  fairway. The area between the fairway and the out-of-bounds markers, and also between a mowed apron surrounding the green and out of bounds, is the rough; the grass there is cut higher and is often of a coarser strain than on the fairways, making roughs disadvantageous areas from which to hit. On par-3 holes, the player is expected to be able to drive the ball to the green on the first shot from the tee box. On holes longer than par 3, players are expected to require at least one additional shot to reach their greens.

text: While many holes are designed with a direct line-of-sight from the teeing ground to the green, a hole may bend either to the left or to the right. This is called a "dogleg", in reference to the similarity to a dog's ankle. The hole is called a "dogleg left" if the hole angles leftwards, and a "dogleg right" if the hole angles rightwards. A hole's direction may bend twice, which is called a "double dogleg".

text: Just as there are good-quality grasses for putting greens, there are good-quality grasses for the fairway and rough. The quality of grass influences the roll of the ball as well as the ability of the player to "take a divot" (effectively, the ability to hit down into the ball, hitting the ball first, then hitting the turf and removing a portion of it as the club continues its arc). Fairways on prestigious tours, like the PGA Tour, are cut low. Mowing heights influence the play of the course. For example, the grass heights at U.S. Open events are alternated from one hole to the next in order to make the course more difficult. One example of this is the infamous roughs at U.S. Opens, which are often 3 to 5 inches high, depending on how close to the fairway or green the section of grass will be. This makes it difficult for a player to recover after a bad shot.

text: Variants of grass used for fairways and roughs include bent grass, Tifway 419 Bermuda grass,[6] rye grass, Kentucky bluegrass, and Zoysiagrass. As in putting-green grass types, not every grass type works equally well in all climate types.

text: Greens[edit]

text: The putting green, or simply the green, is an area of very closely trimmed grass on relatively even, smooth ground surrounding the hole, allowing players to make precision strokes on it. To "putt" is to play a stroke on this surface, usually with the eponymous "putter" club, which has very low loft so that the ball rolls smoothly along the ground, and hopefully into the cup. The shape and topology of the green can vary almost without limit, but for practical purposes the green is usually flatter than other areas of the course, though gentle slopes and undulations can add extra challenge to players who must account for these variations in their putting line. The green typically does not include any fully enclosed hazards such as sand or water; however, these hazards can be – and often are – placed adjacent to the green, and depending on the shape of the green and surrounding hazards, and the location of the hole (which often changes from day to day to promote even wear of the turf of the green), there may not be a direct putting line from a point on the green to the cup.

text: Golfers use a method known as "reading" the green to enhance their chances of making a putt.  Reading a green involves determining the speed, grain, incline, decline and tilt of the green on the line of the putt.  Most putts are not struck directly at the hole, instead they must be struck to take into account the characteristics of the green to arrive at the hole at the proper angle and speed.  The best players will read the green by walking around the green and studying the characteristics of the green before addressing the ball.  Reading the green and putting are considered by many golfers to be the most difficult part of the game.

text: The green is typically surrounded by slightly higher grass, cut at a height between that of the green and fairway, and then by the fairway and/or rough. This longer grass surrounding the green is known as the fringe and is designed to slow and stop balls rolling along the green from an approach shot or errant putt, preventing them from exiting the green. Though putting strokes can be made on it, the higher grass can interfere with the path of the ball, so players often choose to use a lofted club such as an iron to make a "chip shot" or a "bump and run", where the ball carries in the air for a few yards and then rolls along the green like a normal putt.

text: The grass of the putting green (more commonly just "green") is cut very short so that a ball can roll for a long distance. The most common types of greens for cold winter, but warmer summer regions (i.e., not extremely warm, as in the Southern and Southwestern United States) are bent grass greens. A green may consist of a thin carpet so that bad weather is not allowed to become a serious factor in maintaining the course. These are considered the best greens because they may be cut to an extremely low height, and because they may be grown from seed. Bent grass does not have grain, which makes it superior as a putting surface. However, bent grass may become infested with poa annua, a costly and time-consuming weed. Augusta National is one of many golf courses to use this type of green. The original design of Augusta National did not include bent grass greens, but in the 1980s the controversial decision was made to convert the greens from Bermuda to bent grass. This has affected the speed and playing of Augusta National.[citation needed] Many other golf courses subsequently made the decision to change from Bermuda to bent grass when they observed increased business at courses that had already changed over.[citation needed][7] Another type of grass common for greens is TifDwarf Hybrid Bermuda (other variants exist, but TifDwarf is one of the most common), or simply Bermuda grass. Bermuda is more common in regions that have very warm summers and mild winters, such as the Southern and Southwestern United States. Red Bridge Golf Course was the first course in North Carolina to utilize a special Bermuda called Mini Verde. A green is generally established from sod which has had the soil washed off of it (to avoid soil compatibility problems) and which is then laid tightly over the green, then rolled and topdressed with fine sand. Another common and more economical approach for establishing a putting green is to introduce hybrid Bermuda spriggs (the stolon of the grass which are raked out at the sod farm), which are laid out on the green. The best greens are always established vegetatively[clarification needed] and never from seed.

text: Two downside factors of Bermuda greens are cost of maintenance, and also the existence of grain (the growth direction of the blades of grass), which affects the ball's roll and which is called "the grain of the green." The slope or break of the green also affects the roll of the ball. The hole, or cup, is always found within the green and must have a diameter of 108 millimeters (4.25 in) and a depth of at least 10 centimeters (3.94 in). Its position on the green is not fixed and typically is changed daily by a greenskeeper in order to prevent excessive localized wear and damage to the turf. A new hole will be cut by a device that removes a plug of the turf from the ground, and the reinforced cup is then moved, before the old hole is filled in with the plug cut from the new hole and levelled. The hole has a flag on a metal pole positioned in it so that it may be seen from a distance, but not necessarily from the tee. This location marker is officially called the "flagstick" but is also commonly referred to as the "pin.".

text: Putting greens are not all of the same quality. The finest-quality greens are well-kept so that a ball will roll smoothly over the closely mowed grass. Excess water can be removed from a putting green using a machine called a water hog. Golfers describe a green as fast if a light stroke on the ball makes it roll a long distance; conversely, on a slow green a stronger stroke is necessary to roll the ball the same distance. The exact speed of a green can be determined with a stimp meter. By collecting sample measurements, golf courses can be compared in terms of average green speed. It is, however, illegal by the Rules of Golf to test the speed of a green while playing by rolling a ball on it, or by feeling or rubbing the green.

text: Hazards[edit]

text: Holes often include hazards, which are special areas that have additional rules for play, and are generally of two types: (1) water hazards, such as ponds, lakes, and rivers; and (2) bunkers, or sand traps.

text: Special rules apply to playing a ball that falls in a hazard. For example, a player may not touch the ground or water with their club before playing the ball, not even for a practice swing. A ball in any hazard may be played as it lies without penalty. If it cannot be played from the hazard, the ball may be hit from another location, generally with a penalty of one stroke. The Rules of Golf specify exactly the point from which the ball may be played outside a hazard. Bunkers are small to medium areas, usually lower than the fairway but of varying topography, that are filled with sand and generally incorporate a raised lip or barrier. It is more difficult to play the ball from sand than from grass, as the ball may embed itself into the sand, and the loose nature of the sand and more severe sloping of many bunkers make taking one's stance more difficult. As in any hazard, a ball in a bunker must be played without touching the sand with the club except during the stroke, and loose impediments (leaves, stones, twigs) must not be moved before making the stroke.

text: Courses may also have other design features which the skilled player will avoid; there are earth bunkers (pits or depressions in the ground that are not filled with sand but require a lofted shot to escape), high grass and other dense vegetation, trees or shrubs, ravines and other rocky areas, steep inclines, etc.; while disadvantageous to play from, these are typically not considered "hazards" unless specifically designated so by the course (a ravine or creekbed may be termed a "water hazard" even if completely dry)

text: Driving range[edit]

text: Often, a golf course will include among its facilities a practice range or driving range, usually with practice greens, bunkers, and driving areas. Markers showing distances are usually included on a practice range for the golfer's information. Driving ranges are also commonly found as separate facilities, unattached to a golf course, where players may simply hit balls into the range for practice or enjoyment.

text: There may even be a practice course (often shorter and easier to play than a full-scale course), where players may measure the distance they can obtain with a specific club, or in order to improve their swing technique. Practice courses often consist of old holes of a previous design that are kept and maintained for practice purposes or as substitute holes if one or more holes become unplayable; a 21-hole golf course, for instance, will have three additional holes that can be used for practice or as substitutes for a flooded or otherwise damaged hole.

text: Types[edit]

text: Links[edit]

text: Links is a Scottish term, from the Old English word hlinc : "rising ground, ridge", describing coastal sand dunes and sometimes similar areas inland.[8] It is on links land near the towns of central eastern Scotland that golf has been played since the 15th century.[9]

text: The shallow top soil and sandy subsoil made links land unsuitable for the cultivation of crops or for urban development and was of low economic value. The links were often treated as common land by the residents of the nearby towns and were used by them for recreation, animal grazing and other activities such as laundering clothes.

text: The closely grazed turf and naturally good drainage of the links was ideal for golf, and areas of longer grass, heather, low growing bushes and exposed sand provided the hazards that are familiar on modern courses. Although early links courses were often close to the sea it was rarely used as a hazard, perhaps due to the instability of the dunes closest to the water and the high cost of hand-made golf balls precluding anything that could result in their irrecoverable loss. The land is naturally treeless and this combined with their coastal location makes wind and weather an important factor in links golf.

text: Traditional links courses are often arranged with holes in pairs along the coastline; players would play "out" from the town through a series of holes to the furthest point of the course, and then would return "in" along the second set of holes.[9] The holes may share fairways and sometimes greens (such as at St Andrews to economize on land use, but in modern times this is rare due to the potential for injury from balls coming the other way.

text: Famous links courses include the Old Course at St. Andrews, often described as the "Home of Golf", and Musselburgh Links, which is generally regarded as the first recorded golf course. The Open Championship, the oldest of golf’s major championships, is always played on a links course.[10] Links and links-style golf courses have been developed throughout the world, reproducing the broken, treeless terrain with deep bunkers of their Scottish prototypes.

text: Executive[edit]

text: An executive course or short course is a course with a total par significantly less than that of a typical 18-hole course. Two main types exist:

text:
A "9-hole course", typically the type referred to as an "executive course", has only 9 holes instead of 18, but with the otherwise normal mix of par-3, par-4 and par-5 holes (typically producing a par score of between 34 and 36), and the course can be played through once for a short game, or twice for a full round.
A "par-3" course has either 9 or 18 holes, and the distance of each hole is a par 3 rating (typically 240 yards or less from the "men's" tee), with no par-4 or par-5 holes mandating shots through the green (though, occasionally, a "par-3" course may feature a par-4 or even a par-5 hole).  As a result, the total par for 18 holes of a par-3 course would be 54 instead of a typical 68–72. Some par-3 courses still require the use of a wood on some tee shots, and thus a "complete" set of clubs is used.
A common standardized type of par-3 course is the "Pitch and Putt" course, where each of the 9 or 18 holes has a distance from tee to cup of less than 100 yards, with an overall 18-hole course distance no more than 1,200 yards (so each hole averages 67 yards). This allows the course to be played without a full set of clubs; typically only wedges are needed, possibly a 9-iron for the longest holes, along with a putter, to play the course. The rules for formal Pitch and Putt competitions mandate a three-club limit, consisting of two irons and one putter.

text: These types of courses provide a faster pace of play than a standard course, and get their name from their target patronage of business executives who would play the course on a long lunch or as part of a meeting. They are also popular with young professionals, because during the normal golf season, the course can usually be played in the time between the end of the work day and sundown.

text: The popularity of the 9-hole course has waned in recent decades; a full 18-hole course still allows for the player to play only the "front nine" or "back nine" as a shorter game, while attracting more golfers seeking to play a traditional full round of 18 distinct holes. Many older executive courses have been upgraded "in-place" to 18 holes and a traditional par score, or the original course was sold for other development and new land was acquired and built into an 18-hole course. By contrast, par-3 courses, especially Pitch and Putt, are rising in popularity as a compromise between the long play time and high skill levels required of a traditional 18-hole course, and the artificial nature and single-minded putting focus of miniature golf. Pitch and Putt, specifically its governing association the IPPA, has received financial support and logo rights from the R&A.

text: In 2014, the PGA Tour held a Champions Tour event on a nine-hole par-3 course, the Big Cedar Lodge Legends of Golf in Ridgedale, Missouri, with four (regular division) or three (over-65 division) rounds played over the par-3 course, and one round played on a nearby regulation 18-hole course with par of 71.

text: Pitch and putt[edit]

text: Pitch and putt is an amateur sport, similar to golf and is also known as chip and putt. The maximum hole length for international competitions is 90 metres (100 yd) with a maximum total course length of 1,200 metres (1,310 yd). Players may only use three clubs; one of which must be a putter. The game is played from raised artificial teeing surfaces using a tee and it has its own handicap system.[11]

text: Ownership and management[edit]

text: There are three main categories of ownership and management of a golf course: private, commercial, and municipal.[12]

text: Private[edit]

text: A private course is owned and managed by a golf club on behalf of its members, on a non-profit basis. Many of the courses opened during the golf booms in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are of this type.[13] Some courses, such as Augusta National, are highly exclusive and will only allow visitors to play at the invitation of and alongside a member of the club. Others allow visitors at certain times but may insist on advance booking and proof of golfing competency.

text: Commercial[edit]

text: A commercial course is owned and managed by a commercial organisation and is operated for profit.  They may be constructed to provide a core or supplementary attraction for visitors to a hotel or commercial resort, as the centrepiece to a real estate development, as an exclusive Country Club, or as a "Pay and Play" course open to the general public. Notable examples include Pinehurst in the USA and Gleneagles in Scotland.

text: Municipal[edit]

text: A municipal course is owned and managed by a local government body for the benefit of residents and visitors.  Some of the historic Scottish golf courses, including St Andrews and Carnoustie fall into this category along with Bethpage in the USA and many others of less renown.  It is increasingly common for the management of municipal courses to be contracted out to commercial or other organisations or the course to be sold or shut down completely.[14]

text: Associated clubs[edit]

text: Many commercial and municipal establishments have associated golf clubs, who arrange competitions for their members on the courses and may provide clubhouse facilities. In the UK particularly, some older private members clubs have an associated "Artisan" club, originally established to provide low-cost golf with limited playing rights in exchange for unpaid work on the course.[13] These associated clubs may be totally independent organisations from the course management, or may have various degrees of formal or informal links.

text: Environmental impact[edit]

text: Environmental concerns over the use of land for golf courses have grown since the 1960s. Specific issues include the amount of water required for irrigation and the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers in maintenance, as well as the destruction of wetlands and other environmentally important areas during construction. The United Nations estimates that, worldwide, golf courses consume about 2.5 billion gallons/9.5 billion litres of water per day. Many golf courses are now irrigated with non-potable water and rainwater. In 1988, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prohibited the use of Diazinon on golf courses and sod farms because of its negative impact on bird species.

text: Environmental concerns, along concerns with cost and human health, have led to research into more environmentally sound practices and turf grasses. Golf course superintendents are often trained in the uses of these practices and grasses. This has led to significant reduction in the amount of both water and chemicals on courses. Golf course turf is an excellent filter for water and has been used in communities to cleanse grey water, such as incorporating them into bioswales.

text: The use of natural creeks and ponds is generally desirable when designing a golf course for their aesthetics and the increase in playing difficulty. However, such areas also typically include wetlands within the flood plain that are unsuitable for golfing and are often filled in and raised to remain dry. In arid areas, dry creek beds can be marked as "water hazards", but the importation of non-native grasses and other plant life can have a detrimental effect on native landscapes, often requiring non-native soil and large quantities of water and fertilizer to maintain the course. In these areas, course builders are often prohibited from growing and maintaining non-native grass on areas of the course other than the fairway, or even on the fairway itself, in which case only greens are allowed to have grass.

text: In the U.S., land administered by the Army Corps of Engineers, such as those bordering levees and lakes, is often desirable for building courses, due to the scenic natural views and the unsuitability of the land for other purposes due to it lying in a planned flood plain. In these cases, the course designer must work with the Corps of Engineers to plan a course layout that protects environmentally sensitive areas, provides for a means of quick escape in case of flooding, and does not invite players to hit into or toward controlled structures such as levees or dams.

text: Some environmentalists and other activists continue to lobby against the building of new golf courses, claiming they may impede corridors for migrating animals and damage sanctuaries for birds and other wildlife, though some courses have become havens for native and non-native creatures.[citation needed]

text: A result of modern equipment is that today's players can hit the ball much farther than previously. As a result, because of demand from course customers who possess this enhanced equipment, and also out of an expressed concern for safety, golf course architects have had to lengthen and widen golf courses. Where a 7,000-yard course used to be a great rarity, courses measuring 7,500-yards are now not uncommon, and courses of 8,000-yards are being contemplated. All this has led to a ten-percent increase in the acreage required to build a typical course. At the same time, water restrictions established by communities have forced courses to limit the amount of maintained turf grass. While most modern 18-hole golf courses occupy as much as 60 hectares (150 acres) of land, the average course has 30 hectares (74 acres) of maintained turf.[15]

text: Golf courses can be built on sandy areas along coasts, on abandoned farms, among strip mines and quarries, and in deserts and forests. Many Western countries have instituted environmental restrictions on where and how courses are allowed to be built.[16][17]

text: In some parts of the world, attempts to build courses and resorts have led to protests, vandalism, and violence. Populists perceive golf as an elitist activity, and thus golf courses become a target for popular opposition. Resisting golf tourism and golf's expansion has become an objective of some land-reform movements, especially in the Philippines and Indonesia.

text: In the Bahamas, opposition to golf developments has become a national issue. Residents of Great Guana Cay and Bimini, for example, are engaged in legal and political opposition to golf developments on their islands, for fear the golf courses will destroy the nutrient-poor balance on which their coral reef and mangrove systems depend.

text: In Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in arid regions, golf courses have been constructed on nothing more than oil-covered sand. Players may use a roller on the "greens" to smooth the intended path before putting. A course in Coober Pedy, Australia, consists of nine holes dug into mounds of sand, diesel fuel, and oil, with no grass appearing anywhere on the course. Players carry a small piece of astroturf from which they tee the ball. Other Australian golf courses in locations where water is scarce or water conservation is a priority sometimes feature "scrapes" in place of greens. These are made of fine dirt which requires raking between uses but does not require watering.[citation needed] In New Zealand, it is not uncommon for rural courses to have greens fenced off and sheep grazing the fairways. At the 125-year-old Royal Colombo Golf Club in Sri Lanka, steam trains from the Kelani Valley railway run through the course at the 6th hole.[citation needed]


document_title: The Four: Battle for Stardom

question_text: who won the first season of the 4

question_tokens: who won the first season of the 4

root

text: The Four: Battle for Stardom

text: Format[edit]

text: Based on an Israeli format called The Final Four,[3] The Four is a singing competition that differs among similar talent competitions, in that there are no stage auditions. The artists, also known as the challengers, are held in the holding room before singing in front of a live studio audience and the judges. The panel of people in the music industry ultimately decides the best challengers that compete against "The Four". Their decision must be unanimous. The members consist of vocalists of varying genres, and they must win challenges against new artists to keep their seat and remain as a member of "The Four". At the end of six weeks, the last singer standing among "The Four" wins the competition.

tag: p

text: There are two distinct rounds in The Four. In the performances round, new challengers must earn their seat by performing in front of a live studio audience, the panel of judges and "The Four". After the performance, the judges then vote and make a "Yes" or "No" decision, signifying the challenger's fate in the competition. If a challenger receives a unanimous four blue rings on stage (four "Yes" votes from the panel), they advance to the next round of the competition. A red ring given to the challenger signifies a "No", ending his or her time in the competition. Artists who advance to the challenge round can compete against a member of "The Four" for their seat. In a sing-off style battle, the challenger and "The Four" member sing against each other for their seat. After the challenge, the studio audience then votes to decide which of the two should remain in the competition. The winner locks his or her seat for the rest of the night and cannot be challenged again until the next episode.[4]

text: Series overview[edit]

text:
Season

First aired

Last aired

Winner

Runner-up

Other finalists

Presenter

Panelists

1

January 4, 2018

February 8, 2018

Evvie McKinney

Candice Boyd

Vincint Cannady

Fergie

Sean Combs

Meghan Trainor

DJ Khaled

Charlie Walk1

Zhavia

2

June 7, 2018

August 2, 2018

James Graham

Sharaya J

Leah Jenea

N/A

Whitney Reign

tag: table

text: ^ Walk withdrew from the show following episode 5.

tag: ol

text: Season synopses[edit]

text: Winners and runners-up are indicated in gold and silver, respectively.

text: Season 1[edit]

text: The first season of The Four premiered on January 4, 2018, and concluded on February 8, 2018. After six episodes, Evvie McKinney was announced as the winner of the season, with Candice Boyd as the runner-up. Along with the former and latter, the final group of "The Four" also included Vincint Cannady and Zhavia.

text:
The Four

Episode

Group

Members

Seat 1

Seat 2

Seat 3

Seat 4

1

Original Four

Lex Lu

Ash Minor

Elanese Lansen

Blair Perkins

2nd Four

Zhavia

Saeed Renaud

2

3rd Four

Cheyenne Elliot

Candice Boyd

Jason Warrior

3

4th Four

Rell Jerv

Tim Johnson Jr.

4

5th Four

Nick Harrison

Kendyle Paige

5.1

6th Four

Evvie McKinney

Vincint Cannady

5.2

Final Four

Candice Boyd

Zhavia

6

text: Season 2[edit]

text: The second season of The Four premiered on June 7, 2018, and concluded on August 2, 2018. The first members of "The Four" were announced on May 9, 2018. They included Carvena Jones, James Graham,  Sharaya J, and Stephanie Zelaya.[5] Following eight episodes, James Graham was announced as the winner of the season, with Sharaya J as the runner-up. Leah Jenea and Whitney Reign were finalists. Runner-up Sharaya J remained undefeated throughout the entirety of the season.

text:
The Four

Episode

Group

Members

Seat 1

Seat 2

Seat 3

Seat 4

1

Original Four

Carvena Jones

James Graham

Stephanie Zelaya

Sharaya J

2nd Four

Majeste Pearson

2

3rd Four

Jesse Kramer

Whitney Reign

3

4th Four

4

5th Four

Ali Caldwell

5

6th Four

Noah Barlass

6

7th Four

JeRonelle McGhee

Leah Jenea

7

Final Four

James Graham

Whitney Reign

8

text: Reception[edit]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Year

Award

Category

Nominee

Result

Ref.

2018

Teen Choice Awards

Choice TV Series: Reality

The Four: Battle for Stardom

Nominated

[6]

Choice TV Personality

DJ Khaled

Nominated

Meghan Trainor

Nominated

text: Ratings[edit]

text: The first season of The Four was Fox's most watched and highest-rated new unscripted series in nearly four years.[1]

text:
Season

Timeslot (ET)

# Ep.

Premiered

Ended

TV season

Season ranking

Viewers(in millions)

Date

Premiere viewers(in millions)

Date

Finale viewers(in millions)

1

Thursday8:00 PM

6

January 4, 2018

3.75[7]

February 8, 2018

4.03[8]

2017–18

117

4.19[9]

2

8

June 7, 2018

2.43[10]

August 2, 2018

3.40[11]

N/A

2.72[12]

text: International versions[edit]

text:
Country/Region

Local title

Network(s)

Winner(s)

Presenter(s)

Judges

 Greece Cyprus

The Four: Battle for Stardom

ANT1

Season 1, 2019: Upcoming season

TBA

TBA

 Peru[13][14]

Los cuatro finalistas

Latina

Season 1, 2018: Javier Arias
Season 2, 2018: José Gaona

Christian Rivero

Eva Ayllón
Deyvis Orosco
Chyno Miranda
Pedro Suárez-Vértiz

Los cuatro finalistas: baile

Season 1, 2018: Karla Valentín and Carlos Antón

Christian RiveroJazmín Pinedo

Pachi Valle Riesta
Belén Estevez
Marco Zunino
Tilsa Lozano


document_title: Quarterback

question_text: who does a quarterback throw the ball to

text: Quarterback

text: Overview[edit]

text: In modern American football, the quarterback is usually the leader of the offense. The quarterback touches the ball on almost every offensive play, and his successes and failures can have a significant impact on the fortunes of his team. Accordingly, the quarterback is among the most glorified and scrutinized positions in team sports.[1] Prior to each play, the quarterback will usually tell the rest of his team which play the team will run. After the team is lined up, the center will pass the ball back to the quarterback (a process called the snap). Usually on a running play, the quarterback will then hand or pitch the ball backwards to a half back or full back. On a passing play, the quarterback is almost always the player responsible for trying to throw the ball downfield to an eligible receiver downfield.[2] Additionally, the quarterback will often run with the ball himself, which could be part of a designed play like the option run[3] or quarterback sneak,[4] or it could be an effort to avoid being sacked by the defense.[5]

text: Depending on the offensive scheme by his team, the quarterback's role can vary. In systems like the triple option the quarterback will only pass the ball a few times per a game, if at all,[6] while the pass-heavy spread offense as run by schools like Texas Tech requires quarterbacks to throw the ball in most plays.[7] The passing game is emphasized heavily in the Canadian Football League (CFL), where there are only three downs as opposed to the four downs used in American football, a larger field of play and an extra eligible receiver.[8] Different skillsets are required of the quarterback in each system - quarterbacks that perform well in a pass-heavy spread offensive system, a popular offensive scheme in the NCAA and NFHS, rarely perform well in the National Football League (NFL), as the fundamentals of the pro-style offense used in the NFL are very different from those in the spread system.[9] while quarterbacks in Canadian football need to be able to throw the ball often and accurately.[8] In general, quarterbacks need to have physical skills such as arm strength, mobility, and quick throwing motion, in addition to intangibles such as competitiveness, leadership, intelligence, and downfield vision.[10]

text: In the NFL, quarterbacks are required to wear a uniform number between 1 and 19.[11] In the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), quarterbacks are required to wear a uniform number between 1 and 49; in the NFHS, the quarterback can also wear a number between 80 and 89.[12][13] In the CFL, the quarterback can wear any number from 0 to 49 and 70 to 99.[14] Because of their numbering, quarterbacks are eligible receivers in the NCAA, NFHS, and CFL;[15][16] in the NFL, quarterbacks are eligible receivers if they are not lined up directly under center.[17]

text: Leadership[edit]

text: In the NFL, while the starting quarterback has no other responsibility or authority, he may, depending on the league or individual team, have various informal duties, such as participation in pre-game ceremonies, the coin toss, or other events outside the game.

text: Often compared to captains of other team sports, before the implementation of NFL team captains in 2007, the starting quarterback was usually the de facto team leader and well-respected player on and off the field. Since 2007, when the NFL allowed teams to designate several captains to serve as on-field leaders, the starting quarterback has usually been one of the team captains as the leader of the team's offense.

text: After a Super Bowl victory, the starting quarterback is the first player (and third person after the team owner and head coach) to be presented with the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The starting quarterback of the victorious Super Bowl team is often chosen for the "I'm going to Disney World!" campaign (which includes a trip to Walt Disney World for them and their families), whether they are the Super Bowl MVP or not; examples include Joe Montana (XXIII), Trent Dilfer (XXXV), and Peyton Manning (50). Dilfer was chosen even though teammate Ray Lewis was the MVP of Super Bowl XXXV, due to the bad publicity from Lewis' murder trial the prior year.[18]

text: Trends and other roles[edit]

text: In addition to their main role, quarterbacks are occasionally used in other roles. Most teams utilize a backup quarterback as their holder on placekicks. A benefit of using quarterbacks as holders is that it would be easier to pull off a fake field goal attempt, but many coaches prefer to use punters as holders because a punter will have far more time in practice sessions to work with the kicker than any quarterback would.[19] In the Wildcat, a formation where a halfback lines up behind the center and the quarterback lines up out wide, the quarterback can be used as a receiving target or a blocker.[20] A more rare use for a quarterback is to punt the ball himself, a play known as a quick kick. Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway was known to perform quick kicks occasionally, typically when the Broncos were facing a third-and-long situation.[21] Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham, an All-America punter in college,[22] was also known to punt the ball occasionally, and was assigned as the team's default punter for certain situations, such as when the team was backed up inside their own five-yard line.[23]

text: As Roger Staubach's back-up, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Danny White was also the team's punter, opening strategic possibilities for coach Tom Landry. Ascending the starting role upon Staubach's retirement, White held his position as the team's punter for several seasons—a double duty he performed to All-American standard at Arizona State University. White also had two touchdown receptions as a Dallas Cowboy, both from the halfback option.

text: Special tactics[edit]

text: If quarterbacks are uncomfortable with the formation the defense is using, they may call an audible change to their play. For example, if a quarterback receives the call to execute a running play, but he notices that the defense is ready to blitz—that is, to send additional defensive backs across the line of scrimmage in an attempt to tackle the quarterback or hurt his ability to pass—the quarterback may want to change the play. To do this, the quarterback yells a special code, like "Blue 42," or "Texas 29," which tells the offense to switch to a specific play or formation, but it all depends on the quarterback's judgment of the defense's alignment.

text: Quarterbacks can also "spike" (throw the football at the ground) to stop the official game clock. For example, if a team is down by a field goal with only seconds remaining, a quarterback may spike the ball to prevent the game clock from running out. This usually allows the field goal unit to come onto the field, or attempt a final "Hail Mary pass". However, if a team is winning, a quarterback can keep the clock running by kneeling after the snap. This is normally done when the opposing team has no timeouts and there is little time left in the game, as it allows a team to burn up the remaining time on the clock without risking a turnover or injury.

text: Dual-threat quarterbacks[edit]

text: A dual-threat quarterback possesses the skills and physique to run with the ball if necessary.[24] With the rise of several blitz-heavy defensive schemes and increasingly faster defensive players, the importance of a mobile quarterback has been redefined. While arm power, accuracy, and pocket presence – the ability to successfully operate from within the "pocket" formed by his blockers – are still the most important quarterback virtues, the ability to elude or run past defenders creates an additional threat that allows greater flexibility in a team's passing and running game.

text: Dual-threat quarterbacks have historically been more prolific at the college level. Typically, a quarterback with exceptional quickness is used in an option offense, which allows the quarterback to hand the ball off, run it himself, or pitch it to the running back following him at a distance of three yards outside and one yard behind. This type of offense forces defenders to commit to the running back up the middle, the quarterback around the end, or the running back trailing the quarterback. It is then that the quarterback has the "option" to identify which match-up is most favorable to the offense as the play unfolds and exploit that defensive weakness. In the college game, many schools employ several plays that are designed for the quarterback to run with the ball. This is much less common in professional football, except for a quarterback sneak, but there is still an emphasis on being mobile enough to escape a heavy pass rush. Historically, high-profile dual-threat quarterbacks in the NFL were uncommon, Steve Young and John Elway being among the notable exceptions, leading their teams to three and five Super Bowl appearances respectively; and Michael Vick, whose rushing ability was a rarity in the early 2000s, although he never led his team to a Super Bowl. In recent years,[when?] quarterbacks with dual-threat capabilities have become more popular. Examples of dual-threat quarterbacks currently playing in the NFL include Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, Ryan Tannehill, Blake Bortles, Tyrod Taylor, Aaron Rodgers, Alex Smith, Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota.

text: Two-quarterback system[edit]

text: Some teams employ a strategy which involves the use of more than one quarterback during the course of a game. This is more common at lower levels of football, such as high school or small college, but rare in major college or professional football.

text: There are four circumstances in which a two-quarterback system may be used.

text: The first is when a team is in the process of determining which quarterback will eventually be the starter, and may choose to use each quarterback for part of the game in order to compare the performances. For instance, the Seattle Seahawks' Pete Carroll used the pre-season games in 2012 to select Russell Wilson as the starting quarterback over Matt Flynn and Tarvaris Jackson.

text: The second is a starter–reliever system, in which the starting quarterback splits the regular season playing time with the backup quarterback, although the former will start playoff games. This strategy is rare, and was last seen in the NFL in the "WoodStrock" combination of Don Strock and David Woodley, which took the Miami Dolphins to the Epic in Miami in 1982 and Super Bowl XVII the following year. The starter-reliever system is distinct from a one-off situation in which a starter is benched in favor of the back-up because the switch is part of the game plan (usually if the starter is playing poorly for that game), and the expectation is that the two players will assume the same roles game after game.

text: The third is if a coach decides that the team has two quarterbacks who are equally effective and proceeds to rotate the quarterbacks at predetermined intervals, such as after each quarter or after each series. Southern California high school football team Corona Centennial operated this model during the 2014 football season, rotating quarterbacks after every series.[25] In a game against the Chicago Bears in the seventh week of the 1971 season, Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry alternated Roger Staubach and Craig Morton on each play, sending in the quarterbacks with the play call from the sideline.

text: The fourth, still occasionally seen in major-college football, is the use of different quarterbacks in different game or down/distance situations. Generally this involves a running quarterback and a passing quarterback in an option or wishbone offense. In Canadian football, quarterback sneaks or other runs in short-yardage situations tend to be successful as a result of the distance between the offensive and defensive lines being one yard. Drew Tate, a quarterback for the Calgary Stampeders, was primarily used in short-yardage situations and led the CFL in rushing touchdowns during the 2014 season with ten scores as the backup to Bo Levi Mitchell.[26][27] This strategy had all but disappeared from professional American football, but returned to some extent with the advent of the "wildcat" offense. There is a great debate within football circles as to the effectiveness of the so-called "two-quarterback system". Many coaches and media personnel remain skeptical of the model.[28] Teams such as USC (Southern California), OSU (Oklahoma State), Northwestern, and smaller West Georgia have utilized the two-quarterback system; West Georgia, for example, uses the system due to the skill sets of its quarterbacks. Teams like these use this situation because of the advantages it gives them against defenses of the other team, so that the defense is unable to adjust to their game plan.[29]

text: History[edit]

text: The quarterback position dates to the late 1800s, when American Ivy League schools playing a form of rugby union imported from the United Kingdom began to put their own spin on the game.[30] Walter Camp, a prominent athlete and rugby player at Yale University, pushed through a change in rules at a meeting in 1880 that established a line of scrimmage and allowed for the football to be snapped to a quarterback.[30] The change was meant to allow for teams to strategize their play more thoroughly and retain possession more easily than was possible in the chaos of a scrummage in rugby.[30] In Camp's formulation, the "quarter-back" was the person who received a ball snapped back with another player's foot. Originally he was not allowed to run forward of the line of scrimmage:

text: A scrimmage takes place when the holder of the ball puts it on the ground before him and puts it in play while on-side either by kicking the ball or by snapping it back with his foot. The man who first receives the ball from the snap-back shall be called the quarter-back and shall not rush forward with the ball under penalty of foul.

text: The quarterback in this context was often called the "blocking back" as their duties usually involved blocking after the initial handoff. The "fullback" was the furthest back behind the line of scrimmage. The "halfback" was halfway between the fullback and the line of scrimmage, and the "quarter-back" was halfway between the halfback and the line of scrimmage. Hence, he was called a "quarter-back" by Walter Camp.

text: The requirement to stay behind the line of scrimmage was soon rescinded, but it was later re-imposed in six-man football. The exchange between the person snapping the ball (typically the center) and the quarterback was initially an awkward one because it involved a kick.[30] At first, centers gave the ball a small boot, and then picked it up and handed it to the quarterback.[30] By 1889, Yale center Bert Hanson was bouncing the ball on the ground to the quarterback between his legs.[30] The following year, a rule change officially made snapping the ball using the hands between the legs legal.[31] Several years later, Amos Alonzo Stagg at the University of Chicago invented the lift-up snap: the center passed the ball off the ground and between his legs to a standing quarterback.[30] A similar set of changes were later adopted in Canadian football as part of the Burnside rules, a set of rules proposed by John Meldrum "Thrift" Burnside, the captain of the University of Toronto's football team.[32]

text: The change from a scrummage to a "scrimmage" made it easier for teams to decide what plays they would run before the snap.[33] At first, the captains of college teams were put in charge of play-calling, indicating with shouted codes which players would run with the ball and how the men on the line were supposed to block.[33] Yale later used visual signals, including adjustments of the captain's knit hat, to call plays.[33] Centers could also signal plays based on the alignment of the ball before the snap.[33] In 1888, however, Princeton University began to have its quarterback call plays using number signals.[34] That system caught on, and quarterbacks began to act as directors and organizers of offensive play.[34]

text: Early on, quarterbacks were used in a variety of formations. Harvard's team put seven men on the line of scrimmage, with three halfbacks who alternated at quarterback and a lone fullback.[30] Princeton put six men on the line and had one designated quarterback, while Yale used seven linemen, one quarterback and two halfbacks who lined up on either side of the fullback.[30] This was the origin of the T-formation, an offensive set that remained in use for many decades afterward and gained popularity in professional football starting in the 1930s.[30]

text: In 1906, the forward pass was legalized in American football; Canadian football did not adopt the forward pass until 1929.[32] Despite the legalization of the forward pass, the most popular formations of the early 20th century focused mostly on the rushing game. The single-wing formation, a run-oriented offensive set, was invented by football coach Glenn "Pop" Warner around the year 1908.[37] In the single-wing, the quarterback was positioned behind the line of scrimmage and was flanked by a tailback, fullback and wingback.[37] He served largely as a blocking back; the tailback typically took the snap, either running forward with the ball or making a lateral pass to one of the other players in the backfield.[37] The quarterback's job was usually to make blocks upfield to help the tailback or fullback gain yards.[37] Passing plays were rare in the single-wing, an unbalanced power formation where four linemen lined up to one side of the center and two lined up to the other.[37] The tailback was the focus of the offense, and was often a triple-threat man who would either pass, run or kick the ball.[38]

text: Offensive play-calling continued to focus on rushing up through the 1920s, when professional leagues began to challenge the popularity of college football.[39] In the early days of the professional National Football League (NFL), which was founded in 1920, games were largely low-scoring affairs. Two-thirds of all games in the 1920s were shutouts, and quarterbacks usually passed only out of desperation.[39] In addition to a reluctance to risk turnovers by passing, various rules existed that limited the effectiveness of the forward pass: passers were required to drop back five yards behind the line of scrimmage before they could attempt a pass, and incomplete passes in the end zone resulted in a change of possession and a touchback[39] Additionally, the rules requires the ball to be snapped from the location on the field where it was ruled dead; if a play ended with a player going out of bounds, the center had to snap the ball from the sideline, an awkward place to start a play.[39]

text: Despite these constraints, player-coach Curly Lambeau of the Green Bay Packers, along with several other NFL figures of his era, was a consistent proponent of the forward pass.[39] The Packers found success in the 1920s and 1930s using variations on the single-wing that emphasized the passing game.[40] Packers quarterback Red Dunn and New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers quarterback Benny Friedman were the leading passers of their era, but passing remained a relative rarity among other teams; between 1920 and 1932, there were three times as many running plays as there were passing plays.[40]

text: Early NFL quarterbacks typically were responsible for calling the team's offensive plays with signals before the snap.[41] The use of the huddle to call plays originated with Stagg in 1896, but only began to be used regularly in college games in 1921.[41] In the NFL, players were typically assigned numbers, as were the gaps between offensive linemen.[41] One player, usually the quarterback, would call signals indicating which player was to run the ball and which gap he would run toward.[42] Play-calling or any other kind of coaching from the sidelines was not permitted during this period, leaving the quarterback to devise the offensive strategy (often, the quarterback doubled as head coach during this era).[42] Substitutions were limited, and quarterbacks often played on both offense and defense.[42]

text: The period between 1933 and 1945 was marked by numerous changes for the quarterback position.[44] The rule requiring a quarterback to be five yards behind the line of scrimmage to pass was abolished.[45] Hash marks were added to the field that established a limited zone between which the ball was placed before snaps, making offensive formations more flexible.[45] Additionally, incomplete passes in the end zone were no longer counted as turnovers and touchbacks.[45]

text: The single-wing continued to be in wide use throughout this, and a number of forward-passing tailbacks became stars, including Sammy Baugh of the Washington Redskins.[45] In 1939, University of Chicago head football coach Clark Shaughnessy made modifications to the T-formation, a formation that put the quarterback behind the center and had him receive the snap directly.[45] Shaughnessy altered the formation by having the linemen be spaced further apart, and he began having players go in motion behind the line of scrimmage before the snap to confuse defenses.[45] These changes were picked up by Chicago Bears coach George Halas, a close friend of Shaughnessy, and they quickly caught on in the professional ranks.[45] Utilizing the T-formation and led by quarterback Sid Luckman, the Bears reached the NFL championship game in 1940 and beat the Redskins by a score of 73–0.[45] The blowout led other teams across the league to adopt variations on the T-formation, including the Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Rams and Detroit Lions.[45] Baugh and the Redskins converted to the T-formation and continued to succeed.[45]

text: Thanks in part to the emergence of the T-formation and changes in the rulebooks to liberalize the passing game, passing from the quarterback position became more common in the 1940s.[45] Over the course of the decade, passing yards began to exceed rushing yards for the first time in the history of football.[45] The Cleveland Browns of the late 1940s in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), a professional league created to challenge the NFL, were one of the teams of that era that relied most on passing.[46] Quarterback Otto Graham helped the Browns win four AAFC championships in the late 1940s in head coach Paul Brown's T-formation offense, which emphasized precision timing passes.[46] Cleveland, along with several other AAFC teams, was absorbed by the NFL in 1950 after the dissolution of the AAFC that same year.[46] By the end of the 1940s, all NFL teams aside from the Pittsburgh Steelers used the T-formation as their primary offensive formation.[46]

text: As late as the 1960s, running plays occurred more frequently than passes. NFL quarterback Milt Plum later stated that during his career (1957-1969) passes typically only occurred on third downs and sometimes on first downs.[47] Quarterbacks only increased in importance as rules changed to favor passing and higher scoring and as football gained popularity on television after the 1958 NFL Championship Game, often referred to as "The Greatest Game Ever Played".[48] Early modern offenses evolved around the quarterback as a passing threat, boosted by rules changes in 1978 and 1979 that made it a penalty for defensive backs to interfere with receivers downfield and allowed offensive linemen to pass-block using their arms and open hands; the rules had limited them to blocking with their hands held to their chests.[49] Average passing yards per game rose from 283.3 in 1977 to 408.7 in 1979.[49]

text: The NFL has continued to be a pass-heavy league to the present day, in part due to further rule changes that prescribed harsher penalties for hitting the quarterback and for hitting defenseless receivers as they awaited passes.[50] Passing in wide-open offenses has also been an emphasis at the high school and college levels, and professional coaches have devised schemes to fit the talents of new generations of quarterbacks.[50]

text: While quarterbacks and team captains usually called plays in football's early years, today coaches often decide which plays the offense will run. Some teams use an offensive coordinator, an assistant coach whose duties include offensive game-planning and often play-calling. In the NFL, coaches are allowed to communicate with quarterbacks and call plays using audio equipment built into the player's helmet. Quarterbacks are allowed to hear, but not talk to, their coaches until there are fifteen seconds left on the play clock.[51] Once the quarterback receives the call, he may relay it to other players via signals or in a huddle.

text: Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry was an early advocate of taking play calling out of the quarterback's hands. Although this remained a common practice in the NFL through the 1970s, fewer QBs were doing it by the 1980s and even Hall of Famers like Joe Montana did not call their own plays. Buffalo Bills QB Jim Kelly was one of the last to regularly call plays. Peyton Manning, formerly of the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos, was the best modern example of a quarterback who called his own plays, primary using an uptempo, no-huddle-based attack. Manning had almost complete control over the offense. Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco retains a high degree of control over the offense as well, particularly when running a no-huddle scheme, as does Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

text: Race[edit]

text: During the 2013 season, 67 percent of NFL players were African American (blacks make up 13 percent of the US population), yet only 17 percent of quarterbacks were; 82 percent of quarterbacks were white.[52] Samuel G. Freedman, writing in The New Yorker, asserted that black quarterbacks have faced discrimination, "often denied the starting positions they deserved."[53]

text: Since the inception of the game, only two black quarterbacks have led their team to a Super Bowl victory, Doug Williams in 1988 and Russell Wilson in 2014.


document_title: varchar

question_text: what is the length of varchar(max) in sql server

question_tokens: what is the length of varchar ( max ) in sql server

text: varchar

text: A varchar or Variable Character Field is a set of character data of indeterminate length. The term varchar refers to a data type of a field (or column) in a database management system which can hold letters and numbers. Varchar fields can be of any size up to a limit, which varies by databases: an Oracle 11g database has a limit of 4000 bytes,[1] a MySQL 5.7 database has a limit of 65,535 bytes (for the entire row)[2] and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 has a limit of 8000 characters (unless varchar(max) is used, which has a maximum storage capacity of 2 gigabytes).[3]


document_title: Bluegrass music

question_text: what is the most established and iconic instrumental ensemble in western culture

text: Bluegrass music

text: Characteristics[edit]

text: Instrumentation[edit]

text: Unlike mainstream country music, bluegrass is traditionally played on acoustic stringed instruments. The fiddle, five-string banjo, guitar, mandolin, and upright bass (string bass) are often joined by the resonator guitar (also referred to as a Dobro) and (occasionally) harmonica or Jew's harp. This instrumentation originated in rural dance bands and is the basis on which the earliest bluegrass bands were formed.[14]

text: The guitar is now most commonly played with a style referred to as flatpicking, unlike the style of early bluegrass guitarists such as Lester Flatt, who used a thumb pick and finger pick. Banjo players often use the three-finger picking style made popular by banjoists such as Don Reno and Earl Scruggs. Fiddlers frequently play in thirds and fifths, producing a sound that is characteristic to the bluegrass style. Bassists almost always play pizzicato, occasionally adopting the "slap-style" to accentuate the beat. A bluegrass bass line is generally a rhythmic alternation between the tonic and dominant of each chord, with occasional walking bass excursions.

text: Instrumentation has been an ongoing topic of debate. Traditional bluegrass performers believe the "correct" instrumentation is that used by Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys (mandolin, fiddle, guitar, banjo and bass). Departures from the traditional instrumentation have included dobro, accordion, harmonica, piano, autoharp, drums, electric guitar, and electric versions of other common bluegrass instruments, resulting in what has been referred to as "newgrass."

text: Vocals[edit]

text: Apart from specific instrumentation, a distinguishing characteristic of bluegrass is vocal harmony featuring two, three, or four parts, often with a dissonant or modal sound in the highest voice (see modal frame), a style described as the "high, lonesome sound."[15] Commonly, the ordering and layering of vocal harmony is called the "stack". A standard stack has a baritone voice at the bottom, the lead in the middle (singing the main melody) and a tenor at the top; although stacks can be altered, especially where a female voice is included. Alison Krauss and Union Station provide a good example of a different harmony stack with a baritone and tenor with a high lead, an octave above the standard melody line, sung by the female vocalist. However, by employing variants to the standard trio vocal arrangement, they were simply following a pattern existing since the early days of the genre. The Stanley Brothers utilized a high baritone part on several of their trios recorded for Columbia records during their time with that label (1950–1953). Mandolin player Pee Wee Lambert sang the high baritone above Ralph Stanley's tenor, both parts above Carter's lead vocal. This trio vocal arrangement was variously used by other groups as well. In the 1960s Flatt and Scruggs often added a fifth part to the traditional quartet parts on gospel songs, the extra part being a high baritone (doubling the baritone part sung in the normal range of that voice; E.P. Tullock [aka Cousin Jake] providing the part). The use of a high lead with the tenor and baritone below it was most famously employed by the Osborne Brothers who first employed it during their time with MGM records in the latter half of the 1950s. This vocal arrangement would be the home aspect of the Osbornes' sound with Bobby's high, clear voice at the top of the vocal stack.

text: Themes[edit]

text: Bluegrass tunes can largely be described as narratives on the everyday lives of the people whence the music came. Aside from laments about loves lost, interpersonal tensions and unwanted changes to the region (e.g., the visible effects of mountaintop coal mining), bluegrass vocals frequently reference the hard-scrabble existence of living in Appalachia and other rural areas with modest financial resources. Some protest music has been composed in the bluegrass style, especially concerning the vicissitudes of the Appalachian coal mining industry. Railroading has also been a popular theme, with ballads such as "Wreck of the Old 97" and "Nine Pound Hammer" (from the legend of John Henry) being exemplary.

text: History[edit]

text: Creation[edit]

text: Bluegrass, as a distinct musical form, developed from elements of old-time music and traditional music of the Appalachian region of the United States. The Appalachian region was where many English and Ulster-Scots immigrants settled, bringing with them the musical traditions of their homelands. Hence the sounds of jigs and reels, especially as played on the fiddle, were innate to the developing style. Black musicians infused characteristics of the blues to the mix, and in a development that was key to shaping the bluegrass sound, introduced the iconic banjo to the region.[citation needed]

text: The music now known as bluegrass was frequently used to accompany a rural dancing style known as buckdancing, flatfooting or clogging. As the bluegrass sound spread to urban areas, listening to it for its own sake increased, especially after the advent of audio recording. In 1948, what would come to be known as bluegrass emerged as a genre within the post-war country/western-music industry, a period of time characterized now as the golden era or wellspring of "traditional bluegrass." From its earliest days, bluegrass has been recorded and performed by professional and amateur musicians alike. Although amateur bluegrass musicians and trends such as "parking-lot picking" are too important to be ignored, it is touring musicians who have set the direction of the style. Radio stations dedicated to bluegrass have also proved influential in advancing the evolution of the style into distinctive subgenres.

text: Classification[edit]

text: Bluegrass was initially included in the category of folk music and later changed to hillbilly. In 1948, bluegrass was placed under the country/western heading for radio airplay charting. All four of the seminal bluegrass authors - Artis, Price, Cantwell and Rosenberg - described bluegrass music in detail as originating in style and form, in one form or another, between the 1930s and mid-1940s. However, the term "bluegrass" did not appear formally to describe the music until the late 1950s, and did not appear in Music Index until 1965 (Kretzschmar, 1970). The first entry in Music Index mentioning "bluegrass music" directed the reader to "see Country Music; Hillbilly Music" (Kretzschmar, 1970, p. 91). Music Index maintained this listing for bluegrass music until 1986. The first time bluegrass music had its own entries in Music Index was 1987 (Stratelak, 1988).

text: The topical and narrative themes of many bluegrass songs are highly reminiscent of folk music. Many songs that are widely considered to be bluegrass are in reality older works legitimately classified as folk or old-time music that are performed in the bluegrass style. The interplay between bluegrass and folk forms has been academically studied. Folklorist Dr. Neil Rosenberg, for example, shows that most devoted bluegrass fans and musicians are familiar with traditional folk songs and old-time music and that these songs are often played at shows, festivals and jams (Rosenberg, 1985).

text: Origin of name[edit]

text: "Bluegrass" is a common name given in America for grass of the Poa genus, the most famous being Kentucky bluegrass. A large region in central Kentucky is sometimes called the Bluegrass region (although this region is west of the hills of Kentucky).

text: Exactly when the word "bluegrass" itself was adopted to label this form of music is not certain, but is believed to be in the late 1950s.[16] It was derived from the name of the seminal Blue Grass Boys band, formed in 1939 with Bill Monroe as its leader. Due to this lineage, Bill Monroe is frequently referred to as the "father of bluegrass".[17]

text: Monroe's 1946 to 1948 band, which featured banjo prodigy Earl Scruggs, singer-guitarist Lester Flatt, fiddler Chubby Wise and bassist Howard Watts (also known as "Cedric Rainwater")—sometimes called "the original bluegrass band"—created the definitive sound and instrumental configuration that remains a model to this day. By some arguments, while the Blue Grass Boys were the only band playing this music, it was just their unique sound; it could not be considered a musical style until other bands began performing in similar fashion. In 1948, the Stanley Brothers recorded the traditional song "Molly and Tenbrooks" in the Blue Grass Boys' style, arguably the point in time that bluegrass emerged as a distinct musical form.[18] As Ralph Stanley himself said about the origins of the genre and its name:

text: Oh, (Monroe) was the first. But it wasn't called bluegrass back then. It was just called old time mountain hillbilly music. When they started doing the bluegrass festivals in 1965, everybody got together and wanted to know what to call the show, y'know. It was decided that since Bill was the oldest man, and was from the bluegrass state of Kentucky and he had the Blue Grass Boys, it would be called 'bluegrass.'[19]

text: First generation[edit]

text: First generation bluegrass musicians dominated the genre from its beginnings in the mid-1940s through the mid-1960s. This group generally consists of those who were playing during the "Golden Age" in the 1950s, including Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, the Stanley Brothers, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs with the Foggy Mountain Boys, Hylo Brown and The Timberliners, Reno and Smiley, Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, Jim and Jesse, Jimmy Martin and the Osborne Brothers, Red Allen (who also recorded with the Osborne Brothers for MGM in the mid-fifties), Mac Wiseman, Mac Martin and the Dixie Travelers, Carl Story and his Rambling Mountaineers, Buzz Busby, The Lilly Brothers, Bill Clifton and Jim Eanes, and the Country Gentlemen - one of the first bands to include material from outside the usual corpus of bluegrass music.

text: Second generation[edit]

text: A second generation of bluegrass musicians began performing, composing and recording in the mid-to late-1960s, although many had played in first–generation bands from a young age. Some bluegrass musicians in this group are Jimmy Martin, Doc Watson, J. D. Crowe, Doyle Lawson, Sam Bush, Béla Fleck, John Hartford, Jerry Douglas, Norman Blake, Frank Wakefield, Bill Keith, Del McCoury and Tony Rice. As they refined their craft, the New Grass Revival, Seldom Scene, The Kentucky Colonels, and The Dillards developed progressive bluegrass. In one collaboration, first-generation bluegrass fiddler Vassar Clements, progressive mandolin player David Grisman, Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia (on banjo), and Peter Rowan on lead vocals played in the band called Old and in the Way. Garcia, Chris Hillman, Dickey Betts of The Allman Brothers Band and others in the 1960s and 1970s helped introduce rock music listeners to progressive and traditional bluegrass. Bush, Grisman, and Clements developed strong jazz elements in most of their playing—Clements liked to refer to his music as "hillbilly jazz"—but each owes much to traditional bluegrass.

text: Third generation[edit]

text: Third generation bluegrass developed in the mid-1980s. Bluegrass grew, matured and broadened from the music played in previous years. This generation redefined "mainstream bluegrass". High-quality sound equipment allowed each band member to be miked independently, exemplified by Tony Rice Unit and The Bluegrass Album Band. Tony Rice showcased elaborate lead guitar solos, and other bands followed. The electric bass became a general, but not universal, alternative to the traditional acoustic bass, though electrification of other instruments continued to meet resistance outside progressive circles. Nontraditional chord progressions also became more widely accepted. On the other hand, this generation saw a renaissance of more traditional songs, played in the newer style. The Johnson Mountain Boys were one of the decade's most popular touring groups, and played strictly traditional bluegrass.

text: Recent developments[edit]

text: In recent decades bluegrass music has reached a broader audience. Major mainstream country music performers have recorded bluegrass albums, including Dolly Parton and Patty Loveless, who each released several bluegrass albums. Since the late 1990s, Ricky Skaggs, who began as a bluegrass musician and crossed over to mainstream country in the 1980s, returned to bluegrass with his band Kentucky Thunder. The Coen Brothers' film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) has a country and bluegrass soundtrack which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2002. The documentary and concert film Down from the Mountain (2000) featured a live performance by the music artists who participated in the recording of the soundtrack recording.

text: Contemporary artists such as Chris Thile are continuing the spread of traditional bluegrass music. Famous for playing in the band Nickel Creek when he was young, Thile is now collaborating with varying diverse artists, and continues to play music in the genre. His latest band, Punch Brothers, has progressed contemporary bluegrass music through fusion with other forms and genres.

text: Meanwhile, festivals such as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and RockyGrass in Lyons, Colorado, and bands such as the Nederland, Colorado-based Yonder Mountain String Band and Druhá Tráva in the Czech Republic attract large audiences while expanding the range of progressive bluegrass in college jam-band atmospheres, often called "jamgrass." Bluegrass fused with jazz is found in the music of Béla Fleck and The Flecktones, Railroad Earth, Tony Rice, Andy Statman, Sam Bush, Doc Watson, and others.

text: Subgenres[edit]

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text: There are three major subgenres of bluegrass and one unofficial subgenre.[citation needed]

text: Traditional bluegrass[edit]

text: Traditional bluegrass emphasizes the traditional elements; musicians play folk songs, tunes with simple traditional chord progressions, and use only acoustic instruments. Generally, compositions are performed on instruments that were played by Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys in the late 1940s. In the early years, instruments no longer accepted in mainstream bluegrass, such as the accordion, were used. Traditional bands may use their instruments in slightly different ways; for example playing the banjo by the claw-hammer style, or using multiple guitars or fiddles in a band. In this subgenre, the guitar rarely leads but acts as a rhythm instrument, one notable exception being gospel-based songs. Melodies and lyrics tend to be simple, often in G major, and a I-IV-V chord pattern is common. Although traditional bluegrass performers eschew electrically amplified instruments, as used in other forms of popular music, it is common practice to "mike" acoustic instruments during stage performances before larger audiences.

text: Traditional bluegrass bands such as Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys, Del McCoury, Larry Sparks & The Lonesome Ramblers, Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, and The Gibson Brothers, enjoy nationwide popularity. California mountain bluegrass, a variation on traditional, has enjoyed regional popularity with such bands as Rita Hosking and Cousin Jack.

text: Progressive bluegrass[edit]

text: Another major subgenre is progressive bluegrass.[20] Groups may use electric instruments and import songs from other genres, particularly rock & roll. Although a more recent phenomenon, progressive bluegrass has roots going back to one of the earliest bluegrass bands. The banjo and bass duets Earl Scruggs played even in the earliest days of the Foggy Mountain Boys hint at the wild chord progressions to come. The four key distinguishing elements (not always all present) of progressive bluegrass are instrumentation (frequently including electric instruments, drums, piano, and more), songs imported (or styles imitated) from other genres, chord progressions, and lengthy "jam band"-style improvisation.[21] New Grass Revival utilized these elements to great popularity in the 1970s and 1980s and the term "newgrass" became synonymous with "progressive bluegrass". The String Cheese Incident is one band that sometimes mixes a bluegrass tune with a jam band feeling, especially in original tunes like "Dudley's Kitchen". A twist on this genre is combining elements that preceded bluegrass, such as old-time string band music, with bluegrass music.

text: Arists and bands identified with this subgenre include Béla Fleck, Chris Thile, David Grisman, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Casey Driessen, New Grass Revival, Psychograss, Crooked Still, Nickel Creek, Cadillac Sky, The Dixie Bee-Liners, Skyline, The Greencards, The Dillards, Elephant Revival, Punch Brothers, The Infamous Stringdusters, and Bearfoot.[citation needed]

text: Bluegrass gospel[edit]

text: Many bluegrass artists incorporate gospel music into their repertoire. Distinctive elements of this style include Christian lyrics, soulful three- or four-part harmony singing, and sometimes playing instrumentals subdue.[citation needed] A cappella choruses are popular with bluegrass gospel artists, though the harmony structure differs somewhat from standard barbershop or choir singing.[citation needed] Mainstream bluegrass artists Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver[22] and IIIrd Tyme Out have produced bluegrass gospel music, while Mount Zion play bluegrass gospel exclusively.

text: Neo-traditional bluegrass[edit]

text: A newer development in the bluegrass world is Neo-traditional bluegrass. In the 1990s, most bluegrass bands were headed by a solo artist such as Doyle Lawson and Rhonda Vincent, with an accompanying band.[citation needed] Bands playing this subgenre include The Grascals, Mountain Heart, Steep Canyon Rangers, The Dixie Bee-Liners, The SteelDrivers, Pert Near Sandstone, Balsam Range, and Cherryholmes, who all—with the exception of Waterfall Blue Boys—have more than one lead singer.

text: Social and musical impact[edit]

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text: Festivals[edit]

text: Publications[edit]

text:
Bluegrass Unlimited
British Bluegrass News
Cybergrass

tag: ul

text: Museums[edit]

text:
International Bluegrass Music Museum Owensboro, Kentucky
Bill Monroe Museum Rosine, Kentucky

text: In popular culture[edit]

text: This section indiscriminately collects miscellaneous information. Please compress this material to remove any irrelevant or unimportant information. (May 2017)

text:
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Cold Mountain
Bluegrass in Baltimore: The Hard Drivin' Sound and its Legacy
That High Lonesome Sound
Deliverance
Matewan
Harlan County, USA
Bonnie and Clyde
The Broken Circle Breakdown
Winter's Bone