Golf is a game played on a large open-air course, in which a small hard ball is struck with a club into a series of small holes in the ground, the object being to use the fewest possible strokes to complete the course. The object of golf is to strike the golf ball with a long-handled instrument called a club and guide it into each hole on the course in order, whilst trying to minimise the number of shots. A number of holes, usually 9 or 18, are played and the final results are tallied after the last player has sunk the ball in the final hole.