If you watched any of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic coverage over the last two weeks, you most certainly caught a glimpse of curling. The sport is relatively new to the Olympics and gets its fair share of jokes! But, did you know there are some serious ties between golf and curling? A recent About.com article described the relationship between the two sports.

One tie is the LPGA Tour player Maria Hjorth. Hjorth has been on the LPGA Tour since 1998, and before moving to Florida, was a superb curling player. Hjorth played in Sweden as a child and even won a bronze medal at the 1992 World Junior Curling Championships. Until she joined the LPGA, she split her time between golf and curling.

Not only do the two sports share players, they also share a homeland. Curling was invented in Scotland, with the first documented curling contest held in 1541. And, as we all know, the modern game of golf originated in Scotland on the site of the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Curling stones also come from Scotland. Ailsa Craig is a large island off the coast of Turnberry that is made entirely of granite. The best curling stones in the world are made from this granite: blue hone granite.

Did you watch curling during the Olympics?