2-Man No Scotch
A type of tournament play where two-person teams’ players switch balls after teeing off. In 2-Man No Scotch, players tee off, then player A takes his second shot from player B’s ball and player B takes her second shot off player A’s ball, wherever their balls lie (Kelley, About.com). From the third shot through the hole, players continue in a scramble format of play, taking subsequent shots from the location of the ball that is in the best position. When the hole is finished, the players add their scores and the lower score is the team’s score on that hole.
Above the Hole
Describes the position of the ball when it comes to rest on the area of the green that is higher elevation than the hole. Whether the whole green is sloped or the green has bumps and dips in elevation, if the ball stops on any part of the green that is higher than the hole, if the ball is uphill from the hole, it's described as above the hole.
An above the hole ball will need to travel downhill to reach the hole. An above the hole shot is considered more difficult to make and control than a below the hole shot (Kelley, about.com).
Adjusted Gross Score
The number of strokes taken on a round of golf, adjusted according to the Equitable Stroke Control guidelines, which place a maximum on the number of strokes that can be counted per hole, based on a player’s course handicap (Kelley, About.com).
The ESC guidelines are used when reporting scores for handicap purposes and only applies to players with a USGA handicap. The USGA handicapping system adjusts scores for unfinished or unplayed holes or conceded strokes and these modify a player’s gross score (United States Golf Association). The adjusted gross score helps to mitigate the effect of uncharacteristically bad scores on a player’s handicap, and can also prevent a player from inflating his score when setting his handicap (Golf Medley).
Alternate Shot
A form of golf wherein teams of two play against each other and teammates take turns hitting the same ball. Alternate shot is best suited to four players (golfsmith.com).
The players on a team alternate hitting the ball so that one player tees off, the other player takes the next shot, the first player takes the next shot and so on until they complete the hole. When they start the next hole, the players alternate who tees off, regardless of who sunk the shot on the last hole, so that each gets a chance to tee off at every other hole. Scoring can be match play or stroke play (Kelley, about.com).
Approach
Their are three different kinds of approach shots to the green in golf. Pitch Shot, Chip Shot and Flop Shot. All three shots the golfer is looking to get his golf ball closest to the pin within 10-110 yards distance from the hole.
Auto Win
A kind of tournament in which holes are either won or lost, according to the feats achieved by the players (Kelley, About.com). Players win a hole if they do one of a specific list of actions: Chipping in from off the green, holing out from a sand trap, or sticking an approach from 150 yards (on a par-3 hole). The rules of the tournament will specify what happens if more than one player achieves the requirements to win the hole (split the win, add the win to the next hole so that the next hole is worth two wins, or not give either of the winner’s points for the hole). The player who has won the most holes wins the round.
Back Nine
Back nine is a term used to describe the last nine holes on an eighteen hole course. Alternatively the Front Nine is a term used to describe the first nine holes on an eighteen hole course.
Backspin
As the ball flies through the air it spins backward as it follows its arc, displaying backspin. Backspin is created at the moment the ball is hit, when it climbs up the grooves on the clubface, rotating backward as it is launched and continuing the spin as it is propelled along its flight path (Kelley, about.com). The backspin sends the ball higher and farther.
The backspin can continue when the ball lands on the putting green, as well. The backspin stops the ball close to where it lands or can back the ball up from where it lands (Bredenkamp, ezinearticles.com). One key to creating backspin is a clean clubface, as grooves that are caked with dirt act on the ball like a smooth surface.
Ball in Play
Any players’ ball from the time the player takes a stroke to tee the ball off, to the time it is sunk into the hole. A ball goes out of play when it is out of bounds, picked up or lost (Kelley, About.com). When one ball is replaced with another, the first is out of play.
The Rules of Golf detail what a player can do with a ball that is in play — and the penalties incurred by doing what shouldn’t be done — so it’s important to know when a ball is in play, so that the rules aren’t broken by, say, picking the ball up.
Barranca
In golf, a barranca is a feature of the surrounding landscape that is incorporated into the golf course. It is typical of dry, desert-like climates and is sometimes planted with desert plants (Kelley, About.com) to evoke the surrounding landscape amid the lush golf course. It’s a deep ravine or gully that is filled with rocks, and sometimes also is filled with sand, soil and desert plants. Barrancas typically slash across a fairway and are normally played as a land hazard, though local rules vary and may dictate different treatment of a barranca.
Birdie
A score of one under par on any individual hole. On a par-3 hole, a player birdies if he sinks the ball in 2 strokes; on a par-4, if he scores a 3 it's a birdie. No matter what the par is on a hole, if a player sinks the ball in one fewer strokes, he has birdied the hole.
Thought to have first been used in the US in 1899 in the form of the slang term "bird" to describe a "bird of a shot" — a great shot, the term shortly evolved into its current and enduring definition (U.S. Golf Association).
Blind Nine
A tournament in which only nine of the holes count toward the round’s score (Kelley, About.com). All 18 holes are played, but only half contribute to the score for the game. The holes that count and those that don’t are determined by random after the first tee, or deliberately to make for the best game, sometimes covering a range of difficulty levels. However the scoring holes are determined, players don’t know which holes count and which don’t until the round is over. In a blind nine tournament, the players may use a full or partial handicap, determined by the organizers. Blind nine is also called blind hole.
Bogey
A bogey is the term used for a golf score that is one over par on a given hole. So if par for the hole is a four and you shoot a five on the hole, then you would have a "bogey".
Bounce
A club design wherein the sole or bottom of the club head is angled. The sole is angled so that the back, or trailing, edge of the sole is lower than the front edge (Kelley, about.com). Bounce also refers to the degree of angle on the sole. A wedge has the biggest angle on its sole, and therefore the most bounce.
When hitting the ball, the back edge of a club with a greater bounce will be closer to the ground, allowing the golfer to hit more effectively in taller grass or sand, (pinemeadowgolf.com). A golfer would choose a club with less bounce on a shorter, harder surface.
Callaway System
A point system that adjusts scores to allow for competitive play between players of widely varying abilities. The Callaway Scoring System is a kind of handicapping method for games where players may not have or know their handicap (Kelley, About.com). The Callaway System caps the score on any hole at twice the value of par on that hole. When the scores for the round are tallied, players deduct or reduce the scores for a number of holes, excluding the 17th and 18th holes (U.S. Golf Association). The number of holes that can be deducted is based on the gross score, with more holes deducted or halved the higher the gross score is.
Center of Gravity
The point at which the golf club is perfectly balanced vertically, horizontally, and in all other dimensions. At the center of gravity, the club will be balanced, no matter which way you measure it. Where the center of gravity of a club lies affects how the ball will react when hit (Wishon, About.com). The height and the weight distribution of the club head determine where its center of gravity lies. Club makers manipulate the location of the center of gravity to affect the performance of the club. Hitting the ball right at the club’s center of gravity can improve a golfer’s accuracy and trajectory and can send the ball farther than a swing that misses the mark (Lopez, GolfArticles.net). The center of gravity is also called the CG and COG.
Closed Face
An inward turn of the clubface at the point that it hits the ball. The toe of the clubface is a little farther forward than its heel; it’s rotated so that the ball is not hit squarely. When hit with a closed face the ball will not fly straight, but will tend to curve right to left in a hook (Kelley, About.com).
Some clubs are designed to have a closed face in order to combat a golfer’s slice, which curves from left to right (Wishon, About.com), to some good effect, if the golfer can overcome the tendency to correct the angle of the clubface at its impact with the ball.
Conceded Putt
In Match Play, when a player allows his opponent to pick up her ball without taking the final stroke to sink it into the hole (Kelley, About.com). The player concedes that his opponent will make the putt and allows her to skip the action of putting the ball into the hole. This is illegal in the official Rules of Golf and in Stroke Play (Kelley, About.com). Conceded putts are a courtesy offered, typically, on very short putts, though the offering player can concede a putt from any distance. Players can’t ask their opponent to concede them a putt, though hints are not unheard of. The conceded putt is scored as if the hole was sunk.
Course Handicap
An index of the number of strokes a player should subtract or add from his golf score so that golfers of different skill levels can play the same course comparably. The course handicap is calculated based on the difficulty of the course and the skill of the golfer.
The difficulty of the course is expressed in an average score that high performing golfers — scratch golfers — would be expected to achieve on the course. The course handicap also takes into account the slope rating — an indication of how difficult the course is for bogey players, those who tend to score one stroke above par on a given hole. The slope rating was added in the 1980s, and is seen as a refinement to the course handicap calculation (Kelley, about.com).
Cut Shot
A shot in which the ball's flight path is curved — left to right for a right-handed golfer, the reverse for a lefty. A cut shot is often employed when the best course to the hole is not a straight course, such as when a hazard is in the way or a tree line encroaches to the side. The golfer controls the curve or fade of the ball through his swing path and stance, (Franz, Helium).
A cut shot will also diminish the amount of roll on the ball when it lands on the green because the ball comes in at a sharper angle.
Dew Sweeper
A player who must tee off so early that there is still dew on the grass (Kelley, About.com). In a tournament, when the tee times are determined, the weaker players are often scheduled for a very early morning time slot. Since the dew has not had a chance to evaporate off of the grass, the early players are said to sweep the dew with their clubs as they play. Dew sweeper is a somewhat derogatory term, since stronger players are typically given a later, more personally convenient tee time in a tournament — the dew sweepers sweep the dew off the grass before the stronger players take their turns.
Divot
A tuft of turf that is scooped from its home by the swing of a golf club. The hole that is left behind is also a divot (Professional Golfers Association).
Etiquette demands that a golfer replace or fill in the divot he created and golf course maintenance will provide material, often a mixture of seeds and soil, to fill in a divot. When a clean clump of sod is intact, it should be replaced in its home and stamped firmly, to give it a chance to take root (Vousden 48).
If a divot is not filled, it can hamper the next golfer's game, as the ball will not have a smooth or natural surface on its path to the hole.
Double Green
A putting green that is shaped like a horseshoe. A double green is typically larger than a regular putting green and is used for two holes. It’s big so that it can accommodate players putting the two different holes at the same time without getting in each others’ way (Kelley, About.com).
In many cases the two holes on the double green are approached from opposite sides from one another. This green configuration comes from an old course design where holes were laid out on a smaller piece of ground and the course progressed in one direction, then back in the other direction over the same piece of ground (Where2Golf).
Fairway
The piece of playing ground between the tee box and the putting green. The fairway is manicured so that it offers a good lie, or surface, for the ball (Worldgolf.com). The fairway is the aim of golfers on all holes except those on which the par is low enough that the golfer aims for the putting green (Kelley, About.com).
Much attention is paid to the type of grass growing on fairways and the length it is maintained at because the characteristics of the grass and its height affect how the ball lands and how far it rolls once it hits the ground.
Flatstick
An alternate term for a putter. Putters earned this nickname because they have the least amount of loft of any golf club. Loft is the angle, relative to completely vertical, of a clubface and it affects how high and far the ball will be hit (Kelley, About.com). Since putters are used for rolling the ball on short grass, relatively short distances, the putters need little loft (PGA Professional). Though the term flatstick implies that putters are perfectly vertical, having zero degrees of loft, most putters have some, up to a 3 or 4 degree angle on their club face (Kelley, About.com).
Forced Carry
A hole on a course with an obstacle somewhere between the tee and the green that forces the golfer to hit the ball up and over the hazard, rather than to play to one side or another (Kelley, about.com). Often the forced carry is the result of a large lake or other obstruction stretching so wide that forces the player to send the ball high over, in order to get to the hole.
Forced carry can describe the hole on which the hazard sits, but also refers to the distance the ball must fly to get over the obstacle (mimi.hu).
Grain
The direction that blades of grass and grass runners grow on a golf course. The grain is often referred to on a putting green, since the direction of the individual leaves of grass can have an effect on the distance and direction the ball rolls when a golfer is putting (Play Golf America). This is a concern because when putting, a golfer wants to have a great deal of control over the ball’s movements on the grass, and wants only his putting skill — not external factors — to influence the ball’s roll. If a putt sends the ball against the grain of the grass, the ball will be slowed by the grain (Kelley, About.com).
Modern maintenance practices on greens and short grass length have reduced the influence of the grain on the ball (United States Golf Association).
Green in Regulation (Gir)
When a player plays to the putting green within the regulation number of strokes. The Green in Regulation is based on the par of the hole, and is figured as par minus two strokes. The subtracted two strokes are the number that is assumed for the player to putt, (Blakemore, PGA Professional). For example, landing the ball on the putting green of a par-4 hole in 2 strokes (par minus 2 strokes), a player hits the green in regulation, also known as GIR.
The USGA uses the number of Girs as part of its annual comparison for PGA tour player performance.
Handicap Differential
A calculation that goes into determining a player’s handicap index. The handicap differential factors the player’s adjusted gross score on a course, the course’s handicap rating and an adjustment for the slope rating of the course (Kelley, About.com). The calculation is the score, less the course handicap. The result is multiplied by 113 and divided by the course’s slope rating (U.S. Golf Association). The final number is then rounded to the nearest tenth and plugged into the calculation that determines the player’s handicap. For most players, this is not a calculation they have to do, it is just one element that goes into determining their handicap index.
Hit it Flush
Hitting the ball well. When a golfer strikes the ball at the club’s center of gravity, he has hit it flush (Blakemore, PGA Professional.com).
Hitting it flush is achieving the perfect result from your golf swing; when the ball goes just down the line you wanted it to. Many golf pros counsel on how to hit it flush and there are clubs on the market that are marketed to build the right muscles to allow you to hit the ball flush. This is the Holy Grail in a game where slices, hooks, and errant ball flights are analyzed, diagnosed, and combated.
Honey Pot
A golf tournament’s bonus prize pool (Kelley, About.com). Golfers who care to pay into the honey pot and this becomes the bonus for the round, paid out for the high score, for the longest tee or some other feat, determined by the organizers. The prize may be split among the top three scorers or the top scoring teams, depending on what the organizers decide. Golfers don’t have to pay into the honey pot, but if they don’t they’re not eligible to win it. A tournament that touts a honey pot of a certain dollar figure, will refer to the amount to buy into the honey pot, for example, a player must pay $10 on a $10 honey pot to be eligible to win.
In the Bucket
A team game, with four players on a team, in which one player is eliminated on each hole (Kelley, About.com). The lowest scorer of the players is the one eliminated on the following hole, through the four-hole set. The team’s score over the course of the set is the sum of four players’ scores, then three, then two, then one, and then it starts over again. The final player, on the fourth hole, is left "in the bucket," wholly responsible for the team’s score.
Eliminated players still play, but their scores don’t count toward the team total until a new four-hole set starts again. This game is also known as Eliminator.
Jack and Jill
A tournament where men and women play together, typically on a two person coed team (Kelley, About.com).
Jack and Jill tournaments can be played consisting of a variety of games — like a two person scramble, greensomes, best ball or a Pinehurst System of play — and is scored according to the rules of whichever game is played (Kelley, About.com). Fundamentally, however, if it’s a man paired with a woman on a 2-person team, it’s a Jack and Jill tournament.
Las Vegas Scramble
A game of golf in which the roll of a die determines which team member takes a particular shot (Kelley, About.com).
In a Las Vegas Scramble, each player is assigned a number, one through four. First all of the players tee off. Then they let the roll of the die determine whose ball is hit next. That ball is played through to the hole for the team.
If the die comes up a 5 or a 6, the team can choose which ball they want to play through to the hole. All players then tee off at the next hole and again put their fates on the roll of the die.
Low Putts
A side bet that is based on the number of putts taken in a round of golf (Kelley, About.com). Players or teams keep track of the number of putts on each hole. At the end of the round, they total the number of putts and the team or player with the lowest number — the player or team who sunk putts in the fewest number of strokes — wins the bet. Since many golfers focus on improving their putting game, low putts is a test of skill and improvement in that area. Low putts are a popular side bet in tournaments.
Maraging Steel
An alloy that is used on club facings to improve the performance of the club. Maraging steel is made of nickel and iron and the result is a very strong substance that is light (Yourdictionary.com). Many golf club manufacturers use a thin face of maraging steel on their drivers. The lightness of the maraging steel allows the makers to shift the club head’s weight, which changes the way the club will hit the ball, by reducing spin or increasing launch (Summitt, Hireko Golf). The plate of maraging steel lets the club flex and sends the ball farther, when it’s hit but does add to the price of any club.
Mid-Iron
Among wooden-shafted (mostly pre-20th Century) historical golf clubs, the "mid iron" was the club that in appearance, loft and use was most equivalent to today's 2-iron. Today the mid-iron is anywhere from a 3-4 iron.
Money Ball
A golf game where teams of 4 players compete for the lowest score and players take turns using a designated and visually distinct ball — the money ball (Kelley, About.com). Through the course, the players take turns playing with the money ball. On each hole, the money ball player’s score is added to his lowest-scoring teammate’s score for a team total. If the money ball player’s score is low, the team benefits, if it’s high, the team suffers.
A variation is that the money ball player’s scores are kept separate from the rest of the team — the lowest score from the other players is the team’s score — and the team who’s money ball score is the lowest wins a bonus.
Money ball is also called pink ball, pink lady, yellow ball and Lone Ranger.
Nines
Nines is a points-based competition between players in a group of four, or a side bet in any competition where groups of four are playing (in a four ball or foursomes match, for example, the players in the match might agree to a side bet using Nines).
Nine points are at stake on each hole, hence the name of the game. The low score on a hole is worth 5 points, the second-lowest 3 points, the next lowest 1 point and the high score 0 points.
The bet can be based on total points - the high-point player is paid by the other three - or can involve point differentials and a per-point value.
Nearest Point of Relief
The place where the golf ball can be moved to, and played from without a penalty, when the ball, the swing, or the player’s stance is obstructed by a feature or condition that is immovable. The nearest point of relief does not give the player an advantage by moving the ball closer or in a more favorable position to the hole, other than being free of the offending obstruction (USGA). In order to move the ball without penalty, the player must find the nearest point of relief and drop the ball within one club-length of that point, and resume play from there (USGA). On the putting green, if the line from the ball to the hole is obstructed, the player may also take relief.
Obstacle Stroke Value
A value that represents the difficulty of the obstacles and hazards on a course. The obstacle stroke value goes into determining a course’s slope rating and course rating (Kelley, About.com). The obstacle stroke value is a rating of the impediment the course’s challenges would pose to a scratch golfer. The rating is weighted and goes into the course rating (U.S. Golf Association). Obstacles that factor into the obstacle stroke value include the bunkers and hazards, the topography of the landing zone, the trees, the quality of the rough and out of bounds areas, the fairway and the psychological impact to a golfer when he faces the course’s combined other obstacles.
Out of Bounds
27-1. Stroke and Distance; Ball Out of Bounds; Ball Not Found Within Five Minutes
a. Proceeding Under Stroke and Distance
At any time, a player may, under penalty of one stroke, play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5), i.e., proceed under penalty of stroke and distance.
Except as otherwise provided in the Rules, if a player makes a stroke at a ball from the spot at which the original ball was last played, he is deemed to have proceeded under penalty of stroke and distance.
b. Ball Out of Bounds
If a ball is out of bounds, the player must play a ball, under penalty of one stroke, as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5).
c. Ball Not Found Within Five Minutes
If a ball is lost as a result of not being found or identified as his by the player within five minutes after the player's side or his or their caddies have begun to search for it, the player must play a ball, under penalty of one stroke, as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played (see Rule 20-5).
Pick Up Sticks
A golf game between two players in which, at each hole, the player who loses the hole gets to take any one of his opponent’s clubs out of play for the rest of the game. Players start with the standard 14 clubs and their playable clubs dwindle as they win holes (Golf Medic). The losing player will primarily want to take the winner’s most useful clubs out of play. This forces them to play with clubs that are less than ideal for the shot they’re facing and can be a good way to build a player’s flexibility, in addition to mixing up the competition. Typically, the putter is immune from being taken out of play (Kelley, About.com).
Pitching Niblick
A kind of golf club used before the 20th century, typically for chipping balls (Kelley, About.com). The pitching niblick was also called a jigger or a lofting iron. It was used in the same ways that a modern wedge is used, to send balls up and over an obstacle, but did not necessarily have the same features as a modern wedge. The pitching niblick had a short wooden shaft and may or may not have had the kind of loft associated with modern wedges. The loft on a particular club varied from one set of clubs to another in the time period when pitching niblicks were commonly used.
Play Through
Play through is a term used on the course when a group of golfers who are playing faster then the group ahead of them, The lead group will often times let the group behind play through the hole first in order to get in front and play faster golf.
Preferred Lies
A local exception to regular rules wherein a player can pick up and move a ball within a specified range if it has come to rest on a piece of ground that is degraded by harsh winter conditions to the point where it is an undue disadvantage to the golfer (Kelley, About.com). Preferred lies, also known as winter rules, is applied on a course-by-course basis, depending on the effect of winter conditions on that course and whether golf course management determines that preferred lies would promote fair play. A player must disclose the preferred lies status on scores posted for his handicap (US Golf Association).
Quota Tournament
A golf tournament where players play Quota—earning points above their handicap for challenging shots in accordance with a point system. In a quota tournament, players earn points for bogeys, pars, birdies, and eagles according to the tournament’s rules (Kelley, About.com). Players aim to get to a point total, typically 36 or 39, from the starting point of their handicap. The player who exceeds the goal by the most wins, though if no players reach the quota number, the player who gets closes wins the round.
A Quota Tournament is similar to a Chicago Tournament, and the names are sometimes used interchangeably.
Ready Golf
A type of golf play where the order of players’ shots is determined by which player is at his ball and ready to hit first. Ready golf speeds up the pace of game by allowing the player who is ready first to hit first (Kelley, About.com). This is a departure from normal play where the player whose ball is farthest from the hole would take his turn first.
This type of play is typically seen in a tournament where it is the hitting order set out by the organizers, or when agreed upon by all members of a golf group playing together. If not agreed upon by all players, ready golf is considered a breech of etiquette.
Some say ready golf improves a player’s game by decreasing the delay between shots and allowing him to play while his muscles are still warm (Kelley, About.com).
Reverse Scramble
A reverse scramble is the opposite of a scramble in a game of golf. A normal scramble game is played by best ball. So a group of golfers usually in teams of two will play the best ball (or closest to pin). In a reverse scramble the play is the exact opposite. So golfers would play the worst ball (or farthest from the pin) in a reverse scramble game.
Rough
The tall, unkempt grass that grows around the fairway at a golf course (Golfsmith.com). While the fairway’s grass is manicured to a specific length and condition, though longer than the grass on the green, the surrounding rough is longer and wilder.
Hitting into the rough is not only a mistake, it’s an obstacle because of the rough conditions there compared to the smooth green and the well-maintained fairway (Kelley, About.com). Some courses have roughs around bunkers and greens, as well, to challenge the player.
Some courses have roughs of differing heights, a "first cut of rough" that is taller than the fairway, but shorter than the next cut, so that the farther from the fairway, the taller and thicker the grass gets, and therefore the farther the player has hit the ball from the intended area—the fairway—the more punishment the player takes on the next stroke (Kelley, About.com).
Rub of the Green
When the ball is moved, stopped or otherwise interfered with by a person or object that is not part of the game (Kelley, About.com). The object or person that interferes is called an outside agency and does not include the features or hazards of the course, nor the players (Kelley, About.com). The player who suffers the rub of the green doesn’t get a penalty, but neither do they get to move the ball from where it has come to rest.
If the ball lands on an animate object as a result of the rub of the green, the player may be allowed to re-take the shot or drop the ball in the spot where it would have landed had it not come to rest on a moving object (USGA).
Sand Trap
A hole, removed of turf or soil and filled with sand, on a golf course (United States Golf Association). The size, shape, and depth of sand traps vary and they can be located on a fairway or on or bordering a green (Kelley, About.com). Sand traps, along with water hazards, are classified as hazards, according to the rules of golf, and as such have specific rules of conduct and play associated with them, such as smoothing or raking over any holes or footprints in the sand when leaving the sand trap (United States Golf Association).
Sand traps are also known as traps and are officially referred to as bunkers.
Shamble
A tournament game for teams of four, where each player plays from the position of the best-teed off ball. Each player tees off; then the team determines which player’s ball is in the most favorable position and all players move their balls to that spot. They each play from that spot, to the hole (Kelley, About.com). On the next hole they repeat, teeing off, moving to the position of the best-located ball and playing through from there. Handicaps are taken into account on scoring, although some tournaments count only the lowest score or lowest three scores as the team’s score. This kind of tournament is also called a bramble.
Shank
A mis-hit that occurs when, instead of the clubface, the hosel of the club hits the ball. A shank usually sends the ball sharply to the right—though not very far—for a right handed player (Golfsmith). Players who shank the ball are said to have the shanks, though some golfers find shanking so terrible, they refrain from saying it out loud (Kelley, About.com).
A telltale sign of a shank is a mark on the hosel from the ball. Shanking can be caused by standing too close to the ball when preparing to hit it, resting too much weight on one’s heels when preparing to hit (Kelley, About.com). A player who pushes his arms away from his body on the backswing or the downswing is likely to shank the ball.
Slice
A mis-hit in which the ball takes off initially to the left, and then curves around significantly to the right of the intended direction or target, for a right-handed golfer. A left-handed golfer’s slice will curve from right to left (Golfsmith).
A slice can result from positioning one’s hands too far to the left on the club, or from having a player’s body or feet turned too far the left (Kelley, About.com). The movement of the shoulders on the downswing could cause a slice too.
A slice is most often unintentional and is a common kind of mis-hit (Kelley, About.com).
Split Fairway
When the course to a hole is divided, either by a natural feature of the land or by a hazard or other impediment big enough to force the player to choose a path around the divide to get to the hole (Kelley, About.com). The fairway is the area of land between the tee box and the green for a hole (Kelley, About.com).
The obstacle that splits the fairway can be a berm of mounded up earth big enough that the player must go around (Kelley, About.com). Or the fairway could be split by a waste bunker, which is much larger than a normal sand trap and has rocks and vegetation in it. Unlike a sand trap, a waste bunker is not a hazard and players need not comply with hazard rules in it.
Stroke Play
A kind of golf competition in which players keep track of the number of strokes they take on each hole and, at the end of the round, all of the players scores are compared to determine the winner (U.S. Golf Association). The player with the lowest score on the round wins. Each player is in competition with every other player, there are no teams. Each player must fully complete each hole and must do it with just one ball, unless he gets clears it with the committee governing the competition. If a player uses more than one ball on a hole, his score is adjusted with the committee to reflect the change. Stroke play is also called medal play (Kelley, About.com).
Square Face
A perfect angle at the point of impact when hitting a golf ball (Kelley, About.com). The ideal way to hit a ball is for the club face to be square or flat at the impact of the ball, relative to the implied straight line from the ball to the target, known as the target line. If the line of the club face and the line from the ball are perpendicular, you’ve hit the ball with a square face. If the club is oriented so that the front, or toe, is forward or the back, or heel, is forward, the line of the club face will not be square to the ball’s target line and you will send the ball to the right, left or on a curve.
Stimp
A measure of how fast a course’s greens are. A green’s Stimp is measured by a Stimpmeter, a metal ramp laid on the green down which a ball is allowed to roll (Kelley, About.com). The distance the ball rolls down the ramp and beyond determines the green’s Stimp, or Stimp rating. Stimps higher than 9 are considered fast (Kelley, About.com).
The eponymous measurement, created by Eddie Stimpson, was adopted by the USGA in 1978.
Some club manufacturers design their putters to account for a course’s Stimp rating, with a heavier club head designed for a slower Stimp and a lighter head for a faster green (Kelley, About.com).
Three Club Monte
A golf game between two or more players in which each player must choose just three clubs to play with. Players are also able to use their putter, but other than that they must stick to the three clubs they choose for the entire round (Kelley, About.com). This format is designed to make the game more challenging, but also to help players practice difficult shots, learn new skills, and build up their existing skills. By restricting their club choices, players can’t rely on the perfect club for a particular shot. Instead, they must made do with the clubs they’ve chosen and figure out how to use their other abilities to sink that less-than-ideal shot.
Tight Lie
When a ball comes to rest on very short grass or hard, bare dirt (Kelley, About.com).
While hitting the ball into the rough where the grass is longest is considered a bad lie, a tight lie poses its own challenges to the player because players are used to having some amount of fluffy grass under the ball and the leeway the grass gives them in their swing.
One recommended solution is to make crisp contact with the ball by hitting down on the ball, making contact with it first, not the ground, and to rotate one’s hips earlier in the swing (Golfmedic.com).
Trap
A hole, removed of turf or soil and filled with sand, on a golf course (United States Golf Association). The size, shape, and depth of traps vary and they can be located on a fairway or on or bordering a green (Kelley, About.com). Traps, along with water hazards, are classified as hazards, according to the rules of golf, and as such have specific rules of conduct and play associated with them, such as smoothing or raking over any holes or footprints in the sand when leaving the trap (United States Golf Association).
Traps are also known as sand traps and are officially referred to as bunkers.
Up and Down
When a player gets the ball first onto the green, then into the hole in two shots. They may be starting from a greenside hazard, the fairway, or anywhere off of the green, but if they make it onto the green in one shot and into the hole in the next, they got the ball up and down (Kelley, About.com). They get up—onto the green—with the first stroke and down—into the hole—with the second.
When tracking a player’s statistics, getting from a trap onto the green in one stroke, then from the green into the hole in a second stroke, is an up and down, and recorded as a sand save (Kelley, About.com).
Vardon Overlap
A grip in which the fingers overlap. In the Vardon Overlap, also known as the Vardon Grip, the hands wrap around the golf club such that the lower hand’s pinkie overlaps with the fingers of the higher, or lead hand, and rests between the first and second finger of the lead hand. The lead hand’s thumb sits in the meaty hollow in the palm of the lower, or trailing hand (Lamanna, About.com). This is a popular grip and one used by many professionals (Kelley, About.com) and taught by many instructors. This grip is named after early 20th-century golfing great Harry Vardon.
Water Hazard
It is a question of fact whether a ball that has not been found after having been struck toward a water hazard is in the hazard. In order to apply this Rule, it must be known or virtually certain that the ball is in the hazard.
If a ball is in a water hazard or if it is known or virtually certain that a ball that has not been found is in a water hazard (whether the ball lies in water or not), the player may under penalty of one stroke:
a. Play a ball as nearly as possible at the spot from which the original ball was last played or
b. Drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard directly between the hole and the spot on which the ball is dropped, with no limit to how far behind the water hazard the ball may be dropped; or
c. As additional options available only if the ball last crossed the margin of a lateral water hazard, drop a ball outside the water hazard within two club-lengths of and not nearer the hole than (i) the point where the original ball last crossed the margin of the water hazard or (ii) a point on the opposite margin of the water hazard equidistant from the hole.
When proceeding under this Rule, the player may lift and clean his ball or substitute a ball. - Source: USGA
Water Hole
A hole with a water feature, usually one that requires players to play around or otherwise strategically negotiate the water on that hole (Kelley, About.com). The water can be a lake, stream, or pond that lies somewhere between the tee and the hole, so that players must hit over the water in order to reach the hole. If the water is off to the side, but in some way poses a hazard to play, the hole is considered a water hole. As long as the water somehow puts the golfer’s shot in danger — that the ball will plunk into the water— and the golfer must play to avoid the dreaded splash, the hole can be called a water hole.
Wormburner
A golf shot in which the ball rolls along the ground the entire distance that it travels (Golfsmith). When a player hits a shot that is very low, just a few feet off the ground, you could also say he shot what is termed a wormburner (Kelley, About.com). A wormburner is not necessarily a bad shot, and can travel a long distance, but since it is close to the ground it is said to burn past the worms under the surface of the golf course. Wormburner is a jocular term, and many sports enthusiasts use it when naming tournaments that are more focused on a fun day on the course than a strict test of skill.
X-Out
An imperfect golf ball whose manufacturer symbol has been obscured with a series of X’s and is sold at a fraction of the original price (Golfsmith). X-Outs are from any number of manufacturers, but the name or logo of the manufacturer is printed over with X’s (Kelley, About.com). These balls don’t pass inspection in the manufacturing process due to, often, barely noticeable mistakes. X-Out balls may have small discrepancies in the way they look, compared to the manufacturer’s standards, or their size, weight or other factors, though these discrepancies are often so minute, the average golfer cannot distinguish beyond the Xed out logo on the ball. X-Out balls are generally not legal for tournament play (Kelley, About.com).
Yellowsomes
A betting or tournament game in which the opposing team can choose one ball to play from, after the first shot. Yellowsomes is also known as Gruesomes, because of the gruesome effects of the opposing team’s choice of drive for their opponents (Kelley, About.com). In this game, players tee off as usual. Then each team decides which ball their opponents must play for the remainder of the hole, typically picking the drive that is most challenging for the other team, and putting themselves at the best advantage to win. The two teammates take turns driving the ball, from there, to the hole.
Yellowsomes is more often a betting game than a tournament game.
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