Golf eLife

Caddie: Caddies are individuals who are paid to carry your golf clubs around the course for you and who are also able offer advice on how to play the course.

Carry: The carry is a term which refers to how far your golf ball flies through the air.

Cart: A golf carts can either be a small vehicle which players use to drive around the course or a small dolly which travels on 2 wheels and is pulled manually.

Casual Water: Casual water refers to puddles of water which have accumulated on a course as a result of rain, as distinct from designed water hazards on a course.

Cavity Back Iron: A cavity back iron is a particular type of iron which has the majority of the club head’s weight distributed around its perimeter. The back of the club head is basically just a large cavity and this helps to reduce the mass in both the center and the back of the head, thereby creating a bigger head and a larger ‘sweet spot’ on the face.

Certified PGA Professional: A certified PGA professional golf player is any individual who has attained or exceeded the golf teaching standards of the Professional Golfer’s Association of America.

Check: A check refers to the action of the golf ball as it stops rolling as a result of the amount of backspin on it.

Chip: The chip is a shot that is normally played from just off the green.

Closed Face: A club face is described as being ‘closed’ when it points to the left of the target (This term is normally applied to right handed golfers).

Closed Stance: A closed stance refers to a stance in which your body alignment is facing to the right of your intended target (This term is normally applied to right handed golfers).

Club Face: The club face is the bottom part of the golf club which makes contact with the ball.

Clubhouse: A clubhouse is normally an indoor area located on a golf course which provides services such as the golf pro shops, restaurants, restrooms and sometimes conference rooms.

Collar: The collar, which is similar to a fringe, is the strip of grass which runs around the green and which is usually longer in length than the grass on the putting surface.

Coming Over The Top: Coming over the top is a phrase used to describe the movement of the club as it travels through the downswing and into a right-to-left pathway across the ball (for right handed golfers). Another term sometimes for this movement is the out-to-in blow.

Compression: Compression refers to the squeezing in of a golf ball when it is impacted by the head of a golf club.

Course Rating: Every golf course is given a rating which refers to the degree of difficultly of the course. The higher the course rating, the more difficult the golf course is to play.

Crossed Over: Crossed over is the term which describes the shaft of a golf club when it is at the top of the backswing and facing towards the right of the target (for right handed golfers).

Cross Handed: A ‘cross handed’ grip is a specific putting grip in which the left hand is positioned below the right hand (for right handed golfers).

Cup: The cup is simply another word the hole in the green which is the ultimate target for the golf ball.

Cupped Lead Wrist: A cupped lead wrist refers to a backward bend in your lead hand when you strike the ball. The lead hand is the hand which is nearest to the hole once you are set up for your swing. (For a right handed golfer the lead hand is the left hand)

Cut: A cut is another term for a shot which bends towards the right (for right handed golfers).

Deloft: ‘Delofting’ a club is simply decreasing the amount of loft on the club face by tilting your club shaft in the direction of your target.

Dimple: Dimples are small indentations which cover the surface of a golf ball.

Divot: A divot is a small piece of turf which is removed by your golf club when you hit a ball. Divots should be repaired (replaced) as a matter of basic golf course etiquette.

Dogleg: A ‘dogleg’ refers to the curved pathway (right or left) from the tee to the cup.

Double Bogey: You are said to make a ‘double bogey’ when you sink your ball in two more shots than the par for a specific hole. For instance, if the hole is a par 4 and you sink your ball in 6 shots then you have made a double bogey.

Double Eagle: The double eagle describes the completion of a hole in 3 shots under par.

Downhill Lie: A downhill lie refers to a stance in which your front foot is below your back foot when you are addressing the ball.

Draw: A draw describes a shot which bends to the left (for right handed golfers).

Drive: The drive is the initial shot on each hole which is taken from the tee.

Driver: The driver is the longest club in your golf bag and is the club which gives you greater distance than any other golf club.

Driving Range: A driving range is an off-course facility which is designed to allow golfers to practice their swing. Driving ranges has individual ‘booth-like’ areas from which you can practice hitting balls as long and as far as you want. In some cases driving ranges also have areas for you to practice your short game.

Drop: A drop is the practice of returning your ball to the course by dropping it onto the playing surface after it has been hit out of bounds or into an area from which it is unplayable.

Duff: To duff is simply to miss or totally mess up a shot.

Eagle: You are said to make an ‘eagle’ when you sink your ball in two less shots than the par for a specific hole. For instance, if the hole is a par 5 and you sink your ball in only 3 shots then you have made an eagle. You can also ‘eagle’ a par 3 hole but, in this case, you are said to have made an ‘ace’.

Executive Course: An executive course is a small 9-hole par 3 course that can be played in under 2 hours.

Explosion Shot: An explosion shot is a bunker shot which sends an ‘explosion’ of sand flying through the air.

Fade: A fade is a shot which sends the ball veering slightly to the right (for right-handed golfers).

Fairway: The fairway is the entire in-bounds distance which runs from the tee to the green and which is kept neatly trimmed.

Fat: A ‘fat’ occurs whenever your clubface strikes the ground before hitting the ball.

Flagstick: The flagstick is the flagged pole that rests inside the cup to mark the position of the hole on each green.

Flex: Flex refers to the amount of bend within the shaft of a golf club.

Flier Lie: A flier lie is the lie that you have after you take a swing and too much grass comes between the ball and your clubface. This also has a tendency to reduce the amount of backspin on the ball.

Flop Shot: This is a form of pitch shot which shoots the ball high up into the air after which it falls short and lands softly.

Follow Through: Having taken your swing and made contact with the ball, the ‘follow through’ refers to the subsequent movement of your club and your body.

Forecaddie: A forecaddie is an individual employed by the Committee to indicate the position of balls to players during play and is an outside agency.

Fore: The word ‘fore’ is shouted loudly as a warning signal when a ball is hit and heading in the direction of another player.

Forms of Match Play:

• Single. A match where one player plays against another player.
• Threesome. A match where one player plays against two other players and where each side plays one ball.
• Foursome. A match where two players play against two other players and where each side plays one ball.
• Three-Ball. Three players play a match against one another with each playing his own ball. In effect, each player is playing two distinct matches.
• Best-Ball. A match where one player plays against the better ball of two other players or the best ball of three other players.
• Four-Ball. A match where two players play their better ball against the better ball of two other players.

Forms of Stroke Play:

• Individual. A competition where every competitor plays as an individual.
• Foursome. A competition where two competitors play as partners and play one ball.
• Four-Ball. A competition where two competitors play as partners with each playing his own ball. The lower score of the partners is taken as the score for the hole. If one partner does not complete the play on a hole then there is no penalty.

Fringe: The fringe is a collar of grass which surrounds the green in which the length of this grass is typically shorter than that of the fairway but longer than the green itself.

Front Nine: The first half, or first 9 nines holes, of an 18-hole course

Gimme: A ‘gimme’ occurs when your ball lies on the green so close to the hole that your playing partner does not require you to actually hit the ball in.

Glove: Golfers typically wear a glove on their lead hand to help their grip.

Grain: The grain refers to the direction in which the grass on the green is growing.

Green: The green area is a closely mowed area on which the hole is situated. It is also referred to as the putting surface.

Green In Regulation: This is a term used for getting your ball onto the green in one shot on a par 3 hole, in two shots on a par 4 hole, or in three shots on a par 5 hole.

Greens Fee: This is the sum of money charged for playing a round of golf.

Grip: The grip refers to either the manner in which you hold your club or the rubber covering on the shaft of a club where you place your hands.

Grooves: Grooves are the etched lines on the face of the club which are designed to help you to put the desired backspin on the ball.

Ground Under Repair: Ground under repair refers to any part of the course marked as such by order of the Committee. All of the ground (and any tree, bush, grass or other growing thing) within the ground under repair are deemed to be part of the ground under repair. Ground under repair includes such things as material piled for removal or a hole made by a greenkeeper. Grass cuttings and other similar material left on the course which have been abandoned and which it is not intended to remove are not considered to be ground under repair unless so marked.

Tags: C - G Golf Terminology

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