Threading the Needle: A Guide to Golf Terminology
When you pursue a hobby long enough, you learn a new vocabulary and eventually start to assume everyone just knows what you're talking about. Golf terminology is no different. Just ask any golfer who tries to explain their round to a non-playing friend.
The use of jargon connects players as much as it helps them communicate, but it can be as intimidating as the intricacies of golf etiquette. So consider this blog your own guide to golf terminology, whether you’re a newbie or an old Tom Morris.
Basic Golf Terminology
Let’s start with a basic primer on the language of golf with building blocks that every player needs to know.
Golf Scoring Terms
When you tee it up on any given tee box, you and your partners have a goal: to get the ball in the hole in as few shots as possible. Putting a number on the card helps you measure yourself against others in your foursome, but also against anyone else who has ever played using a system called “Par.”
In golf, par is the average expected number of strokes (swings) that the course architect believes it should take for an expert player to complete the hole under ordinary weather conditions. This number factors the distance of the hole and accounts for two putts on the green, and generally ranges from 3 to 5 strokes (although some par 6 holes are known to exist).
So, in order to make par on a par 4, a player is expected to drive their ball into the fairway, hit an approach onto the green, and then complete the hole in two putts. But that, as every golfer knows, is easier said than done. If it takes you 5 shots instead of 4 to complete a par 4, you have made what is called a Bogey. If it takes you 3 shots instead of 4, you’ve made a Birdie.
As a player progresses through their round, you might hear them refer to their play as being a certain number over or under par. This is an aggregated score on all the holes completed so far, and permits a player to earn strokes back for exceptional play, or give them away if they cannot complete holes at par or better. By the end of a round, skilled players have an expectation of being at, near, or better than par for the course, which is typically 72 (four par 3 holes, ten par 4’s, and 4 par 5’s) but can range from 69-74.
So as you look to keep score in golf, here are some terms you’ll need to know.
Birdie: One stroke under par
Bogey: One over par
Eagle: Two under par
Double Bogey: two over par
Albatross: Three under par. Also called a 'double eagle'. You'll likely never see one of these in person, as they generally require a hole in one on a par 4 or a player to hole out an approach shot on their second swing of a par 5.
Triple Bogey: Three over par. This, unfortunately, is far more common than the corresponding Albatross.
Hole-in-One: A golf hole-in-one requires a single stroke to complete the hole. If you hit one of these, it's time to celebrate.
Condor: Four under par. Also called a ‘triple-eagle’ or double-albatross’, this is the rarest shot in golf. Only a few examples have been recorded, and never in a professional tournament, as it would require a hole in one on a par 5, or holing an approach shot on the rare par 6.
Handicap: The system used to 'rate' a golfer's ability. A handicap reflects the number of strokes above (or below) par a golfer scores in an average round of golf.
Gross Score: The total number of actual strokes played within a round, before handicap is added.
Net Score: A player's score after their handicap is added.
Golf Lingo Describing the Field of Play
Designing golf courses is equal parts art and science and a fascinating area of study. It’s beyond the scope of this blog, but instructive for the purpose of learning the shorthand players use to describe course conditions and the design of individual holes. From bunkers to doglegs to GUR, this section hips you to the lingo for sounding like a real golfer when observing playing conditions.
Bunker: Also called a sand trap, these are areas on a course filled with sand, placed strategically as hazards along the length of a hole.
Championship or Stadium Course: A 'championship' course is a kind of ambiguous descriptor that resorts / clubs use to sell courses that are at least 18 holes, play with a certain degree of difficulty, and/or can be combined with another course. It can also be used to describe any course that has hosted a professional golf event.
A ‘stadium’ course on the other hand, is one which was designed for the assembly/teardown of stadium seating along the greens, and for the easy passage of spectators from one area of the course to another. One of the most popular stadium course setups in golf is hole 16 at TPC Scottsdale, home of The Waste Management Phoenix Open and “The Greatest Show on Grass.”
TPC Sawgrass is a classic example of a Stadium Course. Shown here is the short par 3 16th hole. Photo Credit: Greg Soule
Dogleg: A golf hole that has a significant left or right bend in a fairway.
Fairway (aka, the Short Grass): The stretch of maintained grass that runs between the tee box and the green. Adjacent to the fairway is the rough, typically higher cut “thick stuff” meant to penalize an errant tee shot.
Green (aka, the Dance Floor): The area of extremely short grass immediately surrounding the hole.
Ground Under Repair (GUR): An area of the course that is under maintenance. If your ball lands in a GUR, you can remove it without penalty. Usually identified by stakes or a rope.
Hazard (aka, Trouble): Anything on a golf course that is designed to increase one’s score. A sand trap, tree, water feature – there is no limit to the sadism of course architects.
Links Course (aka, Bring Extra Balls): A golf course built on coastal terrain that 'links' the sea to the land. Defined by sandy soil, so there are very few trees, making the course very exposed to the wind.
Par 3 Course (aka, Pitch & Putt): The middle ground between a golf course and putt putt. Hole yardages are typically short, requiring a limited number of clubs/ strokes to play successfully (a pitching wedge and a putter).
Parkland Course: The name says it all, really. Lots of trees, shrubbery, and other flora. Like playing golf in a lovely park. The penultimate parkland course is Augusta National.
Tee Box: The marked area that stands as the start of a given hole. Courses often use colored markers to denote 'pro', 'seniors', 'ladies', and 'mens' distances.
Words that Describe Golf Gameplay
Golf involves a lot of self-talk, especially as players raise their games to the level where course management becomes a thing. Regardless of your skill level, knowing the difference between a drive and an approach shot can help you understand certain nuances, but also not sound like a total noob in front of your playing partners.
Approach: The shot you take in order to (or in hopes of) landing on the green. Normally taken from the fairway on a par 4 or par 5 hole. The approach is never used to describe a golfer's first shot (e.g. you would not describe your first shot on a par 3 as "your approach shot").
Away: Refers to the ball that lies farthest from the hole when two or more golfers are playing. Golf etiquette states that the player farthest away hits first, so you might hear a golfer ask their playing partner “who is away?” to determine their playing order.
Bank Shot: A shot where a steep slope is used to direct the ball or change its speed, typically on the putting surface.
Drive: Typically the first shot on every hole. Again, not usually on a par 3, but parlance varies.
Explosion Shot: Also known as a 'blast shot', this is the shot used to escape a sand trap. Likely called this because the low "scooping" nature of the swing is designed to lift the ball out of the sand, flinging a lot of said sand into the air.
FORE!: A warning shouted when the ball is heading toward a person. This is a serious term and should not be used as a joke. But If you think your ball could hit someone, never hesitate to send out a warning. If you need to yell “Fore,” make sure that people can hear it. A timid Fore does no one any good.
Half Shot: A shot taken at half strength / partial backswing. Used for shorter shots, or when extra control is required.
Hole Out: Getting the ball in the hole. Usually said after a successful putt, but a player can also hole out a chip or an approach shot.
Honors: Honors are given to the player scoring lowest on the previous hole, granting them the right to tee off first. A player might tell a partner they have “honors” on the next hole.
In Play: A ball that comes to rest within the limits of the hole/course (the opposite of ‘out-of-bounds’).
OB: 'Out of bounds’. When a shot lands outside the course play area, sometimes marked, sometimes not. Can be the heavily forested edge of course, a pond, a road, the ocean, or a stranger’s back yard.
Mulligan (aka, Breakfast Ball): A “do-over” shot, often taken after a player’s shot ends up OB. Allowed only in casual play, a second chance at a really bad shot. Not counted towards a player's score, and traditionally taken on a tee shot. Popular in charity games and friendly foursomes, but note that excessive mulligans can slow the pace of play.
Over Clubbing: Choosing a club that will hit the ball farther than necessary, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Penalty: Extra stroke(s) added to a player’s score for violating the rules, losing their ball, or hitting it out of bounds.
Pitch: A short distance shot used as a means of getting on the green. Using a wedge or other high-angled club to get the ball up into the air (ideally with some backspin) in order to land near the hole without rolling away.
Play Through: When a group of slow players allows a faster group behind them to pass through to the next hole. This is a great courtesy that slower groups can show to maintain the pace of play for every group behind them.
Putt: Any shot taken by a putter when you are on the green.
The Turn: The halfway point in a round of golf. Usually hole #9.
Warden or Ranger: The person responsible for daily maintenance of the golf course. They pick up trash, alert landscapers to any issues, and will give you one hell of a telling off if you're screwing around too much.
Golf Terminology that Describes Ball Movement
As a leftie, the words used to describe how a golf ball moves in the air have always tripped me up. When described from a right-handed golfer's perspective, balls with a right-to-left movement would, with my stance, have a left-to-right. There has to be a better way.
After some thought, the following descriptions will use the universal idea that all golfers have a front and a back. If you draw an imaginary line between the golfer and the hole, regardless of handedness, there will be an 'in front' of the line – the direction the golfer is facing – and a behind the line – the side with the golfer's back to it. In flight, the ball can either follow that line (straight), move away from that line (in front), or cross that line (behind).
The below diagram will help illustrate this.
Use this diagram as a reference to help determine the appropriate term for various golf ball flight directions.
Draw: A draw can be a desirable condition, so long as you understand yours, or even better, if you can control it. A draw is when the club face imparts a slight spin on the ball that moves any ball hit slightly in front of the line back towards the line just after it reaches its apex. (blue for rightie, orange for leftie).
Fade: The opposite of a draw. The ball curves back from behind the line, towards the centerline after it reaches its apex (blue for leftie, orange for rightie).
Push: A push is a less controllable draw. Instead of curving back towards the center line, the ball continues on its forward curve, landing slightly in front on the centerline (red for rightie, green for leftie).
Pull: The reverse of a push. The ball lands behind the centerline (red for leftie, green for rightie).
Slice: An extreme version of the draw. A ball hit behind the centerline with a high spin rate curves sharply back to cross in front of the centerline before landing far in front of the line (brown for rightie, black for leftie). It is typically an unwanted ball flight.
Hook: The opposite of a slice. Ball starts in front of the center line before high RPM causes it to sharply change direction over the centerline to land well behind (brown for leftie, black for rightie). Like the slice, it is typically an undesirable ball flight.
Push Slice: Worst of both worlds. Instead of crossing the centerline, the ball simply starts in front of the line, and high spin curves it even further in front (yellow for rightie, purple for leftie).
Pull Hook: The rough opposite of the push slice. Ball starts behind the line and continues that way (yellow for leftie, purple for rightie).
Technical Golf Terminology
The rules of golf are immense, and the ways to play it even more so. Depending on who you play with, or where, these are some common "technical" terms that will help describe your game.
Above the Hole: When the ball rests uphill from the hole on any sloping green, so that the next putt is downhill. Downhill putts can be tricky, so practiced golfers try to keep the ball ‘below the hole‘.
Below the Hole: Opposite of "above the hole". As uphill putts tend to be simpler to gauge power/speed, golfers would be well served to keep their ball below the hole.
Attend the Flag (aka, Tend It): Or "pull the pin/flag". When in sight of the hole (although pin tending is largely subjective), a golfer may ask another player to remove the flag from the hole either before, or just after the putt is struck.
Break: Ball movement during putting. Because a good green isn't designed to be flat, the ball will follow the slope/grain as it travels towards the hole.
Carry: The in-air distance a ball travels after any given swing. It does not include distance gained after the ball lands and rolls.
Casual Water: An accumulation of water on the golf course that is not part of a water hazard. Usually after a heavy rain. If a player finds their ball in casual water, they may move the ball without penalty.
Compression: The amount a given golf ball will compress on impact from the club face. Material science has introduced many ways to fine-tune a golf ball's compression. “Hitting down” on the ball, a desirable though confounding goal for golfer’s of higher skill, creates compression that produces spin and helps a player control their ball flight.
Dormie: In match play, a dormie is when one team/player holds a lead equal to the number of holes remaining.
Drop / Free Drop: When the ball is lost, or unplayable (or on top of Richard Kiel's foot, as some will recall from the Adam Sandler film “Happy Gilmore”), it can be picked up – or replaced – and dropped from arm’s length at shoulder height onto the course.
Grain: Surprisingly enough, the direction in which blades of grass grow have an influence on the speed and roll of the ball on the green. Putting with or against the grain will impact the speed of a putt, and putting across the grain will impact it’s break.
Break: The direction a ball will travel after putted, due to the slope of a green and the grain of the grass. Putts can break left or right, requiring the player to “read” a green in an effort to determine the optimal line of the putt.
Hosel: Hollow part of a clubhead where the shaft is attached. Sometimes called the neck, hitting a ball here can result in pull hooks and other misfortunes.
Lie: Where the ball comes to rest on the golf course. Usually used with "good" or "bad", to describe the difficulty of a golfer's next shot.
Pin-High: The ball is neither uphill nor downhill from the pin. Putting from a pin-high lie is desirable because a flat putt has less break and is easier to read.
Toe: The opposite of the hosel i.e. the tip of the club head. Hitting a ball off the toe head can lead to push slices or the dreaded 90 degree turn.
Unplayable Lie: When it is impossible to play a shot because of ground conditions or an obstruction. The player must drop, and may incur a penalty stroke.
Golf Slang
For every hobby, sport, occupation, or interest, there is a healthy variety of shorthand. Golf slang has existed since the sport began, and is still growing every day. Golf slang is regional, national, and sometimes universal – but no matter how wide the reach, it can bring us wonderfully together.
Ace: A Hole-in-One
Banana: A slice, or shot that curves strongly left to right. For whatever reason, not usually used for a hook. I eat a lot of bananas during 18 holes.
Beach: Sand trap. You might mock your friend by offering to lend them some sunscreen for their trip to the beach.
Dirt Track (aka, Goat Track): A poorly maintained course. Home to many, paradise to a few.
Duff: A bad shot, or a mistake. Also the beer of choice for of-age characters on the animated TV Series The Simpsons.
Gilligan: The opposite of a Mulligan. Daring your friend to make that shot again. Especially if you're playing for money, the Gilligan is a good side bet opportunity.
Gimme (aka, In the Leather): A ball that is so close to the hole where putting is a foregone conclusion. Technically (and this is notable for match play formats), a gimme requires a playing partner to concede the putt, meaning that a player may not declare their own putt to be a gimme. A gimme does not require a measurement and is at the discretion of the playing partner. But if you hear a golfer say that a putt is “in the leather,” they refer to an old custom of measuring the distance by the leather (now rubber) of a putter grip. If the ball lies within that span, it would be given to the player as a gimme.
Gimmes are only used in casual games or in match play. Serious golfers prefer to “putt out” rather than take the gimme, because they know that a two footer for par on the 18th to win their club championship can feel like a thousand miles to someone who hasn’t had the practice.
Hacker: Someone who is not good at golf. E.g. the writer of this blog.
Knee Knocker: A short, seemingly unmissable putt that is often very much missed under high pressure circumstances such as winning the hole. Knee Knockers for the win are rarely conceded as gimmes, requiring the golfer to putt out.
Lip-Out: A putt that catches the lip of the hole, slingshots around it, and then laughs at you as it rolls off in another direction.
Plus Golfer: A golfer whose handicap is better than scratch. Instead of the usual handicap of negative strokes, a plus golfer adds to their final score to keep all things even.
Relief: In the rule book, players may take relief without penalty from immovable obstructions that impede their swing. In these circumstances, the ball may be moved to the nearest area of complete relief from the obstruction.
Scratch Golfer: A golfer with a handicap of 0.
Shank: Shot struck by the hosel / neck of the club which causes the ball to sharply hook.
Skinny (aka, Thin): When you just barely catch a ball with the club face, causing it to fly lower than usual and with little control. Also the most optimal of mishits when the shot is hit on line; you might hear someone remark “thin to win!” after a skinny hit.
Threading the Needle: Some golfers take this to mean playing one's best shots time after time (like sewing in a straight line), or to simply mean a perfect shot that was delicately placed between obstacles such as tree trunks, groves, or hedges.
Top: To hit the ball above the center (on top), which will either cause a worm-burner in the best case, but most often a ball that bounces off the ground directly beneath it before pitifully advancing a few yards forward.
Worm-Burner: A topped ball that flies low and fast over the ground. If hit hard enough, a worm burner can cause grass dwelling bugs to catch fire.
Up and Down: When a golfer isn't on the green in regulation, but with their next two strokes, miraculously plays their ball onto the green, then holes out.
X-Outs: Cheap golf balls that didn't make it past quality control at the factory. You can buy them in bulk, usually out of the trunk of a stranger's car in the parking lot.*
Did We Miss Something?
Golf terminology is always changing. If we missed one of your favorite slang terms, or if there's a technical rule you think more golfers should know about, leave it in the comments and we'll add it to the article (with credit).
*While I have never seen someone selling balls out of their trunk in a golf course parking lot, it's more fun to imagine than someone just stealing a few from the driving range up the road.