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  • Jun 01, 2007 - 4:15 PM
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Yell 'fore' when hooking, slicing on the course

Golf terms can be confusing for players new to the sport.

Here's a small sampling, from PGAProfessional.com to help you understand what golfers are talking about.

Ace
Also called a hole-in-one
A score of one on a hole, holing the first shot, or tee shot, on a hole.

Back Nine
Also back side
The last nine holes of an 18-hole golf course

Ball Marker
Also marker
Usually a small, flat object (like a dime) used to mark the ball's position usually on the green while other players putt.

Birdie
A score of one under par for a hole

Caddy
Also caddie, looper
Someone who carries a player's bag of clubs or assists a player with advice and the details of play

Divot
A portion of turf that is ripped out of the ground

Example: It is considered bad form and discourteous to take a divot with a practice swing and one should always replace one's divots when possible.

Dogleg
A hole on which the fairway has an angle, turn or bend in it like a dog's rear leg

Double bogey
A score of 2 over par for a hole

Driver
The No. 1 wood
One that uses a No. 1 wood

Eagle
A score of 2 under par for a hole

Fairway
The closely mown area between the tee and green

Flag
Usually, but not always, a fabric banner atop the pin or flagstick to make the location of the hole visible

Fore
Used, usually yelled loudly, to warn golfers in range of the incoming flight of a ball

Green fee
The fee paid to play a course

Grip
The handle of a golf club
The holding, or method of holding, a golf club

Hazard
Any bunker (usually a hollow of some kind with a prepared surface, generally sand or similar) or water hazard (sea, lake, pond, ditch), usually marked with either yellow or red stakes or lines

Hole
Four-and-a-quarter-inch diameter hole in the ground into which the ball is to be played

The entire length of the playing area and immediate vicinity from the teeing ground to the putting green (all inclusive)

To play the ball into the hole (Also, hole out, make, drain, sink)

Hole in one
Also ace
A score of one on a hole, holing the tee shot

Hook
A shot that travels from right to left (right-handed player)

Iron
A club with a head made of steel or iron and a relatively narrow sole

Long game
The part of golf played with full, or substantial, swings where the ball is intended to cover relatively longer distances

Mulligan
Also breakfast ball, lunch ball, Sunday ball
Taking a second attempt at a shot when one doesn't like the result of the first attempt

Par
The standard number of strokes in which a scratch (good) player would be expected to complete a hole or course

The score of par for a course, or the state of being at that score during or at the conclusion of play (also, even, even par, level, level par)

Penalty stroke
A stroke that must be added to the score, for a variety of reasons in accordance with the rules of golf

Putt
A shot generally hit with a putter that is intended to make the ball roll on or just off the putting green

Rough
Longer grass adjacent to the fairways, greens and perhaps tees

Sand trap
Also trap, bunker, sand bunker

Another commonly used term for a sand-filled bunker, a depression in the ground filled with a prepared surface of sand or something similar

Short game
The part of the game that consists of short range (usually not full swing) shots

Slice
A wildly curving shot from left to right for a right-handed player

Tee time
The time assigned for a group to begin play on their first hole

Wedge
A short iron with significant loft mainly for playing shorter, more lofted shots. The amount of loft can vary widely from a pitching wedge that ranges somewhere between 47 degrees and 52 degrees to a lob wedge that can range from 58 degrees up to 65 degrees.



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