🏌️‍♂️ Golf Terms Every Beginner Should Know

🏌️‍♂️ Basic Scoring Terms

• Par – The expected number of strokes for a hole.

  • 💡 How is par calculated: Each hole grants 2 putts to make par, plus as many shots as it should take you to reach the green. On a par-3 you should hit the green on your first shot, on a par-4 you should hit the green by your second shot, and a par-5 expects you to hit the green by your third shot.

• Birdie – One stroke under par on a hole.
• Eagle – Two strokes under par on a hole.
• Albatross (Double Eagle) – Three strokes under par on a hole (very rare).
• Bogey – One stroke over par on a hole.

  • 💬 For the average player, a bogey is perfectly acceptable.

• Double Bogey – Two strokes over par on a hole.

  • 💡Triple Bogey, Quadruple Bogey: Follow the pattern.

• Double Par – Exactly what it sounds like. On a par-3, double par and triple bogey would be the same score.

  • 💡Tip: In a casual round, it is customary to pick up your ball after shooting double par on a hole to maintain a decent pace.

• Up and Down – Typically when the ball is less than a full swing away from the green, this is when you manage to get the ball in the hole in two shots: one shot up onto the green, and one shot down into the hole.
• Handicap – The number of strokes above par a player is expected to take on a course. It allows players of different abilities to compete fairly by adjusting their scores.

  • 🩼 On a par-72 course with a handicap of 10, if I shoot an 81 then that is only +9, meaning that my net score is -1. Great! And the USGA will lower your handicap after a round like that.

🎯 Types of Shots

• Drive – A long-distance shot, typically from the tee box using a driver.

  • 🎯 Used to cover the most ground at the start of a hole.

• Approach Shot – A shot intended to land the ball on the green.
• Chip – A short shot intended to lift the ball briefly and land it softly.

  • 🔁 Often used just off the green where a putt isn’t practical.

• Pitch – A short, high-lofted shot with less roll than a chip.

  • ✈️ Ideal for carrying the ball over a bunker or rough.

• Punch – A low-trajectory shot usually played to avoid obstacles like tree branches.

  • 🤔 How is Gary going to punch out from way in there?

• Bump and Run – A shot near the green struck intentionally low, usually into an uphill, so that the ball can spend more time rolling than in the air.

  • 🕹️ Can provide greater distance control on undulating greens

• Flop Shot – A very high, soft shot played close to the green. Its objective is to get the ball to descend at a very steep angle with very little spin, so there is very little momentum for the ball to roll far.

  • ⚠️ High risk because of the precision needed - the most common results are most often either skulling the ball or sliding the club completely under the ball and missing it altogether.

• Stinger – A low, piercing shot made famous by Tiger Woods.

  • 🎯 A difficult shot to hit, used to maximize accuracy and distance off the tee by keeping the ball low under the wind and letting it roll out on the fairway.

• Lay Up – Intentionally hitting short of a hazard or difficult area.

  • 💪 If not keeping score, it's fun to "go for it." But a good score often requires a compromise between what your ego wants you to do and what your experience tells you to do.

• Lag Putt – A putt that is too long to expect to make, so instead of overanalyzing the line, you use your distance control lag it close to the hole.

  • 📏 A good lag putt ends up within 3 feet of the hole.

• Thin/Blade – To hit a ball "thin" or to "blade it", is to strike it low on the clubface so that the ball comes out lower and goes farther than a normal shot.

  • ☘️ Thinned shots often produce decent results, especially off the tee. Whenever this happens, a common expression is "Thin it to win it!"

• Skull – Skulling a shot is a more severe mishit than thinning it. It is when the ball makes contact with the leading part of the club (the very bottom edge), usually somewhere around the middle of the ball.

  • 💀 This produces a low, worm-burning shot with no spin that usually travels too far.

• Top – The worst of the three, a top is hitting the ball on the upper half of the ball with the bottom of your club, causing top-spin which makes the ball quickly plummet to the earth.
• Shank – Striking the ball with the hosel (the part of the club where the shaft meets the clubhead), sending the ball sharply to the right (for a right-handed golfer) at a low angle.
• Fat Shot/Chunk – Hitting the ground before the ball.
• Flushed Shot – To flush a shot is to hit it so perfectly that you decide to come back for a whole new round of golf next week.

  • 📝 Only Shakespeare could adequately describe how it feels.

📐 Ball Flight Terms

• Fade – A controlled shot that curves slightly to the right (for a right-handed golfer).
• Draw – A controlled shot that curves slightly to the left.
• Slice – An unintentional shot that curves sharply to the right.

  • 🚫 Very common miss among beginners.

• Hook – An unintentional shot that curves sharply to the left.

  • 😬 Often caused by a closed club face or inside-out path.

• Push – A straight shot that goes right of the target.

  • 🛠 Often due to poor alignment or club face angle.

• Pull – A straight shot that goes left of the target.

  • 🛠 Often due to poor alignment or club face angle.

🏌️ Swing & Club Terms

• Swing Path – The direction your club is traveling during the swing.

  • 🎯 Affects shot shape and spin.

• Club Face – The striking surface of the club.

  • 📐 Open and closed angles influence ball direction and curvature.

• Loft – The angle of the clubface that controls trajectory.

  • ⛳ Highest loft = wedge, lowest loft = driver

• Lie – The position of the ball on the ground (e.g., "good lie", "bad lie").
• Grip – How you hold the club.

  • ✋ There are different styles (interlocking, overlapping, baseball).

• Stance – The positioning of your feet before a shot.
• Follow Through – The motion of your swing after striking the ball.

  • 🌀 Tells you a lot about how well the swing was executed. Practicing a good follow through will often improve your swing much faster than anything you do before contact.

• Lag – The angle between your lead arm and the club shaft during the downswing.

  • 🧲 More lag = more stored power.

⛳ Course Terms

• Tee Box – Where each hole begins.

  • 🔲 Usually/hopefully a flat area with designated markers.

• Fairway – The closely mowed area between the tee and the green.

  • 🌱 Though this is the ideal surface for hitting, many amateurs prefer the rough because it can feel easier to make good contact.

• Green – The smooth putting surface around the hole.
• Fringe – The area between the green and the rough.

  • 🌱 Usually mowed to the same length as the fairway.

• Rough – Longer grass surrounding the fairway and green.
• Semi-Rough – Strip of grass between the fairway and the rough, mowed to an in-between length. Not present on all courses.
• Undulation – The natural slopes of the terrain.

  • ⛰️ Augusta National has the most undulating greens I've ever seen!

• Hazard – Obstacles like bunkers (sand traps) or water.

  • 🚦Not all hazards are penalty zones.

• Bunker – A sand-filled depression.

  • 🏖️ The sand trap.

• Tight Lie – A ball resting on a surface with very closely mowed grass, or no grass, like tough dirt.
• Sitting Up – A ball resting high on the grass, typically easier to hit.
• Sitting Down - A ball resting low in the grass, typically in the rough where it becomes harder to make clean contact.
• Red Stakes – Indicate a lateral water hazard.

  • 😕 Players can play the ball as it lies, take a penalty drop within two club-lengths of where the ball crossed the hazard (no closer to the hole), or replay from the original spot with a one-stroke penalty.

• Yellow Stakes – Mark a water hazard (e.g., a pond crossing the fairway).

  • 😖 Options include playing the ball as it lies, taking a penalty drop behind the hazard on a line from the hole through where the ball entered, or replaying from the original spot, all with a one-stroke penalty.

• White Stakes – Define out-of-bounds areas (e.g., course boundaries). The ball is considered out of play, and the player must replay from the original spot with a one-stroke penalty.

  • 🤬 In a casual round it may slow your pace of play to go back and re-hit. If you suspect your ball may have gone out of bounds, you should hit a provisional shot just in case.

• Links – Has become an accepted term for "golf course," though officially it describes a type of course, typically coastal, built on dune-like terrain with few trees, characterized by firm fairways, deep bunkers, undulating greens, and exposure to wind.

  • 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 The term originates from Scottish coastal land, often used for traditional courses like those in the British Isles.

🧠 Strategy & Etiquette

• Course Management – Planning your shots based on the hole layout.

  • 🗒️ Imagine: You tee-up on a short par-4. You can hit the green with a flushed drive, but the green is surrounded by bunkers. If you don't trust your sand game, good course management would be to club down and hit a shorter club off the tee so that you can play your second shot from a more favorable lie.

• Pace of Play – Playing efficiently without unnecessary delay.

  • ⏱️ General consensus is no more than 15 minutes per hole. Don't rush, but don't linger

• Playing Through – When a group pauses their play to allow the group behind them to play through.

  • 🙏 Be courteous and allow faster groups to play through if you are not also being held up yourselves.

• Mulligan – An unofficial do-over shot, typically allowed in casual rounds.

  • 🎁 Not recognized in official rules.

• Gimme – A very short putt conceded by another player.

  • 🙌 Common in friendly matches to save time.

• Penalty Stroke – A stroke added to your score due to a rule violation.

  • ⚖️ There are various violations with their own implications.

• Provisional – A second ball played from the same spot as the original shot when the player believes the first ball may be lost outside a hazard or out of bounds, to save time.

  • ⚪️ If the original is found playable, the provisional is abandoned; otherwise, the provisional is used with a one-stroke penalty.

• Sit Down!/Bite! – An exclamation made by a golfer who has hit a shot into the green too far or with too little spin, and their only hope of staying on the green is for the ball to check-up and stop because of spin.

  • 🔍 The golf gods rarely listen to this plea

• Honors – The player who tees off first, usually the one with the best score on the previous hole.

  • 🏆 In casual play, “ready golf” is often encouraged instead.

• Ready Golf – Playing when ready instead of strictly waiting your turn.

  • ⏩ This is generally the way, except in more official rounds.

🏆 Bonus Lingo & Slang

• Texas Wedge – Using a putter from off the green.

  • 🤠 Sometimes the safest option! A common practice at Links style courses.

• Snowman – Scoring an 8 on a hole.

  • ☃️ Because “8” looks like a snowman.

• Sandbagger – A golfer who plays worse on purpose to keep a high handicap.

  • 😒 Done to achieve a better net score in tournament play.

• Breakfast Ball – A free mulligan on the first tee, usually in casual rounds.

  • 🍳 Unofficial and not USGA-approved!

• Lip Out – When a putt catches the edge of the cup and spins out.

  • 😬 Heartbreaking. As if putting isn't hard enough.

• Three-Putt – Needing three putts to hole out on the green.

  • 💸 A score killer.

• Knee Knocker – A short putt that scares you because you should make it.

  • 🫣 It's usually all in your head.