Whether you are a golf rookie or pro it’s important to know your golf terminology. This is your comprehensive guide to know what you are talking about on the course.
- Ace – When you get it in the hole on your first shot, also known as a hole-in-one.
- Birdie – This is when you score one under par of the hole.
- Bogey – When a golfer shoots one over par of a hole.
- Chunk or Chunked it – When a golfer’s swing gets to close to the ground and they end up taking out a chunk of the ground. This is also known as hitting it fat.
- Flop Shot – Where you open up the face of your club to attempt to hit your ball high in the air so it lands nicely on the green.
- Flyer – This is when your ball is in the rough, but it is lifted up on top of the grass. This can cause the ball to travel further than expected, making it a flyer.
- Fore – Call this out as loud as you can when you hit your ball in the direction of another golfer to give them a heads up.
- Fried Egg – This is when your ball lands in a bunker, and flattens itself out, making it look kind of like a fried egg.
- Gimme – When your ball is close enough to be considered a guaranteed in. Don’t be over generous with your gimmes though. These should only be for shots that you can make 100% of the time.
- Greenie – This is a side bet, usually played on a par 3. The person who hits the ball closest to the pin, on the green, wins the bet.
- Lip Out – The frustrating occurrence when the ball almost goes in the cup, but just rolls around the edge instead.
- Mulligan – Though not an official rule of golf, players use this as a do-over shot, that doesn’t count as a strike penalty. These are usually used for the first tee shot.
- Pitch Mark – When your ball makes a small indent on the green when it lands. Please be considerate of your fellow golfers and fix these.
- Playing it Down – This means you have to hit your shot no matter where the ball lies.
- Playing it Up – This is when you get to improve the position of where the ball lies. This is usually used when playing in poor weather conditions.
- Playing the Tips – When a golfer chooses the pins or starting point that is at the furthest away point to the cup.
- Sandbagging – Don’t be a sandbagger! This is when a golfer says their handicap is higher than it really is; giving them an unfair advantage of extra strokes.
- Slice – This commonly used term is when the golfer puts an excessive curve on the ball. When it goes drastically from one direction to the other. This is caused by the golfers swing.
- Snowman – This is a term you never want to hear. This is when you score an 8 on a hole.
- Texas Wedge – This term is used whenever a golfer uses their putter anywhere else aside from the green i.e. the fairway, rough or bunker.
- Worn Burner – When you make your shot, and it barely gets off the ground so it just rolls.
This is only a small portion of the terms that are used on the golf course, but hopefully it will help you enough to look like a natural on the course. Knowing the terminology can really help with your understanding of the game. Good luck!