golf dictionary
Here is a dictionary of golf terms. Some you know, some you may not know. If
there is one you'd like to add, please e-mail me with the term and definition. K
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
404 (pronounced four-o-four) - derived from the internet, it refers to a ball that can't be found, as in: "404 site not found".
Aerosol Man - A golfer who sprays a lot.
Aggregate - Refers to a score made over more than one round of play, or by 2 or more players playing as partners.
Aiming Fluid - Alcoholic beverage consumed while playing.
Air Ball - Also known as an "air shot", "blow dry", "drive by shooting", "whiff", "air swing", It is a stroke that misses the ball entirely.
to alice/alice/to alliss: He aliced the putt. "To alice a putt" means leaving it short. You can also call someone an Alice when his or her putt is short.
Albatross - British term for a "Double Eagle" - the score for a hole made in 3 strokes under par.
Alternate ball - Format in which players alternate hitting each other's ball on each stroke until the hole is finished. For example, after teeing off, player 1 hits player 2's ball and vice versa.
Ambulance - Beverage cart. Usage: "This six-pack is dead, Moe. Call an ambulance for the back nine."
AMF Ball - A famous brand of golf balls designed for playing over water hazards. (Adios, my friend!), or Adios, M*(&*$(@($ F@)(#*@#)
Angel Raper - A shot hit so high that it could rape an angel.
Archie - A ball that ends up in a bunker.
Army Golf - Also known as military golf, or marine corps golf, it describes a style of play which favors an indirect route to the green, e.g. left, right, left, right.
Auditor - The fellow in your foursome who always keeps recounting your strokes.
Back Stalls - The back tees. Also know as the color of the furthest tees, blues, blacks, tartans, blue plates, tiger tees and tips.
Backpacking - When a player spends a lot of time in the rough, he or she is said to be backpacking.
Bacon Strip - A thin, narrow divot strip.
Ball-Hawker - A person who is always looking for lost balls. Ball hawkers keep score in a different way. For example, "Rich is a champion ball-hawker. Today he lost 5 balls but found 8, for a net score of 3."
Banana Ball - A shot that curves to the right in the shape of a banana. An extreme slice.
Bank Shot - Borrowed from pool. A shot that bounces off some mound, elevations, tree, or structure and returns to the fairway or green.
Barber - a golfer who uses questionable math to shave a strokes off his score. (Also see equalizer, fudge factor)
Barbra Streisand - A shot that, like the actress, isn't pretty but still works.
Barkie - When the ball hits any part of a tree and you still complete the hole with a par. Also known as a woodie.
Barrel - the hole, especially when the putt goes in. (Also known as can, cup, jar, tin)
Be the club, be the club, be the club! – Golfers sometimes shout this after hitting the ball. An incantation to the golf gods that they hope the distance of the shot will be correct.
Beach - bunker or sand trap. A popular destination for weekend golfers. Also known as Kitty Litter.
Beach Party - A social event taking place when two or more players meet at the same beach.
Beagle - a score of double par, often committed with the help of the big dog.
Beaver Pelt - a type of divot. Unlike the thin and narrow bacon strip, the beaver pelt is wide, thick and heavy. The best beaver pelts are harvested with a sand wedge when the fairway is wet.
Belly Snap - When a player with a paunch gets it all into the shot. Before attempting to combine the belly snap with a two-cheeker, it is advisable to consult your swing doctor.
Ben Affleck - A guy at the club who looks like a player, dresses like a player and talks like a player, but can't play a lick.
Best Ball - AKA Better Ball. A match in which one player plays against the better of two balls or the best ball of three players. Also the better score of two partners in a four-ball or best-ball match.
Beta-Blocker - Double Johnnie Walker Black on the rocks.
Big Dog - The driver. As in: "Come on Rich, not that seven wood again! Why don't you let the big dog eat once in a while?" (also see Chief, lumber)
Bikini Wax - famous expression once used by commentator Gary McCord, to describe the green-mowing technique used at the Augusta National.
BIP - Acronym for "Ball in Pocket". BIP generally occurs before reaching the green and results in an X on the scorecard.
BIPmobile - Personal transportation for one or more BIPSIC players.
BIPSIC - Acronym for "Ball in Pocket, Sulking in Cart". A state of angry depression commonly experienced after hitting back-to-back out-of-bounds or triple chili-dipping. Do not try humor with a BIPSIC person. Only time can heal BIPSIC.
Birdie Boy - the person who had a birdie on the previous hole and now has the honors on the tee. Calling someone a Birdie Boy is intended to put subtle pressure on him and hopefully provoke a FUAB.
Birdie - One stroke under par for a hole. Also possibly derived from the term "It flew like a bird" to indicate a good shot.
Bird's Nest - A lie in which the ball is cupped in deep grass.
Blast - A shot that takes a large amount of sand with it when hitting out of a sand trap. An explosion shot. An aggressive shot. A powerful drive.
Bleeding (to be) - when a player suffers a series of bad strokes or holes. (See also, emergency room, hospital zone,)
Blind Bogey -A type of competition in which each player tries to come the closest to a score that has been drawn out of a hat.
Blowfish - A golfer who chokes or bears a striking resemblance to Mrs. Doubtfire.
Bo Derek - 1) A term used to describe a perfect shot or 2) A score of 10 on a hole. In this case, far from perfect.
Bogey Competition - A form of stroke play in which players play against a fixed score at each hole. Scored as in match play with the winner being the most holes.
Bogeyman - a relative of Old Man Par, but not as elusive.
Boss Of The Moss – A very good putter.
Bowling - to mark an X on the scorecard.
Brag Tags - plastic tag indicating that you have left your personal divot on an expensive track.
Break some eggs - to hit practice balls.
Breakfast Ball - another term for a mulligan.
Brillo - the short grass around the green.
Buck (a) - informal way of describing a distance of a hundred yards. An example would be, when asked the distance to the pin: "From here it looks like a buck and a half, maybe a buck sixty."
Bunt - To hit an intentional short shot
Burn - The Scottish term for a creek or stream
Bush-blaster - a big drive that flies hard into the trees.
Butter knife - Three-iron.
Buzzard - another name for a double bogey.
Bye-Bye - Bye bye! A bye-bye putt is a missed putt that races past the hole and ends just as far from the hole, or even farther. In match play, you sometimes hear the other player(s) exclaim "bye-bye!" on the green after a bye-bye putt.
Cabbage - The rough, particularly nasty, thick rough.
Cabbage Pounder - a player who spends a lot of time in the rough, also known as the cabbage.
Cadillac Strut - a swinging, nonchalant way of walking to the cup after making a long putt. Especially effective while wearing pastel slick slacks.
Camel (a) - player who spends a lot of time in the sand.
Candy - Money
Captain Hook - a hook that ends up in the water.
Captain Kirk - a shot that goes where no man has gone before.
Captain Pose - a player who assumes an elegant pose after each shot, regardless of where the ball has gone.
Carl - Course superintendent. Usage: "Who's the Carl at this place? If the greens get any slower, I'm switching to a four-iron."
Cart-Path Management - the skill of hitting the ball as close to the cart path as possible.
Cat Box - sand trap.
Cellophane Bridge - an invisible film covering the hole and preventing perfectly struck putt from going in.
Chainsaw City - a place somewhere in the middle of the jungle or woods.
Chainsaw Lie - the type of lie you get in Chainsaw City.
Character Builder - the dreaded six-footer. Eminently makeable, yet oh so missable.
Chariot - golf cart.
Charity Ball - a quasi-mulligan. For example, "Todd was so upset after blow drying his first two shots that the other players gave him a charity ball."
Chart The Course - Pace each hole so that you know how far you are from the green.
Checkered Flag - To pick up when you're out of a hole. Usage: "I'm lying 7, Ed. Gimme the checkered flag."
Cheeks (hitting with both) - putting the fatty tissues surrounding the gluteus maximus to the maximum use in the golf swing. A two-cheeker is a long, solid drive.
Cheerleader - An overdressed, label-conscious golfer. For example, "David is a real cheerleader. He's way over the legal logo limit." (see also, golf princess)
Chief (the) - the driver.
Chili-Dip - Hitting the ground before the ball. The word refers to scooping up chili dip with a piece of taco. Chili-dipping is not good for your golf health. The USGA recommends that fat shots make up less than 20% of you golf diet.
Chiquita - slice named for its resemblance to the shape of the tropical fruit. (See also, banana ball)
Choke - A term used to indicate a collapse under pressure. Also, to grip down farther on the club handle.
Chuck Wagon - the beverage cart. (See also, gut truck)
Chunky Tuna - a chunked shot that ends up in a water hazard.
CIA - Hitting the wrong club due to incorrect yardage.
Clear-Cutting - illegal and morally repugnant practice of whacking the tall grass, weeds, and branches surrounding your ball in the rough. Best done with a wedge.
Clinton - A mulligan.
Clubhouse Lawyer - A self-appointed caller or arbiter of the rules
Coal Shovel - the sand wedge.
Coke - Beer.
Colorball - A team game with teams of 3 or 4 players in which one player uses a colored ball. Team score comprises the score with the colored ball plus the best of the other 2 or 3 players. Players alternate holes playing with the colored ball.
Condom - Headcover.
Crop Duster - a shot that travels about head-high.
Culligan - a mulligan that ends up in the water.
Cut - Ball trajectory that goes from left to right, not a much as a slice though.
Dance Floor - The green.
DAP - acronym for "dead-ass perfect".
Darth Fader - a fearsome slicer.
Dawn Patrol - Golfers who tee off early in the morning to avoid the heavy traffic. The first golfers off. Also known as Dew Sweepers.
Daytona - A game for 4 players divided into 2 sides. The scores of a side for each hole are combined to form a number of points; if one player has a score of par or better then the lower score of the team is placed first - if the scores on a par 3 are 3 and 4 then the team score is 34. But if the best score for the hole is over par then the higher must be placed first - if scores on a par 3 are 4 and 5, the team score is 54. The side with the lower number of points for the round wins.
Dead Cat - a sizeable divot, somewhat wider than a bacon strip but not as large as a beaver pelt.
Dew Sweepers - The first groups of golfers on the course in the morning.
Dialing 8 - to hit the ball a long distance, referring to the necessity of dialing an 8 in many hotels in order to make a long distance call. As in: "Wiggo was dialing 8 all day, but he ran out of change at the 13th and made a local call into the lake."
Diet Coke - Light beer.
Dimplehead - a golfer who will do anything to fulfill his passion for the game. Among other things, a dimplehead plays in the rain and in frigid weather, buys game improvement gizmos from catalogs and TV infomercials, collects and displays logo balls and goes to Myrtle Beach at least once a year.
Direct Deposit - a pitch or chip that goes in the hole.
Dog Balls - a score of 8.
Dog Golf - canine-style golf where the player goes from tree to tree.
Doggie Sweater: A sleeveless sweater vest.
Dolly Parton - a putt that seems fascinated by the size of the cup before going in.
Droid - Caddie.
Eclectic - An individual stroke play game comprising a defined number of rounds. At the end of the series each of the competitors records his best score of the series at each hole.
EMBO - Early Morning Block Out. Refers to the tendency to push or pull the first few shots after an early tee time.
Emergency Room - The bar.
Empty A Sleeve - Use the restroom.
F-14 - a drive that takes off like a fighter jet.
Fan - To miss the ball completely
Fast Foot - A player who makes frequent use of the foot wedge. As in: "Bill is the fastest foot east of the Mississippi."
Fescue - Grass of the genus Festuca, widely used on for rough on golf courses>
FISA - Acronym for F*%$#! I'm Still Away.
Fishing Rod - a ball retriever.
Flag Competition - A stroke play game in which each player has a flag. When the player has played the number of strokes equal to the par of the course plus his handicap, he places a flag in the course at that point. The winner is the player who goes farthest around the course with the allotted number of strokes.
Flier - When you hit a flier, your ball travels much farther than expected. It often happens when you hit a shot from wet grass or light rough.
Foot Mashie - Action of kicking the ball out of trouble towards a better lie.
Foot Wedge - The modern version of the Foot Mashie. Best club in the bag to speed up play.
Foozle - An old fashioned term for a poorly struck shot in which the ball trickles only a few miserable yards.
Fountain Ball - Another colorful term for a vertical drive.
French Kiss - Swing and miss.
Fried Egg - When a ball remains in its own pitch mark when landing in a bunker.
Frito Lay - A fat chip.
Frog Eyes - a score of 88. Also called double dog balls or a double snowman.
Frosty - The Snowman. A score of 8.
FUAB - F*^$ up after birdie. Should explain it all.
Fudge Factor - The difference between the number of strokes actually taken on the course and that which is recorded on the scorecard. As in: "Not counting the fudge factor, Rich scored a 115."
Full House - A game in which a player is set a points target calculated by deducting his handicap from 36. The winner is the one who surpasses his target by the most points. Scoring is 8 points for an eagle, 4 for a birdie, 2 for a par and 1 for bogey.
Fungo - A practice shot.
Geronimo! - A childish but amusing thing to yell when your opponent's skyball is about to splash into a water hazard.
Giraffe's Ass - A bad shot. High and stinky
Golden Ferret - a chip in from the sand.
Golf Bandits / Golf Banditry - Amateurs who keep their handicaps high in order to win a match. They rip off their friends and fellow competitors by playing golf off a hokey handicap, i.e. a handicap higher they know to be too high. Also known as a sandbagger.
Golf Lawyer - A golfer who makes pettifogging use of the rules.
Golf Widow - A woman whose husband - or boyfriend - neglects her for golf. Read the great poem "The Golf Widda" and more golf poetry.
Gonzo - a familiar way of indicating that a ball has gone into the jungle or out of bounds.
Goose-Neck - Having the neck of a club curved so that the heel is slightly offset from the line of the shaft.
Gopher-Killer - A drive that flies about six inches above the ground.
Gorse - She is in gorse headquarters. Gorse is the yellow-flowered Ulex europaeus, a spiny evergreen shrub common to links courses.
Grasscutter - Another member of the ground hugging family of golf shots.
Grave Digger - A player who inflates his handicap to win bets. Formerly: Sandbagger.
Ground Breaking Ceremony - When a player chunks his drive on the first tee.
Gust of Gravity - The sudden effect of one of nature's fundamental forces on a golf shot. As in: "Bill's approach had almost cleared the pond when her ball was brought down by a sudden gust of gravity."
Gut Truck - the refreshment cart that delivers the swing oil. Also known as the chuck wagon.
Happy Gilmore - An openly gay golfer.
Helen Keller - a blind shot.
Heliputter - A low-flying type of aircraft sometimes seen hovering above the green after a short-tempered player misses a putt. Dangerous and disgraceful.
Herding - When the entire foursome walks to each ball, perhaps to give advice or lend support. Extremely annoying when you're in the foursome behind them.
Hit a three-pointer - To three-putt. Usage: "I was two under until I hit a three-pointer at 15."
Hitler - a ball that never made it out of the bumker.
Hoffa - A ball that is never seen again.
Hog's Back - A ridge of ground or a hole having a ridge on a fairway.
Hollywood Handicap - an artificailly low handicap obtained by returning only your best scores. Looks nice on paper but can get costly. Also known as a reverse sandbagger.
Hospital Zone - the place to go to fix your swing, or the practice area. Also called Murderer's Row, rockpile.
Hubble - a drive that goes so high it can see the stars.
Hustler - A golfer with greater ability who purposely maintains a higher handicap in order to win more bets.
Jail - (to be in or to get out of) - to be in the woods or to get out of the woods or any hard place.
Janet Jackson - A golfer whose fly is open.
Johnny Cochran - to face a shot with such a terrible lie that only Johnny Cochran can save you.
Jungle - dense, wooded rough.
Jungle Book - The schematic course guidebook.
Junk - any sort of small prize money at stake on a hole.
Junk Man - someone who likes to play for small side bets.
Keg Man - the guy in the foursome who will pay for the beer. As in: "Bill was the keg man right from the first hole, and never relinquished his position."
Kennel - Municipal course.
Kevorkian - a killer swing or a suicidal shot. As in: "Rich announced he was gonna hit a Kevorkian at the 445-yard, dog-leg 9th, but he got in trouble and ended up in jail."
Klingons - particles of dirt that remain attached to the blade after taking a divot.
Lag - To putt the ball with the intention leaving it short to ensure being able to hole out on the next stroke
Landscaping - to improve one's lie, especially in the rough. Landscaping is a gross violation of the rules.
Law Dog - the course ranger.
Lawrence of Arabia - a player who spends a lot of time in the sand.
Lawyer (golf) - a person intent on ruining everyone else's day by insisting on a strict respect of the rules. As in: "Rob is just a golf lawyer. He wanted to give Ken a two-stroke penalty for failing to report my foot mashie."
Lay Up - To play a shorter shot than normally might be attempted. Would be done to achieve a good lie short of a hazard rather than trying to hit the green in one less shot.
Leaking Oil - Automotive expression indicating that a player's game is steadily deteriorating.
Legs - what a player wants the golf ball to get as it's traveling toward the hole.
Lettuce - the tall rough.
Lieberman - A partner who doesn't help in a match. Usage: "I was three under, but my partner was a total Lieberman and we lost two ways."
Lifting Weights - Postround drinking.
Linda Ronstadt - a drive that overshoots your opponent's. As in: "Hey, Todd!" Bill yelled, "that was a Linda Ronstadt! I just blew by you!" A reference to "Blue Bayou", a song Ronstadt made popular. It's not a good idea to use this more than once in a round.
Liprosy - a frightening disease that afflicts millions of weekend golfers, the symptom being putts that keep skimming the lip of the hole but refusing to drop in. Although some seek treatment in the emergency room, there is no known cure.
Liz Taylor - a shot that is a little fat, but still beautiful.
Loaf - a large, meaty divot.
Logging - chopping a ball out of an ancient growth.
Lorena Bobbit - a nasty slice.
Low ball and Total - A four-ball team bet in which the best ball of each team wins a point and the lowest total of the partners wins another point
Lumber - the driver. (Also see big dog, chief)
Machete - Lob wedge.
Mahoofka - a vicious type of rough with knee-high, thick, tangly grass. Specially developed by the CIA's secret weed laboratory under contract fromt he USGA.
Mallard - a duck hook.
Marble - the golf ball.
Mario Andretti - a drive that hits the cart path and keeps rolling and rolling. As in: "Since Rich discovered the Mario Andretti, he has shaved seven strokes off his handicap.
Marv Albert - an approach shot with a lot of bite.
Meadowland - A lush grassland course.
Meat (left on that bone) - a statement describing a putt that stops significantly short of the hole, as in: "Hey Dave, there's a lot of meat left on that bone."
Mick Jagger - a putt that lips out of the hole.
Morgan Fairchild - McCordism for a nice looking shot, a little thin, but pretty.
Moses - a ball rescued from the water.
Munson - A pull to the left. (Dead Yank)
Murderer's Row - the driving range.
NASA - A misguided shot that is lost.
Nut – Tigerism. To hit a great shot. "I’ve nutted a drive and seven iron to three feet, it’s great, I’m delighted."
Ozzy Osbourne - A ball hit so far out-of-bounds that you have no bleepin' idea where it is.
Par Competition - A game in which play is against a fixed score for each hole (called the par or bogey). Scoring is as in match play with plus 1 if the player scores better than par, equal if he scores par and minus 1 if more than par. The player with the highest aggregate score is the winner.
Parachuter - And now a big swing for a parachuter. (Flop shot.)
Paramedic - Golf instructor.
Pawky - Old Scottish term meaning cunning or tricky.
Peg - A tee.
Pete Rose - A golfer who lies about his score even though you know he's lying and he knows you know he's lying.
Picasso - A great shot. Usage: "Tiger hit a Picasso to two feet on 18."
Pinehurst - A variation of play in which a partner plays the other partner's drive. One ball is then selected to finish the hole
Power Fade - Jack Nicklaus hit a power fade.
Put The Party Hat On The Dachshund - To be closed out in a match. Usage: "I'm three down with two holes to play, Louie. It's time to put the party hat on the dachshund."
Quail High - A shot hit on a low and flat trajectory.
Rabbit Raper - A shot that travels low and fast, just skimming the grass and "raping the rabbits." See grasscutter.
Rub Of The Green - Any accident, not caused by a player or caddie, that moves or stops a ball in play and for which no relief is given under the rules. This is when your ball is deflected by agencies beyond your control that are not part of the match or the competitor's side in stroke play. A bit of bad luck.
Run A Red Light - To hit a putt well past the hole.
Russians - Red lateral-hazard stakes.
Saddam - A ball hidden in a bunker.
Sandbagger - A golfer who lies about his ability to gain an edge in the game.
Sandy - Making par after being in a bunker.
Scotch Foursome - A match that has partners alternating hitting the same ball. They also alternate driving regardless of who holed out on the previous hole.
Scramble - A team competition where players play the best ball of a team member after every stroke or drive.
Scratch - Par play. A zero handicap.
Shiperio - Similar to a mulligan where a player is allowed a second shot without penalty but is allowed to choose which ball to play, the first one or the second one.
Shotgun Start - In tournaments when players are to start at different holes; a firing of a shotgun may be used as a signal to start play.
Skulling - Hitting the ball at or above its center causing the ball to be hit too hard and travel too great a distance.
Sky - To hit underneath the ball sending it much higher than intended. Like a pop fly in baseball
Slice - A shot that curves strongly from left to right as a result of sidespin. The converse applies to a left-handed player.
Slope - Adjusts your handicap to the difficulty of the course you play. The more difficult the course, the more strokes you'll need. Under slope, golfers will no longer have a handicap. You will have an index. An average course will have a slope rating of 113. Your index is a mathematical calculation of your playing ability on an average course. Maximum index allowed is 36.4 for men and 40.4 for women. Conversion charts will be located at the first tee.
Spleen -Two-iron.
Stimpmetre - Superintendents measure green speed with a stimpmetre. Its readings give a snapshot of the green speed at that time of day. Stimpmetre readings in the five to six range mean slow greens, seven to eight mean medium, nine to 10 fast and above 11 extremely fast - PGA Tournament speeds.
Stipulated Round - The playing of all holes of a course in the correct order
Stroke Play - A competition in which the total number of strokes for one round, or a pre-determined number of rounds, determines the winner
Stu Pidasol – Name used to call oneself when they hit a poor shot. (say it fast)
Stymie - When an opponent's ball is in the line of the other player's putt. Since the ball may now be lifted, the term is used these days to refer to a tree or object in the way of a shot
Sudden Death - When in a match or stroke competition the score is tied after completing the round, play continues until one player wins a hole
Texas Wedge - What the putter is called when it is used from off the green. Also a shot played with a putter from outside the putting green.
Throw-up Zoners – Those putt of a given length, say four to eight footers that give one a lot of trouble. "[Woods] was especially vulnerable on those four-to-eight-footers -'throw-up-zoners' the pros called them. Those were the putts, as Lee Janzen might tell you, that won or lost majors." (John Feinstein, "The Majors".)
Tiger Effect / Tiger Factor - Increasing prize money, an increasing (tv) audience and increasing (tv) revenues, lengthening of golf courses, more players playing the game.
Tiger Tee - A slang expression for the back tee.
Tiger-Proofing - Lengthening of a golf course, as they did at Augusta in 2001. Lengthening the courses actually makes them more Tiger friendly: players need to hit the ball long and high, to carry bunkers off the tee, and to hit accurate approach shots. That's what Tiger Woods is good at.
Titty Licker - a shot that "really opens up the hole"
Trump - To fire a caddie. Usage: "He airmails the last green with the seven-iron I suggested and is so mad he Trumps me on the spot!"
Whine Shampoo - To lose all bets.
WMD - Large-headed driver.
Worm Burner - Shot that only gets 6 inches off the ground. Moving so fast it burns the worms.
Woodie - When the ball hits any part of a tree and you still complete the hole with a par. Also barkie.
Yip - To mishit a putt due to an attack of yips.
Yips - Shakiness or nervousness in making a shot.
Yogurt - Sand.
Zillion - That last hole was a bad one, I shot a ZILLION!
Zoo - Portable toilet.
Zoomie - A drive that goes further than most drives ever hit by the golfer who smacked it.