Understanding Golf Terminology

By: Josh Neumann

Many people today are interesting in the golf terminology, because often times it seems like golfers have their own separate language when they hit the links. Quite simply, a new golfer has to know the terminology to be able to communicate effectively with other golfers. Here are some quick tips in terms that you will need to know before hitting the golf course for the first time.

First of all, a birdie is anytime you score one stroke under par. An eagle is two strokes under par, and a double eagle is three strokes under par. For instance, if you play the par four, and get a three, this would be a birdie.

A par is where you shoot even par for a hole, and a bogey is where you shoot one over par for a hole. A double bogey occurs when you shoot two over par, a triple bogey is three of over par, and a quadruple bogey is four strokes over par.

These are the scoring terms, but the golf terminology certainly doesn't stop there. A driver is what you use when you tee off. This is the club with the least amount of loft, and you will generally hit this the farthest. Your irons are what you will generally play from the fairway when trying to hit the green.

An ace is talking about a hole-in-one. The term action is talking about putting backspin on the ball once it hits the green. This could be if you had hit a sand wedge from the fairway, and it spins backwards once it hits the green. Your aim is simply the target line where you want it a shot.

The fairway is talking about the short grass you generally try to hit the ball to from the tee. Of course, this isn't the case with par threes, but is true of par 3 and 4s. The rough is the longer grass on either side of the fairway, where generally try to avoid when you're in your tee shot. The intermediate cut is usually the second cut it is a little the longer the fairway but shorter than the rough.

The front nine is the first nine holes of the golf course you play, and the back nine is talking about the last nine holes the golf course. A snowman is when you get a score very high over par. Obviously, there are many more terms you will likely learn, and you will simply pick up many of them the more you play. It would be impossible to cover every single term in this article, but these are the basics you must know before you start to play.

Custom golf balls is pretty much like it sounds; uniquely made golf balls built for your individual game. Obviously, you will need to be a very good player in order to justify purchasing these, as they are quite expensive and really don't make a big difference in your game unless you are a more advanced player.

When you play through, it means the group in front of you is letting you go ahead of them, because you are playing faster than they are. The bottom line is, if you want more golf tips and lessons on the web, whether it be about more swing terms, which equipment to buy, information on hitting the ball better, etc, the web has all the data you need. Hopefully these tips will help you to get the golf terminology straight down and help you to carry on a reasonable conversation with talking with anybody on the golf course.

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