We bring you up to speed with some of the terminology you’re likely to hear on and off the course
 |
|
| Our bluffers guide to golf will help you to start sounding like a pro, even if you can’t swing like one! | |
 |
Are you just getting the hang of the glorious game of golf? Do you think iron and wood sound more like building materials rather than golf clubs? Our bluffers guide to golf will help you to start sounding like a pro, even if you can’t swing like one!
Ahead of the 36th Ryder Cup in September this year, we’d like to give golf enthusiasts around the country a swinging start to help them at least seem successful on the green. The Ryder Cup is one of the world’s great sporting events so what better reason to establish a ‘Bluffers Guide to Golf’ to help groom golfers to raise the stakes on the status scoreboard.
The following guide doesn’t distinguish eagles from birdies or woods from wedges but it will help you fake it until you make it.
ALL SQUARE
A term used in match play to indicate that both teams or individuals have cheated on an equal number of holes.
BEST BALL
Tournament format in which only the lowest score of a foursome needs to be fudged, and rather than cheating individually, all the players team up to cheat as a group.
BORROW
The amount of break in a putt, which can be decreased by repeatedly lifting the ball from the green, marking it, and replacing it closer to the hole in a process known as the “steal.”
DO-OVER
A first shot that a player inadvertently hit second.
FLUFF
A shot that is too weak to be registered by conventional scorekeeping methods.
IN THE LEATHER
Phrase indicating that a putt is to be conceded because the ball is closer to the hole than to the end of the leather grip of a putter laid along the line of the putt, or a player standing near the hole is close enough to the ball to kick it away with a leather golf shoe or pick it up in a leather golf glove.
LEGS
A ball is said to have “legs” if it continues to roll a long way after landing. If it bounces quickly into the rough it is said to have “hooves.” If it becomes wedged under a rock or in the root of a tree, it has “claws.” If it runs down a bank and into a water hazard it has “fins.” And if it does all these things on the same hole, it is given “wings” and flung into the gorse.
PENALTY STROKE
One or more strokes added to a golfer’s score as punishment for conspicuous, excessive, brazen, or shameless displays of honesty, fair play, and sportsmanship completely at odds with the spirit of the game of golf.
RE-TEE
To make a second drive. Because the tee shot requires intense concentration, a player is almost always committed to hit another ball without penalty, providing the original miss-hit was caused by some obvious interference like the clicking of another golfer’s shoelace together, or the sudden wing flash of a passing butterfly, or the nearby impact of a subatomic particle.
WINTER RULES
Local rules that permit balls to be lifted, cleaned and then replaced in a more favourable “preferred lie” without penalty during periods when adverse weather conditions make proper maintenance of the fairways impractical.
