Golf Lingo - Part 2

Given the resounding success of my prior "Golf Lingo" post (I actually had two comments!) and SO's recent commentary that some of the posts are too technical and not that funny (how dare she be so honest!), I decided that it is time for another golf lingo post based on terms used in recent posts.

Casual Water: temporary water on the golf course (not a lake, for example) that accumulates and affects the ball, the player's stance or the player's swing. In such case, without a penalty a player may lift his ball (but not clean the ball) and drop it within one club-length of the nearest point of relief, but not nearer to the hole.

Cut or Cut Line: On the PGA Tour, if there are 144 players in a field, the cut is the 70 professionals (plus amateurs) with the lowest scores through two rounds of the tournament, plus ties. If there are more than 79 golfers that "make the cut", the PGA has a second cut after the third round of the tournament. Those golfers that "make the cut" continue to play the final two (or one) rounds of the tournament and those golfers that do not "make the cut" are eliminated. At the Masters, the cut is the low 44 golfers and all golfers within 10 strokes of the leader, and at the U.S. Open, the cut is the low 60 golfers and all golfers within 10 strokes of the leader.

Double Eagle: A hole played three strokes under par! This is the rarest score in golf, even more rare than a hole-in-one. It can only occur on the second shot of a par-5 hole or on the drive on a par-4 (in which case it would also be a hole-in-one). I have added this to my golf bucket list.

Duck Hook: A shot generally unintentionally hit with a lot of topspin that travels sharply from right to left for right-handed players. A duck hook typically does not travel very far and runs along the ground usually until it passes the out-of-bounds stakes.

Gimme: A putt that the other players agree can count automatically without actually being played on the assumption that the golfer would make the putt. Also, in match play, if the other golfer has already won the hole, he may concede a longer putt because it does not affect the match. Generally, I do not wait for my opponent to concede the putt, I just take it!

Hiding-in-Plain-Sight Rule: You will not find this Rule in the Rules of Golf. It is a "local rule" of the Rules Committee (me!). The Rule states that if a golfer (especially me!) hits a good shot and there is no way the ball should be lost, but the golfer cannot find the ball, it must be "hiding in plain sight", in which case you may drop a new ball in the location where the ball should have been without taking a penalty stroke.

Lift, Clean and Place: is a modification to the normal rule of golf that the player must always play the ball as it lies without making any improvement to its lie. Generally, under very wet conditions, the Rules Committee may modify the normal rule to permit players to lift the ball, clean the ball and then place it back within 6 inches of the original position, no closer to the hole. Permitting a "scratch" golfer to play "lift, clean and place" is like shooting fish in a barrel and, thus, is generally frowned upon by the USGA or R&A.

Links Course: A golf course next to the ocean, usually with minimal trees and sandy soil and dunes and lots of wind. The course generally follows the natural terrain of the land rather than moving tons of dirt to shape the course. The course typically routes out and back either in a figure eight or with the ninth or tenth hole being the furthest from the clubhouse as opposed to many American courses where the fairways are side-by-side and the ninth green is generally next to the clubhouse.

On the Screws: Hitting the golf ball on the sweet spot of the club, generally referring to the driver. The expression comes from the old persimmon woods that used to have an insert in the middle of the club face attached with screws.

Overseeding: Laying new grass seed on top of existing grasses to replace the existing grass during its dormant period. For example, if a course uses bermuda grass, which goes dormant in colder weather, the course may overseed in the fall with rye grass that thrives in colder weather and vice versa. After overseeding, it usually takes about a month for the course to return to optimum conditions.

Q-School: A week-long, six-round tournament in which the golfers with the lowest 30 scores are automatically permitted to play in almost all of the PGA Tour events for the following year without qualifying. There are some tournaments like the Masters, U.S. Open and the FEDEX Cup that have special qualifying requirements. Probably the most nerve-racking tournament for professional golfers (even more so than the majors!).

Scratch Golfer: A golfer with a USGA Handicap Index of approximately zero, meaning that the scratch golfer will shoot around par. The Handicap Index is not your average score for 18-holes, but measures your top performance by discarding ten of your last 20 scores. PGA Tour golfers are "plus handicaps", which means their handicaps are below par. For example, in 2008 Tiger Woods was about a +8 handicap!

Up-and-Down: when a golfer does not hit the ball on the green in regulation and pitches or chips the ball onto the green and then one-putts for a par. Low handicap golfers are generally able to get "up-and-down" from around the green to save par, while bogey golfers are more likely to pitch or chip and two-putt for bogey.

Most of these definitions are brought to you by The Golf Club website (with my editorial comments). If I use any jargon or lingo in my posts that any faithful follower does not understand, just send me a comment and I will include an explanation (with appropriate editorial comment.)