Golf Lingo - Part 5

It is time once again for a fan favorite, "Golf Lingo". This is Part 5 of the series. "Golf Lingo - Part 4" was posted on January 20, 2010. If you click on the defined term you will link to the post in which it was used. Even if you cannot walk the walk with your golf game, if you can talk the talk you can hold your own at the bar after the round.

Blind Shot. A shot in which the golfer cannot see the intended target for that shot (e.g., over a hill, behind a line of trees, to an elevated green or out of a deep bunker).

Bump and Run. An approach shot to the green usually played with an 8-, 7- or 6-iron. The ball is typically played from the back of the stance, stays low and then runs up to or on the green.

Double Eagle. A double eagle is a score of three under par on an individual hole. Double eagles are more rare than holes-in-one. To record a double eagle, a golfer would have to make a hole-in-one on a par-4 hole or make a 2 on a par-5 hole.

Fringe. An area of grass immediately off of the putting surface and surrounding the green.. Generally, grass in the fringe is higher than on the fairway and green, but lower than the rough. Players often use their putters when their ball is on the fringe. See Texas wedge.

Gorse. Gorse is very thick, gnarly high rough, more similar to shrubbery than grass. It is oftentimes found on British and Scottish courses.

Grooves. The indentations on the face of all irons, which help to impart spin on the golf ball and help the ball get airborne. The groove controversy relates to the shape of the grooves ("u" or "v" shaped), the depth of the grooves and the distance between grooves and the sharpness of the grooves. Due in part to the grooves, professional golfers were able to impart sufficient spin on the ball from the rough to stop the ball on the green and even to spin the ball backward. The USGA and R&A are further regulating the grooves on irons to put more of a premium on hitting the ball in the fairway and penalizing a player that hits the ball in the rough. The driver does not have any grooves because the intention is to reduce spin so the ball flies longer.

Ground Your Club. Touching the head of the golf club to the ground behind the ball at address or before the forward swing. You may not ground your club in a hazard.

Handicap Differential. The difference between a player's adjusted gross score and the USGA Course Rating of the course on which the score was made, multiplied by 113, then divided by the Slope Rating from the tees played and rounded to the nearest tenth, e.g., 12.8.

Hiding in the Weeds Rule. A situation where your playing partner knows that you are about to play out-of-turn, thus violating Rule 10 of the Rules of Golf, and he allows you to commit the violation and based on the outcome of your shot, the playing partner either invokes the Rule and requires that you re-hit your shot or does not invoke the Rule and allows your shot to stand. Under the "Hiding in the Weeds Rule", the playing partner is deemed to have "unclean hands" and cannot invoke Rule 10.

Loose Impediment. From the Official Rules of Golf, "Loose impediments" are natural objects including: stones, leaves, twigs, branches and the like, dung, and worms and insects and casts or heaps made by them, provided they are not: fixed or growing, solidly embedded, or adhering to the ball. Sand and loose soil are loose impediments on the putting green, but not elsewhere. Snow and natural ice, other than frost, are either casual water or loose impediments, at the option of the player. Dew and frost are not loose impediments.

Perimeter Weighting. Invented by Karsten Solheim and made famous with the Ping Eye2 irons. The weight of the golf club is distributed more evenly around the club by moving more weight to the heel, toe and sole. Perimeter-weighted clubs are more forgiving for off-center hits for the average golfer. The professionals generally play "blades" where most of the weight is right behind the center of the clubface since they rarely hit off-center shots.

Stroke and Distance. The penalty imposed under USGA and R&A Rules for a lost ball or ball hit out-of-bounds. The player incurs the stroke for the lost ball or ball hit out-of-bounds, takes 1 penalty stroke and must make his third stroke from the same spot where the original ball was last played.

Thin. A mis-hit shot in which the clubhead strikes the ball near its midpoint or slighly lower. A thin shot generally travels lower and longer than anticipated.

Tiger Pelts. Also known as "beaver pelts"; these are large divots taken by a golfer, generally with his short irons. The tiger pelt probably emanates from the large divots that Tiger Woods used to take with all of his irons.

Tight Lie. Any lie in which your ball is sitting on bare dirt, very short grass or similar position in which there is very little grass beneath the golf ball.

Thank to About.com:Golf and the USGA Official Rules of Golf for some of these definitions.