Golf Talk With Greg Holman – #75

One of my colleagues Bud Doug was asking me what a scramble was, so I explained it to him and he had several follow up questions, which got me to thinking I should do a blog about golf terminology. I’ll be preaching to the choir in part of this blog but the purpose is to generate interest in the game we passionate golfers love.

Let’s start with the course itself sometimes referred to as the links, even though technically links refers to a seaside layout. Golf originated in Scotland and the links was synonymous with golf course. You start on the teeing ground. You are allowed to tee up your ball with a wooden or plastic pedestal also known as a tee. You have to place it behind the tee markers which are objects such as wooden, plastic or metal stakes or balls placed in the ground to denote the starting point. You are allowed to tee off as much as two club lengths behind the imaginary line between the two tee markers but not in front of the tee markers.

The idea is to hit the ball in the fairway which is the closely mowed strip of grass leading up to the green, which is an even more closely mowed usually circular area of grass where you find the hole which is 4 1/4 inches in diameter and about six inches deep. A flag is usually placed in the hole so you can see where you are going from a distance.

If you veer off the fairway you will land in the rough where the grass is taller and more difficult to extract your ball. There are obstacles designed to interfere or penalize you for a stray shot. Trees often line the fairways along with bunkers containing sand and ditches, ponds or lakes now known as penalty areas.

You can attempt to hit the ball out of the water or sand or add one shot to your score and take an unplayable lie or penalty stroke. Formerly known as water hazards, the ponds and lakes are now known as penalty areas.

The most severe penalty is the lost ball or ball that goes out of bounds. Out of bounds or OB is the area off the course property defined by white stakes. If your ball travels out of bounds the correct course of action is to hit again from the same location and add one shot to your score. This is known as stroke and distance. One shot for going OB plus one penalty shot plus a new shot from the original location. So if your tee shot would go OB you would abandon that ball and you would be hitting three off the tee.

Here are some other terms beginning golfers might find useful: Away refers to the person that is farthest away from the hole. That person plays next.

A marker is a coin used to mark the spot where your ball is on the green. To be courteous you should mark your ball if it is in your playing partners line between his ball and the hole. Most experienced golfers mark their ball anyway so they can clean it with their towel before they putt.

The fringe is an intermediate cut of grass just off the surface of the green.

The honor refers to the person that had the best score on the hole. That person gets to tee off first on the next hole.

As far as scoring is concerned, a golfer adds up all of his shots plus any penalty strokes he might incur plus putts on the green, and that is his total for the hole.

Par is standard that an accomplished golfer should score. Most holes are either par 3, 4 or 5, depending on yardage and difficulty. The idea is to make the green in two under the par and take two putts for the par. That is known as a regulation par. Par is found on the scorecard and usually on a sign near the teeing area. So if you hit the ball on the green in two shots on a par 4 and take two putts, you have made a regulation par.

If you are lucky enough to take only one putt, you have made a birdie.

Much more rare is the eagle. It’s possible for an excellent golfer to arrive on the green of a par 5 hole in only two shots and take one putt for a two under par score or eagle. A double eagle or albatross would be two strokes on the par 5. In other words your second shot from 200 yards or more would have to go in the hole.

Double eagles are extremely rare, even more rare than the hole-in-one or ace on a par 3.

A bogie is a very respectable score for a beginning golfer. That would be one over the par or a 5 on a par 4. Two over is a double bogie and so on.

There are many games within the game of golf. One of the most common is the scramble tournament. Ideally you want someone on the team who is a long driver of the ball, someone who is a good middle distance or iron player and a good putt and chipper. Frankly if all the players on the ream are good putters you’ll have the best chance to win. The way a scramble works is everyone tees off and you take the best drive. Everyone on the team plays from there and so on. So you take the best shot each time. You even get four chances on the putt in a four-man scramble or three chances in a three-man scramble.

That’s a beginning guide to golf terminology. If you have any questions or would like to suggest a topic for discussion just email [email protected].

Until next week, fore, which means look out in front.

Hit ’em straight!

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