Iron: A golf club that is made out of solid metal.
Knock Down: A shot that has a low trajectory that is often used during strong winds.
Lay Up: Taking a short shot in order to avoid a hazard, or to get your ball into a particular spot.
Lie: The ground where the ball is laying. There are good lies and bad lies. Good lies are the fairway and putting greens, bad lies are rough areas such as bunkers.
Line: The path you expect the ball to go, especially when putting.
Links: An ocean course that is fairly windy and absent trees.
Loft: The angle between the golf club’s shaft and the golf club’s face.
Match Play: When a team of players compete against each other on a hole by hole basis.
Medal Play: This is when the winner is determined by the fewest strokes per game.
Member’s Bounce: When a player’s ball position improves because of a bounce.
MGA: This stands for the Mediocre Golfer’s Association.
Misread: To inaccurately determine the line of putt.
Mulligan: A shot that can be replayed or done over.
Nassau: A bet that includes a bet on the first nine, the back nine, and the entire round of golf.
Open Face: The clubface is angled away from the player’s body.
Ostrich: Five under par. An almost impossibility—unless a player gets a hole in one on a six par hole.
Outward Nine: The first nine holes.
Out of Bounds: The area outside of the golf course’s boundaries.
Par: The standard shots that are needed to get a ball into the hole from the teeing ground. Par stands for professional average result.
PGA: Professional Golfers’ Association.
Pitch: A short shot, generally within 50 yards, that is shot with a high lofted club.
Pitch Mark: The area where a ball lands that causes a bit of damage to the ground. Players must repair the damage before they move on.
Plugged Lie: When the ball is half buried in the ground.
Pop Up: When the ball is struck in such a way that the ball shoots straight up in the air.
Pro: A professional golfer who either teaches or plays golf for financial rewards.
Pull: A shot that goes directly left.
Punch Shot: A shot that is taken so that it has low trajectory. This is usually done if a player finds himself among trees or combating high winds.
Push: A shot that goes directly right.
Rough: The area on the course that has taller and coarser grass than on the fairway.
Sandbagger: A player that has a high handicap, yet his skills don’t indicate that he should. A sandbagger is generally known as someone who inflates his handicap in an attempt to win bets.
Sand Trap: A bunker around the green that is filled with sand.
Sand Wedge: A golf club that has a high loft that is designed for use in sand bunkers.
Scratch Golfer: A golfer who has no handicap or his handicap is zero.
Shank: A shot when the golfer hits the ball with the hostel of the club, the crooked area on the club where the club head connects to the shaft.
Short Game: The shots that take place on or near the putting green.
Slice: A shot that curves sharply from the left to the right.
Snowman: A shot of an eight on a hole.
Sit: This term is used by golfers when they tell the ball to drop and land, instead of rolling after the landing.
Stroke Some Balls: The terminology golfers use when they are referring to going to the driving range to hit balls, or playing a very relaxed round of golf.
Stymie: When one player’s ball on a putting green blocks the path of another player’s ball to the hole.
Sweet Spot: The place on the club where the ball will get the best results.
Talking Golf: This is when all of the players in the group agree that conversation doesn’t have to stop when players take their swings—as long as the conversation doesn’t interfere with the players’ shots.
Target Line: The line between the ball and its intended target position.
Tee Box: The area where the golfer must make his first shot on each hole.
Thin Shot: This is when the club strikes too high on the ball.
Topped: This is the term golfers use when the ball is only struck on its upper half, which generally results in a rolling ball, or a ball that will bounce rather than fly.
Unplayable: A ball that is declared unfit for play because it is in a hazard area, or out of bounds. However, players can declare their balls unplayable at any time during a round of golf. They just have to drop the ball within two club lengths of the original position, or where the ball was last played, and a one shot penalty is applied. If a ball is declared unplayable by a player because of a hazard, the ball must be dropped within the hazard.
Up and Down: The term used to describe when a player gets the ball into the hole with two shots when they start off the green.
Wedge: An iron club that has a loft more than a 9 iron.
Whiff: A swing that doesn’t make contact with the ball, and it must be counted as a stroke.
Wood: A club that is made out of wood, or metal, that has a bulbous head.
Yip: This term describes a golfer who twitches while putting.
Zinger: A ball that is hit hard and high.