Addressing the Ball

The player's method of standing and handling the club preparatory to striking the ball.

All Even

An expression used to describe the position or result of a match when neither side has gained any advantage. See Halved.

All Square

Synonymous with All Even.

Approach

The stroke by which the ball is played on to the putting green.

Baff

To play a ball high into the air with a backward spin.

Baffing Spoon or Baffy

A short wooden club with a deeply lofted face, formerly used for playing approaches.

Bents

The long wiry grasses found on sea-shore links.

Bisque

A point taken by the receiver of odds at any period during the game.

Blind Hole or Hazard

A blind hole is one of which the putting-green is not visible to the player as he plays his shot. A blind hazard is a hazard which is hidden from his view.

Bogey

A method of scoring by holes against an imaginary opponent. The number of strokes which ought to be taken to each hole without serious mistakes.

Bone

The piece of horn, vulcanite, or other material let into the sole of wooden clubs to protect the lower edge of the face.

Borrow

To play a ball up or down a hill or slope, instead of straight at the hole, so that the slope will cause the ball to return towards the hole.

Brassy

A wooden club soled with brass.

Break Club

Any hard object lying near the ball, which might break the club in the act of striking.

Bulger

A convex-faced club.

Bunker

Originally a natural sand-hole on the golf course. Now used also of artificially made hazards with built-up faces.

Bye

The hole or holes of the stipulated course that remain unplayed, after a match is finished.

Caddie

The boy or man who carries the player's clubs, tees his ball, and from whom he takes advice.

Carry

The distance which a ball travels from the club face to the spot where it first alights on the ground.

Cleek - An iron club with a long and narrow face

used for long shots through the green when a ball lies badly or when a wooden club would take it too far.

Club

Any legitimate implement used in striking the ball.

Course

the ground within the limits of which the game is played.

Cup

Any small indentation on the ground.

Cut

To put right-hand or backward spin on the ball so as to check its rolling forward after its fall.

Dead

A ball is said to lie dead when it lies so near the hole that the player is certain to hole it in the next stroke. A ball is also said to " fall dead " when it does not roll after reaching the ground.

Divot

The slice of turf cut out by the club in playing a stroke.

Dormy

A player is said to be dormy when he is as many holes up as there remain to be played, so that he cannot be beaten, and at the worst must halve the match.

Down

A player is said to be down when his opponent has won one or more holes than he has.

Draw

Synonymous with Pull.

Driver

The wooden club used for playing the longest strokes.

Duff

To hit the ground so far or so deep behind the ball that the ball only travels a short distance.

Face

The hitting surface of a club-head.

Fog

Thick mossy grass.

Follow-through

The forward following of the club after hitting the ball.

Foozle

Any thoroughly bad stroke short of missing the ball altogether.

Fore!

The word shouted by the golfer when about to strike to give warning to parties in front.

Fore-caddie

The boy who precedes the players to show the line to the hole and to mark where the balls lie.

Full Shot

A shot played with a full swing, and intended to travel as far as possible.

Gobble

A ball played too hard at the hole which nevertheless goes in.

Green

Synonymous with Links or Course; also used as a contraction for putting green.

Grief

When a player has played his ball into a hazard of any description he is said to be in grief.

Grip

First, the upper part of the club shaft gripped by the player; second, the manner of gripping the club; third, a narrow ditch on the course used as a drain.

Gutty

A gutta-percha golf ball.

Half-one

A handicap of one stroke at every second hole.

Half shot

A shot played with a half swing, and not intended to go as far as a full shot.

Halved

A halved hole is one to which both sides have taken the same number of strokes. A match is halved when no advantage has been gained on either side.

Hanging ball

A ball which lies on a downward slope in the direction in which it has to be driven.

Hazard

Any kind of difficulty, not being the ordinary grass of the course, into which a golf ball may get, with the exceptions mentioned in Rule 15.

Heel

First, the part of the face or hitting surface of the club-head nearest the shaft; second, to hit the ball with the heel so as to cause it to fly to the right.

Hole

First, the entire space of ground between the teeing ground and the hole; second, the hole itself; third, to play the ball into the hole.

Hole High

A ball is said to be hole high when it has been played as far as the hole, but not necessarily on to the putting green.

Home

A ball is said to be home when it is played on to the putting green from a distance.

Honour

The privilege of playing first from the tee.

Hook

To pull the ball round to the left with the toe of the club. Synonymous with Pull and Draw.

Horn

See Bone.

Hose

The Hose or socket is that part of the head of an iron club into which the shaft is fitted.

Iron

A club with an iron head, used chiefly for approaching the hole and for lifting the ball over obstacles.

Jerk

To play a ball so that the club-head strikes into the ground after hitting the ball.

Lie

The position of a ball anywhere on the course after it has been played.

Lift

To take a ball out of a hazard and drop it or tee it according to the Rules.

Like

To play the like at a given hole is to play a stroke which equalises the number played by the opposite side.

Links

The ground on which the game is played.

Loft

To raise a ball into the air.

Lofter

An iron club used to loft the ball.

Made

A player is said to be made when he is within a full shot of the green.

Mashie

An iron club which is shorter in the head than the iron.

Match play

The method of playing a game of golf by counting the number of holes gained or lost by each side.

Medal play

The method of playing a game of golf by counting the number of strokes taken to the round by each side.

Miss the globe

An expression used to describe the failure of a player to move the ball at all, after striking at it.

Neck

The curved part of the head next the shaft.

Niblick

An iron club with a round, small, and very heavy head, used when great force is necessary to extract a ball from its position.

Nose

The end of the head farthest from the shaft.

Odds

To play the odds, at a given hole, is to play one stroke more than the opposite side.

One off two, one off three, etc.

When the opposite side has played two or three strokes more, the other side plays " one off two " or "one off three " as the case may be.

Par

The par of a hole or round is the total number of strokes which should be required for them without mistakes.

Press

To put an extra amount of force into the swing.

Pull

Synonymous with Draw or Hook.

Putt

A stroke played with a putter on the putting green with the object of playing the ball into the hole.

Putter

A club with either a wooden or metal head, used on the putting green to play the ball into the hole.

Putty

A golf ball made of composition.

Quarter shot

A shot played with a quarter swing from the wrists.

Round

A term used to describe a game over the whole course.

Run

First, the distance a ball travels after alighting on the ground; second, to make the ball travel along the ground instead of lofting it.

Scare

The part of the club where the head and shaft are joined.

Sclaff

To scrape the surface of the ground with the sole of the club-head before striking the ball.

Scratch player

A good player, who receives neither handicap nor penalty.

Set

The player's equipment of clubs.

Shaft

The handle of the club.

Short game

Approaching and putting.

Slice

To draw the face of the club across the ball so that it curves to the right.

Socket

See Hose.

Sole

The ilat part of the club-head which rests on the ground.

Spoon

A wooden club with a lofted face.

Spring

The elasticity of the club shaft.

Stance

The position of the player's feet in playing a stroke.

Steal

A long putt holed unexpectedly.

Stymie

A stymie occurs on the putting green when one of the balls lies directly in front of the other on the line to the hole, and the balls are more than six inches apart.

Swing

The method in which the club is swung in the act of striking.

Swipe

A full shot.

Tee

The small elevation, usually a pinch of sand, from which the ball is struck for the first stroke to each hole.

Teeing-ground

The marked-out space from which the ball must be struck at the commencement of each hole.

Third

A handicap of one stroke given at every third hole,

Toe

Synonymous with Nose.

Top

To hit the ball above its centre.

Up

A player is said to be up when he has gained one or more holes upon his opponent.

Wrist shot

A short stroke played with the wrists.