Know your eagles from your birdies, or your woods from your wedges?
The Academy gives the lowdown on all the golf speak.
ADDRESSING THE BALL
Put your stamps away and forget about saying at the tee: "Mr Ball, a pleasure to meet you." It's how you set your club at the ball before you hit it.
PAR
No elderly relatives involved here. It's the number of shots a professional is expected to take to hole the ball. It will be par three, four or five.
BOGEY
You've got more than a runny nose if there are bogeys on your card. A score of one above par and the bogey's all yours. If it's two then say hello to a double bogey. And so the bogeys get bigger.
BIRDIE
When your scores improve, your bird-watching books will come in handy. A
birdie is a score one shot under par, an eagle is two under and if it's three under - watch out for swooping albatrosses.
CHIP
Hunger can set in quickly on a fairway but if you need a little shot on to the green then don't grab the ketchup. It will involve delicately
chipping the ball.
HACKER
All courses have them. They're the golfers with mud flying behind them. They also have radars which send their ball towards windows. It is of course an inexperienced player who isn't very good. This probably includes most of us!
IRON
A creased shirt is never good, but no electricity on the first tee means your bag will only have one sort of iron. It's your metal clubs (not your woods or putter). The lower the iron number, the longer the distance hit.
SWEET SPOT
There are a million reasons why your ball won't go where you want it to. Not enough chocolate perhaps? Maybe, but a common error is when the ball does not hit the right spot on the club.
SAND WEDGE
A great complement to the chip if shots were served on plates. You'll get this club out if your ball fancies a trip to the seaside and ends up in a bunker.
WOOD
Golf is about countryside, fresh air AND looking for lost balls - often amongst trees. A wood is also the club that bashes your ball for miles. Their heads used to be wooden but now most are metal.
Back to top
