Archive for the 'Golf Terms' Category

When you watch match play in golf or hear about scores while watching highlights on Sportscenter you usually hear scores like “4 & 3″ or “2 & 1.” To those not familiar with match play golf this shorthand golf talk can be confusing.

What those types of shorthand score reports mean is that the player won the round by 4 holes with three to play, so they didn’t need to play the last 3 holes because there was no way for the opponent to win the match.

So if Tiger Woods is playing Phil Mickelson in match play and going into the 15th hole Tiger Woods is leading by 3 holes Phil Mickelson would need to win the remaining 4 holes to win or win the next three and tie on to send the match play into extra holes. If Tiger Woods wins the 15th hole there is no way Phil Mickelson can win and therefor they would not play the remaining holes.

Tiger Woods would have won the match play round by 4 holes even though there were three remaining to be played. He would have won “4 & 3.”

Ever wonder what the term “Dormie” means? You’ve probably heard it when people are talking about match play between two players.

The term dormie is used to describe the player that is so many holes up with that same amount of holes left to play. For instance, if Jack were playing Jill in an 18 hole match play and Jill were 2 holes up on Jack and there was only 17 and 18 left to play, Jill would be called Dormie.

Impress your friends and try to get them to play match play next time out just so you can use the word. Then spill the knowledge you just learned on them. They’ll either think you’re a nerd and not want to play with you again, or think it’s interesting and ask you more about golf terminology and golf rules, so you better read up and be prepared to answer.

The USGA website explains both slope and rating as a way to measure the difficulty level of a golf course. For course rating the website says

“Course Rating is the evaluation of the playing difficulty of a course for scratch golfers based on yardage and other obstacles to the extent that the affect the scoring difficulty of the scratch golfer.”

While

“Slope Rating is measurement of the relative difficulty for the bogey golfer compared to the course rating. The lowest slope is 55 and the highest slope is 155.”

For more information check out the USGA website on Course Rating and Slope Rating.

The general use of the term scratch golfer means any golfer who shoots par or better. However, the United States Golf Association (USGA) explains scratch golf differently. They use it to determine the proper rating and slope of a golf course. The USGA states that a scratch golfer:

“An amateur player who plays to the standard of the stroke play qualifiers competing in the United States Amateur Championship. The male scratch golfer hits his tee shots an average of 250 yards and can reach a 470-yard hole in two shots. The female scratch golfer can hit her tee shots an average of 210 yards and can reach a 400-yard hole in two shots.”

An explanation of rating and slope will follow, but scratch golfing to most every golfer means being able to shoot par or better on the golf course.