|
Last
Page|
Next Page
Paint
job A pro's
putt that Zips out. The holes in professional tournaments are painted white
to make it easier for TV viewers to see their location, and sometimes the paint
around the hole's edge becomes crusty and makes the lip less accommodating to
putts. At least that's what the pros say.
Par - Score
achieved by a golfer who had only a few great shots on an entire round but somehow
managed to hit them all on the same hole. See TRIPLE BOGEY.
Partner
- Match play team member who holes out from a bunker to score a birdie on a hole
you were about to win with a tap-in for a par, then putts out for a double bogey
on a hole where you lie six and your ball is 40 feet from the cup.
Peg Tee.
Penalty
- One or more strokes added to a golfer's score for play in contravention of the
rules. Players are penalised a single stroke for simple infractions, such as Lost
Ball, Ball Out of Bounds and Unplayable Ball. More serious breaches, like Playing
Wrong Ball and Stopping or Deflecting Own Ball, carry a penalty of two strokes.
The most severe violations, for which penalties ranging from three to five strokes
are assessed, include: Pocketing Opponent's Lost Ball, Kicking Opponent's Ball
Out of Bounds, Feeding Opponent's Ball to a Dog, and Rendering Opponent's Ball
Unplayable by Running Over It with an Electric Golf Cart.
Pencil bag A
small, thin golf bag often used by kids to lighten the load. Also called a summer
bag because it's used in hot weather.
Pencil hockey
When someone (not you, of course) is charged with the awesome responsibility
of keeping score and then cheats by recording erroneous scores, he is said to
be playing pencil hockey, which is akin to horse thievery and subject to
the same punishment—hanging!
Pick it To
hit the ball and make little or no contact with the ground. Accomplished with
a sweeping motion as opposed to the sharp angle with which a digger attacks
the ball. A golfer who picks the ball is called a picker. Greg Norman is
a picker.
Pick it Up
A term used to concede a putt. After your opponent has boxed the ball around
four or five times, you can graciously suggest that he pick it up.
Pigeon An
easy mark—the golfer everybody wants to play against. If you hear anyone refer
to you as a pigeon, take up chess.
Pill The
ball. The object of your frustration Maybe instead of trying to hit the pill,
you should take a pill.
Pin - Familiar
term for the flagstick. A ball that lands on the green even with the hole but
off to one side is "pin high." A ball that lands right next to the hole,
leaving a very short putt, is "stiff to the pin." Such putts are almost
always conceded, but some players insist on putting them anyway. These players
are called "pinheads."
Pin high Whenever
the ball lies at the same elevation as the hole.
Pin Placement
- The location of the hole in each green is changed regularly to distribute wear
evenly over the grass surface and to create an additional challenge to golfers
familiar with the course. And, as golfers whose balls mysteriously land in a pond
or bunker they've successfully avoided for months can attest, the position of
key sand traps and water hazards is also periodically shifted and the astronomical
cost of operating heavy earthmoving equipment at night and in secret explains
the high greens fees charged at most golf courses.
Pinch A
short, crisp shot played with firm wrists, no divot, and little follow-through.
Pin-seeker
A shot that heads right for the flagstick from the moment it leaves the club
face.
Pipeline The
centre of the fairway, so named because an irrigation pipe often runs down it.
Pitch -
An approach shot made with a short iron. There are four basic kinds of pitch shot:
one in which the ball is given top spin to let it run along the green toward the
cup (pitch-and run); one in which it is given backspin to make it "sit down"
and stop next to the cup (pitch-and-stop); one in which it is shanked into a water
hazard or dense under growth (pitch-and-search or pitch-and-destroy); and one
in which it is driven directly into the ground with a half-top (pitch-and-moan).
Pitch and putt
A derisive term given to golf courses that are short and easily conquered,
so named because just a pitch and a putt will get you into the hole.
Plate A
yardage marker that many courses have embedded into their fairways. A red plate
means you are 100 yards from the centre of the green, white is 150 yards,
and blue is 200. If you're more than 200 yards from the green, don't bother looking
for a plate. What you need is a miracle.
Plateaued Term
that refers to greens that are flat and sit up significantly higher than the level
of the fairway.
Play 'em down
To play the ball as it lies. The only way to fly.
Play It as It
Lies - One of the two fundamental dictates of golf. The other one is "Wear
It if It Clashes."
Playing Through
- A display of courtesy on the course in which a group of golfers who have stopped
to search for lost balls conclude that they are causing delay and, anxious to
spare the group behind them several minutes of inactivity on the tee, stand aside
and invite that group to hit their drives so they will be to profitably use the
period before they can resume play in a time-consuming hunt for their own lost
balls.
Plugged When
your ball becomes imbedded in the ground, it is plugged.
Point A
betting unit on a hole.
Pond ball A
golf ball specifically intended for shots over water. Usually pond balls are
old, beat-up balls that don't constitute much of a loss if they find the water,
which is exactly where they normally end up.
Pop A short,
crisp, abbreviated stroke on a putt.
Pose What
a golfer does when he hits a shot he's especially proud of, holding his follow-through
for everyone to admire.
Position A
The ideal position from which to attack the pin.
Practice Green
- A putting area near the clubhouse where players can try out chips, pitches and
putts. It is usually located near the 19th hole so players can also work on their
nips, drafts and snorts.
Practice Tee
- The place where golfers go to convert a nasty hook into a wicked slice.
Preferred lie
A euphemistic way of saying a golfer has improved his lie. This can be done
legally in certain situations, but mostly it's done to cheat.
Press A
betting term that means a new match is starting within the original match. This
press match continues until the end of the original match, and the stakes
are the same for both matches. Presses are often automatic when one side
goes down two holes in the original match
Priority on
the Course - In determining the order of play, the following rules should
be applied:
- Matches which,
when Mulligans, take-overs and practice shots are included, are playing 10, 12
or 14 balls should give way to matches playing 6 or 8 balls.
- A match that
is playing the course out of sequence by cutting across from the green of one
hole to the tee of a much later hole is entitled to pass a match that sneaked
onto the course without paying.
- Any match that
has a player in it posing as a doctor who is late for a vital operation takes
precedence over a match with a player pretending to be a judge overdue at a key
trial.
- Single players
have no standing and must give way to a match consisting of two, three or four
golfers unless, through voice changes and variations in stance and gesture, they
can convincingly fake the symptoms of a multiple personality disorder.
Pro - Sensible
person who believes that individuals who spend time playing golf professionally
are no different from those who engage in some other similarly demanding occupation
such as strip mining or demolition work and that, far from paying for the privilege,
they should actually receive financial compensation for their labours.
Pro Shop
- Challenging hazard located just before the first tee at most country clubs.
The trick to getting out in under $10 (about par for the course) is concentration.
Don't be distracted by the leather golf bags and matched club sets, the radical
new putter designs, the smooth gloves, the shiny shoes, and the sporty golfing
attire. Keep your head down and your eyes on the balls and tees. Tell yourself
that your present clubs aren't old-they're classics. Every item of apparel you're
wearing brings you luck. Your shoes are perfectly broken in. Your hat has character.
Your glove . . . Forget your glove. Take a firm stance and dig in your heels.
Get a good grip on your wallet. Take it out in a fast, sweeping motion and lightly
flip a few crisp bills onto the counter. Always use cash: "charging"
is one of the hardest golf habits to break, and those few little pen strokes can
end up costing you plenty. Pick up your purchase with a quick snap of the wrist,
then turn and stride confidently for the tee. You may shoot 100 today, but you're
way, way ahead of the game!
Pro side The
high side of the hole, so called because more aggressive players generally miss
their putts on the high side, where the ball has a greater chance of falling into
the cup.
Pro tees The
tees from which the golf course plays the longest. The tees you do not want to
play.
Pull - To
hit a shot straight but to the left of the intended target.
Punch Identical
to a knockdown shot. A low, boring shot played with little wrist action
and little follow-through. Used to combat a headwind.
Pure it To
strike the ball perfectly and achieve the intended ball flight and distance.
Push - To
hit a shot straight but to the right of the intended target.
Put a tack on
it A request from one of your fellow competitors to mark your ball, usually
just before he holes a twenty-five-footer that breaks your heart.
Putt - To
hit a shot straight but to the left, the right, beyond, short of, over or around
the intended target.
Putt out When
you elect to finish a hole, even though you may not be away, you are putting
out. It's permissible to do this if you declare your intentions before doing
so and are just a few feet from the hole.
Putter -
Specialised club used on the green. The putter differs from the other golf clubs
in the bag in that it always produces shots that roll forward a few feet and stop.
|
