15 Most Common (And Often Misunderstood) Golf Terms Finally Explained In One Place!

The game of golf is a winding, challenging ordeal, which ultimately becomes a game of wit and discipline, more than any impressive physical feat of performance.

While easy to begin, golfers face an unending struggle to tame a game that so desperately defies the pursuit of excellence. This unforgiving nature, propels golfers to seek out any information that might lessen their load and bring their nearly intangible aspirations to reality. Unfortunately, this article will not provide any information like that nor assist your plight. It will however teach you 15 golf terms you may or may not be familiar with. To make them easier to understand I’ll also provide real world examples of sentences I’ve encountered for each one. Honestly, if you ask me, what more could you really expect from an online article you incidentally found yourself reading one day.

1.) Ace

Alright this is an easy one. It is simply a “hole-in-one”. This is completing a hole in a single shot. Why don’t golfers just always say a “hole in one” you ask? Well I don’t know. It probably just sounds cooler. 

Sentence: “Taylor, I honestly wouldn’t go out with you even if you shoot an ace on this next hole”

2.) Albatross

This one is sorta similar to the previous question. It is defined as when a golfer shoots three under par on a single hole. In order to be used, it must be completed on a par-5 hole which means this achievement is undoubtedly more rare than even a hole-in-one. 

Sentence: “Alright, I’m impressed Taylor, but like I said I still won’t go out with you and no, not even an Albatross on hole #8 will change my mind” 

3.) Birdie

This one is pretty common. It is when a golfer shoots one under par on a single hole. While unfortunately not as common for me as a triple bogey, it is a nice little achievement especially for beginner golfers. 

Sentence: “No Taylor, shooting a birdie on #8 does not count “more or less the same” as an Albatross”

4.) Condor

At this point you’re probably like “Hey there sure are a lot of bird terms. I wonder if this nice gentleman is gonna tell me why that is?”. In response, I’d first like to thank you for calling me handsome, it means a lot, and secondly, to answer your question, I don’t know. You should google it or something, but not after you finish reading this article. This term is when a player shoots a hole-in-one or an “ace” on a par-5. 

Sentence: “I’m going to be honest Taylor, I’m fairly confident you did not get a Condor on #11 considering it’s a par-3”

5.) Dogleg

Golf isn’t all about bird terms. Sometimes we mix some other animals in there. In this example, it refers to when a fairway bends and is crooked. It’s named after the crooked part of a dog’s hind legs. For most golfers, these holes pose a significant challenge. Luckily for me, my shots always sharply curve even when I’m playing straight fairways.

Sentence: “Practicing for a dogleg fairway isn’t a believable excuse for that last shot”

6.) Eagle

Yeah it’s another bird term. I don’t know what to tell you. This time, it means 2 strokes under par on any individual hole. Normally this occurs on a par-4 or par-5. It is the more impressive sibling of the “Birdie”.

Sentence: “I swear, I was just three strokes away from my very first Eagle”

7.) Foursome

I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t a foursome just two twosomes together? It’s actually a playing format in which two pairs of two alternate shooting until each hole is completed. This format is often called “Alternate Shot”. 

Sentence: “I’ve never played in a foursome cause it requires having three friends”

8.) Gilligan

You know when you hit that 1 in 1,000 shot and you know there’s no way you could replicate it? That’s where this term comes into play. If agreed upon before the match, your playing buddies can request you redo any impressive shot you make.

Sentence: “I am immune to Gilligans, because it requires having a good shot to start”

9.) Hosel Rocket

First for those who don’t know, the hosel is the part of a golf club that connects the shaft to the club head. As you can imagine, a hosel rocket is when the ball is mishit and the ball flies wildly off of the hosel.

Sentence: “If the club face was located on the hosel, I predict you, Taylor, would be the greatest golfer of all time”

10.) Mulligan

This term is the nicer sibling of a Gilligan. It refers to when you are allowed to redo a particularly bad or costly shot. While not officially allowed in tournaments, it can be nice to implement if you’re just enjoying some golf with some buddies. 

Sentence: “Nothing hurts more than being offered a Mulligan on your best opening drive of the year”

11.) Play Through

This is a good term to know. It is when a slower group allows a faster group to pass them on the course and “play through”. You never want to be that group that holds up everyone else.

Sentence: “I’ll admit Taylor, you rarely have to let groups play through, but that’s usually because you pick up after the second shot”

12.) Shank

These next four words I am personally very familiar with. A shank is when you hit the ball on the innermost portion of the clubface. This is similar to a hosel rocket but usually slightly more on the clubface. The ball still typically darts off in an unintended direction.

Sentence: “For how little prisoners golf, I’m surprised how much they discuss shanks” 

13.) Slice

For a right handed golfer, this term means when the ball sharply curves from left to right while in the air. For left handed golfers the directions are reversed. This is a fairly common occurrence for a lot of golfers and is despised. 

Sentence: “At this point, I just expect to slice the ball and aim accordingly”

14.) Whiff

This is best described as an unintended practice swing. It occurs when you attempt to hit the play and miss entirely. Unfortunately, in the game of golf, this counts as a stroke.

Sentence: “Nothing like a solid whiff every once in a while, to remind yourself you’re still fallible”

15.) Yips

Once again most golfers have experienced this one. It is usually regarded as a mental spasm or nervousness that impairs your golf game and primarily your short game. This is the dreaded challenge that every golfer faces on the eighteenth hole at the end of a great round of golf. 

Sentence: “If dating was golf, I’d certainly have the yips cause I got no game”