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H Hacker
A
terrible golfer. A person who hacks it around the golf course.
(See also dub and duffer.) Halve
- In match play, to tie a hole. Thus, if player A and player B both
have a 5 on the 14th hole, they have "halved" the hole.
Incidentally, that phrase is pronounced "they have paved"
because the "l" in "halve" is silent, a fascinating
fact that player A may want to discuss with player B during the
latter's backswing on the 15th tee. Ham and egg
it For partners in a competition to take turns winning holes
for their side. As with a brother-in-law act, two stiffs
take turns getting lucky—at their opposition's expense. Hand mashie
The five-fingered "club" attached to the
end of a golfer's arm. Handicap
- An allocation of strokes on one or more holes that permits two
golfers of very different ability to do equally poorly on the same
course. Hanging A
lie where the ball is above the golfer's feet. Also what happens
to a golfer caught using a hand mashie. Happy feet
A nervous condition that afflicts golfers facing difficult shots.
They just can't seem to get settled properly before taking their
swing. A desirable trait to look for in potential betting opponents. Hazard
- A man-made obstacle on the course, either a bunker or a water
hazard. It is against the rules for players to "ground"
their clubs in a hazard, i.e., to allow the clubhead to touch the
sand or water before making their shots. They may, however, bury
their own head in their hands, strike their forehead with the base
of their palms, shake their head vigorously from side to side (with
or without their hand placed on their brow) and, if it does not
delay the match, lightly and repeatedly tap their head against a
tree. Head
- The end of the club that produces bollixes and mis-hits as opposed
to the end of the club that produces calluses and blisters. See
GRIP. Hickory
- Tough, resilient wood originally used for golf club shafts. The
chromed steel tubing employed today has superior strength and durability,
but old-time golfers insist that there is nothing more satisfying
than the crisp snap of a hickory-shafted club being broken sharply
across the knee or the delicate aroma of an entire set of clubs
burning merrily in a fireplace. Hit it in
the head To hit the top of the ball. (See also top.) Hog's back
A large mound used in the design of a golf green. (See also
elephant burial ground.) Hole
- 1. To hit the ball into the hole, as in "I holed my putt
for a five." 2. The cup in
the green into which the ball is hit, as in "Five" Try
again, buster-you're in the hole in twelve." 3. One of 9
or 18 playing areas constituting a golf course, as in "On that
hole I had a drive, two approach shots and two putts-that makes
five." 4. A missing
element or discrepancy in a narrative or a fault or flaw in logic
or reasoning, as in "Your story is full of holes-what about
those two lost balls, the stroke in the water hazard and the out-of-bounds
shot?" 5. An aperture
or opening, as in "You have a hole in your head-those were
practice swings." 6. Indebtedness,
as in "You lost, you weasel-you're in the hole to me for fifty
bucks." 7. An embarrassing
predicament or position, as in "Oh, yeah? Well, I'm not paying,
so how do you like them apples? But you fork over fifty clams or
you'll be in a real hole at work when I tell your' boss about how
when you're supposed to be with your clients you're out on the golf
course and your wife about that doxie you met on the putting green" 8. An excavation
or cavity, as in "The body was found in a shallow hole in a
sand trap by the thirteenth green." Hole-in-One
- An occurrence in which a ball is hit directly from the tee into
the hole on a single shot by a golfer playing alone. Hollywood
Where you're at and what you are when everything is going just
the way you want. Keep dreaming. Home Course
- A place where your chief handicap is that everyone knows exactly
what it is. Home hole
The eighteenth and final hole on any golf course, so named because
the golfer is approaching home-the nineteenth hole. Honour
- The privilege of being laughed at first on the tee. Horses for
courses Players (horses) who play certain courses well because
those courses fit their style of play. Ben Hogan played Riviera
Country Club very well, so the course became known as Hogan's Alley.
Mark O'Meara plays Pebble Beach very well, having won there on four
occasions. Whether you're a thoroughbred or a nag, you probably
play some courses better than others. Hooding
the clubA stroke in which the golfer moves his hands ahead and
tilts the club head forward (to reduce the club's loft). Done to
make the ball fly lower or to get more distance than normal from
a club. Hook &
Slice- To hit a shot that curves sharply left (hook) or right
(slice), respectively. Players who do one or the other should consider
changing the way they stand, hold the club, or swing. Players who
do both should consider changing the way they spend their weekends. Hot
A ball that is travelling at a high rate of speed without much backspin
(and many times at a lower trajectory than desired) is said to be
hot. A ball may come into the green hot or out of
the rough hot. In most cases, this shot will run along the
ground or green much farther than desired, making the golfer hot,
too. Hump When
a caddie is carrying a golf bag around the course, he's humping
it. Hunching
Term for an illegal tactic in which a golfer inches closer to
the hole when replacing a marked ball on the green. If your opponent
hits his approach shot twenty feet from the hole but his first putt
is only a fifteen-footer, add huncher to the list of names
you call him. Hung it
out A golfer who attempts to play a draw but hits a straight
shot instead is said to have hung it out. |