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S S-word
Ssssssh! This
is a very bad word in golf. A shank is a shot that flies
ninety degrees to the right after the ball has been struck with
the club's hosel. So devastating is this affliction that if you
get the shanks, the best thing to do is leave the course
immediately and seek professional help— from your bartender. Sand Trap
- A deep depression filled with sand filled with golfers in
a deep depression. Sandbagger
A golfer who falsely posts high scores in order to inflate his
handicap, thereby making him more difficult to defeat in matches.
This is serious cheating. Also known as a ringer. Sandy When
you escape from a bunker to make birdie or par, you've made a sandy.
One of many junk bets golfers make during a match. , Scats A
betting game in which all the members of a group play against each
other for a predetermined amount on each hole. Ties carry over to
the next hole. Sclaff
- Onomatopoetic Scottish word for a flubbed shot in which the ground
is contacted before the ball is hit. The game's Celtic inventors
had plenty of time to develop a rich vocabulary for golfing mishaps,
such as a ball topped lightly into the water (firkel), a ball hit
a short distance through dense grass (glef f ), straight into the
air (pooth), into the woods (slessgrack), into rocks (lofonnock)
and into other players (yebastard). Score
- The total number of strokes needed to complete 18 holes or three
times the caddy's tip, whichever is closest to 75. Scorecard
- A piece of paper on which a player's opening offer is written
prior to the commencement of serious negotiations. Scrambler
A golfer who plays somewhat erratically but manages to salvage
good scores from inconsistent play. A scramble refers to
a golf competition in which each of four players on a team hits
a tee shot and picks a best ball, then plays a second shot from
that spot. The team continues to pick a best ball and play from
that spot until a shot is holed. Scrape it
around To play spotty or inconsistent golf but still manage
to post a good score. Great pros like Jack Nicklaus stay in tournament
contention by scraping it around on days when they don't
have their A game. Scratch
Term to describe a golfer who has a zero handicap; that is,
he is starting from scratch. Dream on. Scratch Player
- A player with a handicap of zero; a par golfer; a rat; a louse;
a stinker. Scuff A
lousy shot that results from hitting the ground before hitting the
ball. (See also fat, hit it.} Senior
- A golfer who attributes poor play to the fact that he or she lacks
the physique of a younger player. See JUNIOR. Set of Clubs
- A collection of no more than 14 golf clubs, usually consisting
of three or four woods, nine or ten irons, and a putter. The chief
distinction among the types of clubs is that the woods make a sound
like "speck" or "frop" when the ball is improperly
hit, whereas the irons emit a sharp "jink," "fank"
or "whenng" and the putter produces a soft "tilk." Set them
up What you do when you improve your lie in the fairway. Also
what you ask the bartender to do after you've taken money from your
archrival. (See also roll it.) Shag
- To retrieve golf balls. Golf is full of odd terms and expressions.
After hitting a 5-iron shot right onto the green, for example, you
might answer an opponent's question about what club you used by
saying, "The stick I used was a 7iron"; when citing a
nonexistent rule to improve your lie, you might say, "I'm claiming
relief from this lie under the rule covering tassleclots";
and after scoring a 6 on a hole, the right way to report your tally
is to say, "I carded a five." Shag hag
Any container used by a golfer to hold practice balls. Shank
- The most dramatic and unsettling form of misplayed shot, in which,
as the clubshaft vibrates violently, the ball flies off to the right
at nearly a 90° angle, embarrassing the golfer and endangering
his or her fellow players. Duffers who consistently shank their
balls are urged to buy and study Shanks-No Thanks by R. K. Hoffman
or, in extreme cases, M. S. Howard's excellent Tennis for Beginners.
Shape it
To curve a shot intentionally to fit the hole. Corey Pavin is
the absolute best at this. Shooting
the lights out Hitting all the shots and making low scores. Short Game
- The short shots played around the green (chips, putts, pitches
and sand trap blasts) and the cheap shots taken between the green
and the next tee (quips, digs, cracks, slams and jests). Short grass
Where you are when you hit the fairway with your drive. Short hole
Term used to describe any par three. Short stick
The putter, so named because it's the shortest club in
the bag. You can make up for a lot of bad work with other sticks
if you can handle the short stick. Shotgun
start Some tournaments station players on each tee to start
a round so that they can all finish at roughly the same time. This
is called a shotgun start because the beginning of play was
once signalled by a shotgun blast. Now they use a horn to
signal the beginning of play—it's a lot safer. Side Each
nine holes—front and back. Also each team in a competition. Sitter Term
for a ball sitting atop the grass in the rough. Pray for
a sitter when you see your tee shot heading for trouble. Skull
- To hit the upper part of the ball, causing a fast, low driving
shot. You might try hitting slightly more under the ball with a
sweeping movement of the arms. Sky -
To hit too far under the ball, causing a high, ballooning shot.
You might try using your hands to open up the clubface a bit. Slam-dunk
To hit the ball into the hole with great force. This usually
happens when a putt or chip that is moving much faster than the
ideal speed slams into the back of the cup, pops into the air, and
falls into the hole. Slice
- To hit the ball with too open a clubface. You might try closing
it up a little. Slice A
shot that curves to the right. The most common fault of amateur
golfers, generally caused by an open club face at impact. Slick Term
used to describe fast greens. Slider A
putt that breaks slightly and subtly in either direction. Also a
low, hard left-to-right shot. Fred Couples hits lots of sliders
off the tee. Smile Balls
that are skulled or otherwise mishit often wind up with a
cut on their surface that resembles a smile, though you won't
be smiling as you reach into your bag for another ball. Smoked Term
for a ball that is hit hard and far. Smother
- To hit the ball with too closed a clubface. You might try opening
it back up and hitting more on the upper part of the ball. Smother hook
A hook that flies left and low to the ground, though
only for a short distance; it is struck with a severely closed club
face. Snake A
long putt that breaks in more than one direction. One of the most
famous snakes ever holed was a sixty-footer by Ben Crenshaw
on the tenth hole at Augusta National Golf Club during the 1984
Masters Tournament. Snap hook
See duck hook and rope hook. Sniper See
duck hook, rope hook, and snap hook, all names for
the same crummy shot. Snowman
A score of eight for a hole, so named because the digit resembles
a snowman. Also called lots of unprintable names. (See also
Frosty.,) Sock
- To hit someone under the chin or on the lower part of the face
with a closed hand driven by a fast, upward-sweeping movement of
the arm. Spin
- Professional golfers and other accomplished players can apply
a variety of spins to the ball to make it curve around obstacles,
turn into the wind or stop dead where it lands. These shots take
skill and practice, but most beginners have a bag of tricks, too!
For example, even the rankest of amateurs can amaze their playing
companions and themselves by making a ball run right across the
centre of the hole without going in, rise straight up into the air,
execute unbelievably sharp left or right turns, travel sideways
or even backwards, or disappear entirely. Spinach The
roughest of the rough. When you were a kid, you hated spinach
for the taste. Now, as a mature, open-minded adult golfer, you
hate spinach because you can't play a decent shot out of
the stuff. (See also cabbage.} Spraying
Term that means your shot pattern is all over the place and
your misses are about as predictable as the weather. Stake it
To knock the ball really close to the hole (stake). (See
also leaner.) Stance
- The proper positioning of the feet for the golf stroke may seem
a fairly complex matter, but there are really only a few basics
to master: just remember to put the clubhead behind the ball with
your left hand on the grip (some say the right hand), then step
forward with your right foot (some say the left foot), bring up
your left foot (or right) and grasp the grip with your right hand
(or left). Now line up the ball with your left heel, your left toe,
the inside of your left foot, or between your feet, with the left
foot slightly forward, the right foot slightly forward, or both
feet parallel. That's all there is to it! Stand on
it What you do when you swing your hardest, to get maximum distance
out of a club. Stick Short
for flagstick Also, a shot that hits and stops quickly is said to
stick to the green. Sticks Your
clubs. When your tee shot lands near the hole, your competitor might
ask, "What stick did you use?" Then you hold up
five fingers to identify the three iron you just hit. Stiff Term
used to describe a ball hit very close to the hole. Also, when a
club shaft has very little bend, it is a stiff shaft. And
when you don't tip your caddie after the round, you stiff him. Stoney When
a golfer knocks the ball to within gimme range, it is stone
dead, or stoney. Stop the
bleeding Finally to make a par or birdie after several less
than stellar holes. Strait Jacket
- Confining garment that some golfers have found to be necessary
after long periods spent attempting to master the stance. Striped it
To hit a good tee shot. Stroke
- Any forward movement of the club that is made with the intention
of hitting and moving the ball and is observed by another golfer. Stymie
- A ball whose path to the hole is blocked by another ball is said
to be "stymied," and under current rules the impeding
ball is marked and moved. At one time, such shots had to be played
by making the ball hop over or curve around the impediment, but
a notorious, deliberately laid stymie during extra holes of the
1951 English Amateur Championship led to a modification of the rule,
first in Britain and then, a little later, in the U.S. Other important
rule changes and the circumstances under which they were made: LIMIT SET ON
TIME SPENT SEARCHING FOR LOST BALL: "The Lang, Lang Combing
of the Glen," 14th hole, Loath Links, October 11, 1871-April
8, 1872 UNORTHODOX SWINGS
AND CLUBS DISALLOWED: Lacrosse player Francois Foisette wins the
Canadian Open, 1899 "ELIGIBLE
PLAYER" MORE FULLY DEFINED: Kabu, a chimpanzee, wins the Calcutta
Open, 1901 PLAY STRICTLY
PROHIBITED FROM LIES BEYOND THE BOUNDARY of A COURSE: "The
Mashie Incident," British-Chinese border skirmish, Hong Kong,
1909 FOURTEEN-CLUB
MAXIMUM ESTABLISHED: "Relatively Bloody Saturday," the
Caddy Strike of 1926 DISCONTINUANCE
OF TOURNAMENT PLAY PERMITTED: "The Battle of the Glorious Leg-of-the-Dog
15th," third round of the Spanish Open, Valencia, 1937 BALL REMOVED
FROM COURSE BY DOG DECLARED UNPLAYABLE: A.S.P. C.A. v. U.S.P G.A.,
31. U.S. 564, 1948 PENALTY FOR
ACCIDENTALLY KNOCKING BALL OFF TEE Executive Order #l, President
Gerald Ford, 1974 Sudden Death
- Term for the situation that exists when a match is tied at the
end of 18 holes and the player who feels the least amount of confidence
about beating the opposition in extra-holes play suddenly remembers
the death, earlier in the day, of a beloved aunt. Suck back
A ball that hits the green and then reverses direction due to
backspin is said to have sucked back. As far as amateur golfers
are concerned, this phrase is useful only as a spectator, since
amateurs rarely generate enough back-spin to get a ball to suck
back. Sucker pin
A pin that is cut so close to a hazard that only a sucker
would fire right at it. Swing
- A full golf swing consists of the backswing that carries the clubhead
up to the topswing point, the downswing that brings the clubhead
to the point of impact, and the follow through. If the ball dribbles
a few feet forward or hooks or slices violently into the woods or
rough, the follow-through can be extended into the foresling-a graceful,
lateral motion that sends the club spiraling into the underbrush.
Alternatively, the follow-through may be stopped and the club brought
up sharply in a vertical arc until the clubhead is behind the back,
pointing at the ground, then swept smoothly up into the more classic
topfling, which combines the power and accuracy necessary to send
even the heaviest club into a distant water hazard. Swing doctor
A teaching professional. Consult with caution; often the cure
is worse than the disease. |