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		Ace: A ball hit directly from the tee into the hole on a single shot by a golfer playing alone. ========================================================================================== All Square: A term used in match play to indicate that both teams or individuals have cheated on an equal number of holes. ========================================================================================== Apron: Fringe of low grass, or "frog hair" surrounding the green from which a tricky, easily flubbed shot that is half pitch and half putt is made. ========================================================================================== Away: The player whose ball lies farthest from the hole is "away" and is required by the rules of golf to make the first shot. If, after the stroke is taken, the ball still lies farthest from the hole, the rules permit the player to kick the first bag and throw the first club. ========================================================================================== Back Door: The side of the cup opposite the position of a player's ball on the green. Sometimes a putt will curve around the cup and enter by the "back door." Of course, on other occasions, it may choose to wait politely on the "back steps," sit down for a smoke on the "back porch," or go for a nice long walk in the "back yard.". ========================================================================================== Back Swing: The part of the swing that takes place after the ball has been improperly addressed but before it has been sent to the wrong destination. ========================================================================================== Ball: A dimpled, rubber-covered, solid or composite cored, high-compression sphere with a weight of 1.62 ounces and a diameter of 1.68 inches that will enter a cup 4.25 inches in diameter and 4.0 inches deep after an average of 3.87 putts. ========================================================================================== Break: 1. The shifting or changing of the direction of a putt caused by the slope or slant of a green. 2. The splitting or shattering of the shaft of a putter caused by the rage or wrath of a player. Caddy: Individual who carries bags for golfers and assists them in the playing of the course. Ideally, a caddy should possess the eyes of a big-game hunter, the strength of a linebacker, the patience of a diplomat and the memory of a mafia witness. ========================================================================================== Caddy: Individual who carries bags for golfers and assists them in the playing of the course. Ideally, a caddy should possess the eyes of a big-game hunter, the strength of a linebacker, the patience of a diplomat and the memory of a mafia witness. ========================================================================================== Casual Water: A temporary accumulation of water. The rules of golf provide that a ball may be moved without penalty from any nonpermanent wet area, such as a rain puddle. Tears, however, no matter how copious, do not constitute casual water. ========================================================================================== Chip Shot: A short, low approach shot that gets a player into position for one or more missed putts.. ========================================================================================== Cup: The metal or plastic cylinder fitted into the hole in the green. Strictly speaking, it is only the liner of the hole, but in regular golf usage, players will often say "cup" when they mean "hole," just as they frequently will say "just in bounds" when they mean "out of bounds," "Oh, here it is" when they mean "I can't find it" and "five" when they mean "seven.". ========================================================================================== Drive: The initial shot on each hole, made with a special wood, the driver, on par 4 and par 5 holes, and with shorter woods or irons on par 3 holes. Because the drive is so critical to the play of the hole, total concentration is essential, and thus, if the shot is spoiled because of some audible disturbance inadvertently caused by another player on the tee, such as a pair of shoelace tips clicking together or the wind whistling through an onlooker's eyelashes, it is customery to take the shot over. See Mulligan. ========================================================================================== Driving Range: A place where golfers go to get all the good shots out of their systems. ========================================================================================== Dropping a Ball: A recent rule change does away with the old requirements that players introducing a ball to replace one that is lost do so by dropping it over their shoulder and behind their back. Players may now drop it at arm's length in any direction they choose. Of course, as before, a penalty stroke is assessed. This rule change does not affect clandestine ball drops, which are still made from the bottom edge of the pants pocket with the thumb and first two fingers of one hand while idly swinging a club with the other. And, it goes without saying, there is still no penalty for such drops. ========================================================================================== Eagle: Unusually low score achieved by a golfer with an exceptionally good drive and one or two exceptionally good follow-up shots, or by a golfer with an exceptionally poor memory! ========================================================================================== Equipment: According to the rules of golf, equipment is "anything that can be thrown, broken, kicked, twisted, torn, crushed, shredded or mangled; or propelled, driven or directed either under its own power or by means of a transfer of momentum, into underbrush, trees or other overgrown terrain; or over the edge of a natural or artificially elevated area; or below the surface of any body of water, whether moving or impounded." ========================================================================================== Etiquette: The rules of behavior in golf. There isn't room here for a complete list, but a few of the more important ones are: > Never put tees in your nose. > Never sneeze into your glove. > Never concede a chip shot. > Never hold a ball for another player to hit. > Never practice drives against a backboard. > Never wear golf shoes to a dance. ====================================================================================== Flagstick: Long, flexible metal pole with a numbered flag at its top, which, had it not been left lying on the green by the previous foursome, would have indicated the position of the hole. ========================================================================================= Flub: A shot that is too weak to register on conventional score-keeping equipment. ========================================================================================= Fluff: A shot in which the clubhead strikes the ground behind the ball before hitting it, causing it to dribble forward one or two yards. A more widely used term for this type of stroke is 'practice swing.' See WHIFF. ========================================================================================= Follow-through: The part of the swing that takes place after the ball has been hit but before the club has been thrown. ========================================================================================= Fore: The first of several four-letter words exchanged between golfers as one group of players hits balls toward another in front of them on the course. ========================================================================================= Four-putt: To take four strokes of the putter to put the ball into the hole after driving it onto the green. See ONE-PUTT. ========================================================================================= Foursome: Four golfers playing a round together. Three golfers are a threesome, and two form a twosome. Four ladies playing slowly are a "gruesome." Four men playing after a long lunch at the 19th hole are a "fearsome." A single attractive woman playing alone is a "toothsome." A husband and wife playing together are a "quarrelsome." A group of golfers who give advice while watching another group tee off is a "meddlesome." A single player whith a large number of old jokes is a "tiresome." And two younger men playing a fast, sub-par round are a "loathsome." =========================================================================================