Irreverent Golf Glossary -Parts of the Course #2

Let us continue on our journey around the course…

• Out of bounds – this is an area (usually somebody’s backyard) where you’re not supposed to hit your ball. If you see white stakes on the golf course that means that any ball that lies beyond those stakes is considered to be unplayable and you are assessed a penalty stroke. How rude! If someone chooses to live on a golf course then they should expect all that comes with it…like hackers, errr, I mean golfers tearing up their yard while trying to play their shot that landed in the backyard landscape. In fact, it would be nice to offer the golfer a beverage whilst they are on the property. Just a thought!

• Somebody’s backyard - see the aforementioned term

Golf Ball in the Water Hazard

• Hazard areas – the golf architect’s idea of a cruel joke. Hazards come in different forms, i.e. water and sand (a.ka. bunkers, sand traps). I have already mentioned that they are strategically placed so that your ball finds its way into them as often as possible. On a hot day the water hazards are even more inviting so pack your scuba gear. You’d be amazed at what lies beneath those murky waters!!

• Drop area – this is a marked area on the course where you are allowed to go to play the next shot after your ball has found its way into the ‘drink’. It’s kind of like a ‘time-out’ area for golfers. When you are hitting from a drop area EVERYONE knows you did a ‘bad’ thing…you let your ball get wet.

• Ground under repair – an area that is marked on the course around ground that obviously has been damaged or recently repaired but not yet deemed playable. You are provided relief from hitting your ball in one of these specially marked areas without penalty. How nice! By the time I am finished with a round of golf the whole course should be deemed ‘under repair’!! I have re-sodded my yard multiple times with the chunks I take when I swing….not really….err, at least, not all of the time!

• Green side bunker – remember the fairway bunker? This is the same sandy pit nonsense except that it sits close to the green not the fairway. I love these bunkers.

Greenside Bunker

I can splash sand onto the green like the best of golfers. I just typically have to do it 3 or 4 times before I actually get the ball of the bunker and onto the green. Where’s my pina colada?? What kind of beach is this anyway??

Here’s a good place to stop for a while. It can be exhausting getting out of the bunker. So catch your breath and come back to Ladies on the Tee Golf Blog at www.sherrytabb.com for the last segment of terms for ‘parts of the course’.

Tags: drop area, flagstick, golf course, golf glossary, golf terms, green, greenside bunker, hazards, out of bounds