PAR Life Skills Lesson 10: Know Your Golf Terms
Hello! This is our last lesson in the PAR certification series. If you have been following along
with me, after completing this worksheet, you will be ready to take your PAR certification
written assessment.
Our PAR lessons have taken you through The First Tee Code of Conduct, Exploring the Game,
and Respecting the Rules. We went on to our PAR Life Skills portion which has included:
Meeting Someone New, Meeting and Greeting use A-L-R, The Three Tips for Having Fun, Staying
Cool with the 4Rs, and Finding Your Personal Par. You should have a completed worksheet for
each of these lessons that you will turn in at the time you take your written assessment. If you
missed one, you can click on the link at the very bottom of this page and it will take you to a
complete list of the worksheets. With April just around the corner, this is a great time to get
this Series completed.
Today, I'd like to go over some of the "Golf Language", or golf terms that you will need to
know.
What are Golf Terms?
The game of golf has many terms that you may have heard hundreds of time, but they have a
completely different meaning on the golf course.
There are also terms in our game that are unique to golf, and you may not have heard them
before.
I'd like to make sure you know some of the more basic terms so that you will feel more
comfortable around golfers when they use them.
Know Your Golf Terms
If someone says, "Meet you at the tee box", will you look for a box of tees?
If someone says, "Wow, you hit that one out of bounds", is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Let's make sure we know our terms:
Approach shot​: The shot you play to get your ball to the putting green
Ballmark​: The little hollow spot that a ball leaves when it lands on the green - and that you fix
immediately.
Chip shot​: A short, low shot you want to land on the green and roll towards the hole
FORE​: A warning shouted to alert other PLAYers that you have hit a ball towards them
Hazards​: An area on the course that creates challenges for golfers and includes sand bunkers,
lakes, and creeks.
Lie​: The condition of the spot where the ball is sitting.
Lost Ball:​ A ball that is not found or identified as his/hers by the player within five minutes
after starting to look for it.
Match Play:​ When the game of golf is scored by holes rather than strokes.
Out of Bounds​: An area, marked by white stakes, declared to be off the golf course and results
in a penalty
Pace of Play: ​Being ready to play when it’s your turn. Keeping up with the group in front of
you.
Penalty Stroke​: A stroke to be added to the score as a result of a Rules violation
Pitch shot​: A high shot played to the green having little or no roll.
Provisional Ball:​ A ball played for a ball that may be lost outside of a water hazard or may be
out of bounds.
Tee Box​: The starting point of every hole.
Water Hazard - ​A hazard on the golf course usually filled with water (but not always) this is
marked with either yellow or red.