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Golf slang, explained
Golf has a second language that nobody teaches: the words your playing partners use for your shots, your luck and your excuses. Here they are, with what each one means and, where it names a miss, what to do about it.
By Morris, by Badgie Golf · Updated
Slang
What golfers say on the course that no rulebook explains.
- Army golf
- Left, right, left, right: a hole played zigzagging across the fairway.
- Banana ball
- A huge slice, shaped like the fruit: starts left and bends right all the way into the trees.
- Cabbage (spinach)
- Deep, thick rough that swallows the ball and the club: take your medicine and get it back to the fairway.
- Chili dip
- A chip hit so fat that the ball barely moves while the club takes a divot.
- Duck hook (snap hook)
- A low, violent hook that dives left immediately. The miss of a strong player who over-rotates the face.
- Foot wedge
- Kicking the ball to a better lie. A penalty in the Rules and a joke everywhere else.
- Fore!
- The shout that warns someone a ball is heading their way. Shout it early and loud; nobody minds a false alarm.
- Fried egg
- A ball half buried in its own crater in a bunker, after landing in soft sand.
- Grinding
- Fighting hard for every stroke on a day when the swing is not there. The most useful skill in golf.
- Hacker (duffer)
- A poor golfer, said with affection or not. Every good player was one.
- Jail
- A spot, usually in trees, from which there is no shot at the green.
- Lumberjack
- A player who spends the round among the trees.
- Mulligan
- A do-over of a bad shot, usually the first tee shot, allowed among friends and nowhere in the Rules.
- Pin high (hole high)
- A shot that finishes level with the flag, left or right of it: the distance was right.
- Sandbagger
- A player whose handicap is higher than their game, who wins net competitions too often. The WHS has caps and reviews for a reason.
- Snowman
- An 8 on a hole, from the shape of the number on the card.
- Stiff (to the flag)
- A shot that finishes very close to the hole. Also a shaft flex, which confuses nobody on the course.
- Tap-in
- A putt so short it needs only a tap. Still a stroke, and still missed more often than anyone admits.
- The 19th hole
- The clubhouse bar, where the round is replayed shot by shot.
- The dance floor
- The green. 'On the dance floor but not close enough to hear the band' is on the green, far from the hole.
- The turn
- The point between the 9th green and the 10th tee. 'Making the turn' is finishing the front nine.
- The yips
- An involuntary twitch on short putts or chips that no amount of practice seems to fix. Real, and researched.
- Velcro greens
- Slow, sticky greens on which putts pull up short.
- Worm burner
- A shot that never gets off the ground and skims along the grass.
The slang that names a miss
Half the slang is for shots that went wrong, and the words are useful because they point at a cause. A worm burner or a top is a low point too high: the club reaches the ball on the way up. A chili dip or a fat shot is a low point too far back: the club reaches the ground before the ball. A banana ball is the face open to the path; a duck hook is the face closed. A sky is a driver teed too high or a swing too steep. Name it and you know which drill to do; the swing analyzer finds the cause on video.
Where the slang meets the Rules
A mulligan, a gimme and a foot wedge are fine on a Saturday with friends and penalties on a card. The Rules know none of them: the ball is played as it lies, every putt is holed in stroke play, and a kick is a stroke plus a penalty. Agree before the round which of the three your group allows, and keep them off the handicap cards. The proper words are on the golf terms page.
Sources
- The R&A — Rules of Golf — Where the slang meets the rules: no mulligans, no foot wedges, play the ball as it lies. Read 9 October 2026.
Slang questions
What does 'fore' mean in golf?
A warning shout that a ball is heading towards someone. Shout it the moment you see the ball going that way, loud, in the direction of the people. Nobody minds a false alarm; everybody minds a ball to the head.
What is a mulligan?
A do-over of a bad shot, usually the first tee shot, allowed among friends and nowhere in the Rules. In a competition there are no mulligans; the ball is in play where it lies.
What is a sandbagger?
A golfer whose handicap is higher than their real ability, who wins net competitions too often. The World Handicap System has caps and committee reviews to limit it.
What are the yips?
An involuntary twitch or freeze on short putts and chips. Real, studied, and not a character flaw; changes of grip, routine and putter have helped many players.
What is a snowman in golf?
An 8 on a hole, from the shape of the number on the card. A 'double snowman' is an 88 for the round.
Keep reading
All of Golf TermsGolf etiquette: the Rules and the habits
Rule 1.2, 5.6 and 6.4b as the Rules state them, then safety, pace, the course, the green and the people in the order that matters, and your first round at a new club.
Golf terms, in player words
The glossary: scoring, the course, shots, clubs, rules, formats and slang, every term an anchor, searchable, with the origins where a source says so.
Birdie, eagle, albatross, bogey, par
What each score is called, what it is worth in Stableford, and where the words really come from, in date order.
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