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Glossary of Golf Betting Terms

Ace: See Hole-in-One.

Albatross: This is a British golfing term, used when a golfer successfully plays a hole in three strokes under the par for that hole. In America, the term Double eagle is generally used for this instead of albatross.

Birdie: This is a golfing term used when a golfer successfully plays a hole in one stroke under the par for that hole.

Bogey: A golfing term used when a golfer does not successfully play a hole until he has taken one stroke over par for that hole.

Cut: 1. In a golf tournament, the term cut is used to describe the process in which the field is narrowed down by eliminating golfers in the bottom part of the scoreboard who are below the cut line. Tournaments can make more than one cut, but usually there is a cut at the halfway point of the competition. Some bookmakers offer you the chance to bet on which players will “make the cut” i.e. progress to the next stage of a specific tournament.

2. The term cut can also refer to a type of golf shot in which the golfer makes the ball curve during its flight. This is often done in order to avoid an obstacle, such as overhanging tree branches.

Cut Line: In golf tournaments, when a cut is to be made, the division between the golfers who will continue on to the next stage of the competition and those who will not is made according to where they are placed in relation to the cut line. The cut line is not decided until the tournament begins and can change as the competition progresses. The cut line may be determined, for example, by stating that those golfers within the first 50 places and all golfers who come within a stated number of points of the tournament leader will make the cut. Therefore, the cut line may alter if too many or too few of the players seem likely to make the cut once play has started.

Dormie: This is a term used to describe a match play match when one of the players (or teams) has a larger advantage over his opponent (or their opponenents) than there are holes left to play, meaning that the opposing player (or team) can only tie at best. For example, if a golfer is up by 5 holes and there are only five holes remaining, the player is said to have “taken the match dormie” or be “dormie-five”. The match is declared to “have gone dormie”.

Double Bogey: A golfing term used when a golfer does not successfully play a hole until he has taken two strokes over par for that hole.

Double Eagle: This is a golfing term used when a golfer successfully plays a hole in three strokes under the par for that hole. In Britain, the term albatross is sometimes used for this instead of double eagle.

Eagle: This is a golfing term used when a golfer successfully plays a hole in two strokes under the par for that hole.

Fairway: This refers to the area of the golf course that lies between the tee and the green. This is the area that golfers usually initially aim for as the grass is kept very short and therefore it is easier to hit the ball from the fairway than it is from the rough.

Fourballs: Fourballs is a type of golf match in which two teams of two golfers play against each other. Each golfer plays every hole on the course, and the lowest score of each team is taken as the team's score for that hole.

Foursomes: Foursomes is a type of golf match in which two teams of two golfers play against each other, but team members play alternate holes or shots rather than each playing each hole as happens in a fourballs match.

Green: Although this term is sometimes used to refer to the whole golf course, it is more popularly used to refer to the area around the hole itself, which consists of extremely finely trimmed grass in order to make it suitable for putting. It is also known as the putting green.

Hole-in-one: This is a golfing term used when a golfer successfully plays a hole in only one stroke.

Links course: Although the term “links” is often used to refer to any golf course, it actually relates to a specific type of golf course. Links courses are usually found by the sea, and tend to be sandy, with tall grass in the rough and less grass on the actual course than other types of golf course. They also tend to be more exposed, leading to additional challenges for golfers due to the wind, and as they are natural rather than man-made, so golfers have to be ready to deal with unexpected bumps and slopes on the course that will affect play. One of the most famous links courses is St. Andrews in Scotland.

LPGA Ladies Professional Golf Association.

Match Play: This is a way of playing golf in which each hole is treated as an individual competition when it comes to scoring. Players aim to win more holes than their opponent. The other way of playing golf is stroke play.

Par: Both individual holes and courses are given a par, which represents the number of strokes in which a golfer should be able to complete that hole or course. The par always consists of two putts plus the number of strokes that the golfer is expected to take in order to reach the green. For example, a golfer should be able to complete a par-4 hole by reaching the green in two strokes and then taking two putts in order to complete the hole. If he needs to take an extra stroke than this he is said to be over-par, and if he needs less strokes than this he is said to be under-par.

Putting Green: See green.

PGA Professional Golfers' Association: Individual countries have their own PGA.

Rough: This refers to the areas of long grass that run alongside the fairway. Golfers try and aim their shots to ensure that the ball lands on the fairway rather than in the rough, because it is more difficult to make clean contact with a ball when playing from the rough.

Round: The term round refers to the completion of all the holes on a golf course (usually 18-holes). Golf tournaments usually consist of several rounds. For example, a 72-hole tournament will be made up of four rounds of 18-holes (often played over four days).

Stroke Play: This is a way of playing golf in which scoring is based on a player's performance over the whole course rather than on each individual hole. The player's score reflects how many strokes he has taken in total to complete the course. The other way of playing golf is known as match play.

Three Ball Bet: This is a type of golfing bet. In tournaments, players go out to play in groups of two, three or four. If they go out in groups of three, you can make a three-ball bet, in which you bet on one player to beat the two other players in a specified round.

Triple Bogie: A golfing term used when a golfer does not successfully play a hole until he has taken three strokes over par for that hole.

Two Ball Bet: This is one of the most popular types of golfing bet. In tournaments, players go out to play in groups of two, three or four. If they go out in groups of two, you can make a two-ball bet, in which you bet on one player to beat the other player in a specified round.

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