Golf Compendium

What is a "bail-out area" on a golf course? First, let's explain what a "bail out" or "bail-out shot" is: Those terms refer to, for example, when a golfer plays well to the left because there is trouble on the right side of the hole. A "bail-out area" is a part of a golf hole that is specifically designed to provide the option of playing away from trouble.

The Bob Jones Award is presented annually by the United States Golf Association and is the USGA's highest award. It is given to an individual "who demonstrates the spirit, personal character and respect for the game exhibited by Jones." That would be Bobby Jones, of course.

The Founders Award is handed out annually by the LPGA Tour to one its golfers who, in the estimation of her peers, exemplifies "the spirit, ideals and values of the LPGA."

The Glens Falls Open was a pro golf tournament, now classified as a PGA Tour event, played in New York eleven times, mostly in the 1930s.

If you're anything more than an infrequent recreational golfer, you've probably, at some point, visited a driving range that requires golfers to hit off artificial turf mats rather than real grass. And you might have heard that hitting shots off golf mats rather than real grass can change the specs of your irons — specifically loft and lie. Is that true?

Walter Burkemo was a major championship winner in golf, but also the answer to a trivia question: In 1953, when Ben Hogan won three of the four majors, who won the fourth?

When a group of golfers is playing a hole, "order of play" is ruled by the concept of "away": The golfer who is away — meaning her golf ball is farthest from the hole — plays first. For much of golf's history, this order of play was either enforced in the rules (for match play) or through the dictates of golf etiquette (stroke play). What about today? Is it a penalty to play out of order — for a golfer to play out of turn — when playing a hole?

Sometimes golfers who are interested in the game's history or the origins of the game's clubs run across the term "grass club." Grass club was an early term for the earliest versions of the clubs that we now call drivers.

The LPGA's rookie of the year award was first handed out in 1962. Today, its official title is Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year. Not surprisingly, the list of winners belows includes some very big names — including a double-digit number of LPGA rookies of the year who went on to earn Hall of Fame membership.