BIP, BIPSIC and BIPmobile (Golf Slang)

BIP is an acronym that has a couple uses in golf, all of them slang terms for a golfer who is not doing well. But what is the specific meaning of the B, the I and the P?

The acronym "BIP" stands for "ball in pocket." The term BIP is applied to a golfer who has picked up on a hole — stopped playing that hole because he was doing so poorly on the hole. Barry just hooked a drive into the trees, took three hacks at it to get it back in the fairway, then fatted his next shot, so he picked up. "Barry just went BIP," or "hey, look at Barry the BIP," his buddies might tease. Because Barry picked up his golf ball and put it in his pocket.

A golfer who hits long drives is the Big Bopper; one who picks up on a lot of holes without returning a score is the Big BIPper. A golfer in a team match whose partner BIPs the hole has to "win one for the BIPper."

The state of BIPping is going BIPSIC. That stands for "ball in pocket, sulking in cart." Barry BIPped the 10th hole, picked up and headed back to the cart. While his buddies continue playing the hole, he's off sitting in the cart, sulking over his lousy play. Barry is now BIPSIC.

Which brings us to the BIPmobile. You can probably guess from the meaning of BIPSIC what the BIPmobile is: It's the golf cart that a BIP golfer is riding in. Or it can refer to a push cart or motorized bag cart the BIPper is using.

Needless to say, no golfer wants to be the BIP. But all of us, at one time or another, have BIPped a hole and, probably, BIPSICked afterward.

These three slang acronyms, by the way, are featured in the book Let the Big Dog Eat! A Dictionary of the Secret Language of Golf (Amazon link), which is full of such slang terms.