Golf Compendium

The record-low final score in the Senior British Open is 263. That score has, so far, been posted by two golfers in the tournament's history. Unfortunately for one of those golfers, he lost a playoff to the other one.

If you make a score in golf known as a "platypus," well, you've earned it. A platypus is one of the rarer scores in golf for recreational players.

In golf, "paces" (or singular, pace) are sometimes used as measurements. If you are watching a golf tournament on television, for example, you might hear a commentator say that "the hole is cut just four paces from the left edge of the green." But what, exactly is a pace? Just how long are golf paces?

Simon Hobday was a golfer who played on the African and European tours in the 1970s and 1980s, and those years included multiple tournament victories. But his greatest fame came on the Senior PGA Tour where, in the 1990s, he won a U.S. Senior Open. He was a very popular player with peers and fans alike for his wit and offbeat character.

"Out-In-Total" is the name for a type of golf match that is really three matches in one. It is usually played by two golfers going head-to-head, but it can also be played by a group of four golfers pairing off for 2-vs.-2 team play.

Do you know what a "Dolly Parton" is in golf? It's a specific score on a hole. But, despite Parton herself being wonderful, a Dolly Parton golf score is one you don't want to make.

"Off the deck" is a bit of golf slang that refers to hitting a golf ball off the ground, as opposed to off a tee. Since teeing the ball is only allowed on the teeing area, most shots in golf are played "off the deck." But this golf lingo is really only used in two specific instances:

"Fizzo" and "FISA" are two slang terms used by some golfers that mean the same thing. And that meaning implies that a golfer needs to work or her putting.

Jimmy Hitchcock was an English golfer who played on the British and European circuits from the mid-1950s into the early 1970s. Never a big winner, he did claim a couple of important titles. His biggest claim to fame is playing in the Ryder Cup.