Golf Compendium

Edith Cummings was a Jazz Age golfer who acquired the nickname "The Fairway Flapper" because of her love of parties, dancing and drinking. She got famous as a golfer — winning a U.S. Women's Amateur Championship in the 1920s — only after she was already famous as a socialite. She inspired a character in The Great Gatsby and was the first golfer ever to appear on the cover of Time magazine.

The Daily Mail Tournament was a men's professional golf tournament played in the U.K. from the 1910s until the 1950s, although with two gaps in its history. It was at various times among the leading tournaments in Europe, and was named after the newspaper that sponsored the tournament.

The term "water ball" is used by golfers to refer to a golf ball they or someone else hit into the water; a cheaper or less pristine golf ball that you substitute for a better ball just before attempting to clear a body of water; or someone else's golf ball that you have retrieved from the water for your own use.

Various Pars is the name of a golf format most associated with golf association playdays, golf league tournaments and the like. In Various Pars you (or your team) play 18 holes, but only nine of your scores count for your final score. Which holes? Holes of ... various pars.

Buck White was a golf professional who played PGA Tour events in the 1940s and 1950s, and even won three of them. He also set a senior golf record that stood for more than 50 years.

Brigitte Varangot was a French golfer who was one of the best women golfers in Europe in the 1960s. Because there was no professional golf tour for women in Europe at that time, Varangot played as an amateur. And she won many titles in her native France, plus in the U.K., including the biggest title available to European women golfers at that time, the British Women's Amateur Championship.

The term "short irons" is one that most golfers apply to the 8-iron, 9-iron and pitching wedge, collectively. Those three golf clubs are grouped together as "the short irons."

The British Women's Amateur Championship is one of two "amateur majors" of women's golf, along with the U.S. Women's Amateur. It is played annually and is a match play tournament.

You win a major championship, and that's a great thing. But then you follow it up in the next tour event with another win. A major victory followed by a "regular" win. How many times has it happened on the LPGA Tour?

What is a member-guest tournament in golf? It is a golf tournament in which a member — of a private golf club, of a golf organization or association — invites a non-member to be his or her partner in a two-person tournament.

Have you ever heard of a golf game called The Bear? The Bear involves two bets, one that covers the front nine, and another that covers the back nine. The object of the game is to capture the bear — which is done by winning a hole — and to hold it at the end of the nine.

The term "long irons" is traditionally applied to the 1-iron, 2-iron, 3-iron and 4-iron, as a group. Today, nearly all golfers use only the 3-iron and 4-iron from the long irons group, and many golfers don't even use the 3-iron anymore. In fact, some golfers no longer carry any long irons, for reasons we'll get into.

This all-time record is for the lowest back-to-back rounds in the history of the Champions Tour — the lowest score in consecutive rounds within the same PGA Tour Champions tournament.

Jamie Anderson was a Scottish golf professional of the 19th century who was the second golfer ever to win the British Open three consecutive years. One of his victories was helped along by an ace on the second-to-last hole. He also was a friend of and frequently formed a formidaly playing partnership with Young Tom Morris.

The all-time PGA Tour record we are looking at today is the lowest score for 54 holes, meaning three consecutive rounds. That could be the first three rounds of a 72-hole (four round) tournament, or the last three rounds of a tournament.

Who is the oldest winner in U.S. Open golf tournament history? The answer to that question is: Hale Irwin. Below we take a look at Irwin's late-career triumph, as well as the list of other oldest U.S. Open champions.

Some golf clubs and golf associations play what they call sundowner tournaments, or hold sundowner leagues. What does that mean — just what is a "sundowner"? "Sundowner" refers to the time of day: late afternoon. So a golf tournament or league that is called a sundowner is simply one that takes place in the late afternoon.

The Carling Open was a 72-hole, stroke play golf tournament on the PGA Tour from the early 1950s through the mid-1960s.

Maybe you are watching a golf broadcast on television and hear an announcer say that one of the golfers "weakened his lofts." Or, during a round of golf with a friend, your buddy pipes up at one points and says, "you might need weaker lofts." What do those terms mean? The short answer:

A traditional set of golf irons is either an 8-piece or 9-piece set, and the irons that are call mid-irons are found, unsurprisingly, right in the middle of that set of irons. Most golfers still think of mid-irons as being the 5-iron, 6-iron and 7-iron, collectively.

Bo Wininger was a winner on the PGA Tour in the 1950s and 1960s, with a break to work in public relations in-between. He was known during his time for his dapper manner and his penchant for wracking up second-place finishes. And although he wasn't a huge winner on tour, he was well-known enough to land a guest starring role on Lucille Ball's sitcom.

How many golfers in LPGA Tour history have won a "regular" tournament one week, and then a major championship the next week? Below you'll find the full list of such occurrences on the LPGA. And some golfers did it more than once.

In the history of the U.S. Open, only one golfer younger than 20 has won the tournament, and only nine golfers younger than 22 have won the tournament. That's what we'll take a look at here: the youngest champions ever in this major championship.

You hear an announcer during a golf broadcast say that a tour player "strengthened her lofts by one degree recently," or a buddy tells you during a round of golf, "you might need stronger lofts." What do those terms mean? The short answer:

Guy Wolstenholme was a British golfer who later became associated with Australia. Following a strong amateur career that began in the 1950s, Wolstenholme won pro golf tournaments around the world from the 1960s into the 1980s.

The West End Tournament was a golf tournament played in Australia from the early 1960s into the mid-1970s. It was part of the men's circuit in Australia at the time.

How many times in PGA Tour history has a golfer won a major championship and then followed it up with a "regular" win the following week? Since 1934, it has happened 11 times.

Carolyn Cudone was a lifelong amateur golfer who won many regional tournaments in the 1950s and 1960s. But it was as a senior golfer she really shone, winning one USGA championship a record five consecutive times — the only golfer in USGA history to do that.

The Players Championship, run by the PGA Tour, is often called " the fifth major " to denote its status as the fifth-most-important tournament on the PGA Tour (after only the four actual majors). The Senior Players Championship, run by the Champions Tour, really is a major, one of the five majors of men's senior professional golf. Have any golfers won both these prestigious tournaments?

The Senior Players Championship is the Champions Tour's version of the PGA Tour's Players Championship. (In fact, the winner of the Senior Players gets into the field at Players.) It is also one of the major championships of men's senior (50-and-over) professional golf.

"Whack and Hack" is the name of a golf tournament format that combines a four-player team's best ball and worst ball on each hole — unless the best ball is a birdie or better. In that case, the team gets a very nice bonus.

"Spade mashie," which was often shortened to just "spade," was a golf club from the early 20th century, before golf irons carried numbers (such as 6-iron). In its use and its relation to other irons in a golfer's bag, the spade mashie was essentially a 6-iron.

In the history of the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open golf tournaments, which began at the same time in 1895, how many golfers have managed to win both of them? A total of 13 — so far. The first to do it was Francis Ouimet, and the most recent is Matt Fitzpatrick.

The United States Amateur Championship, more commonly called the U.S. Amateur, is the top tournament for male amateur golfers in America. It is run by the United States Golf Association (USGA). Most observers consider it the most-important tournament for amateur men golfers in the world.

What is the "short side" of the green? When you hear an announcer during a golf broadcast say, "she short-sided herself with that shot," what does that mean? These terms refer to the position of the flagstick on the putting green, and the golfer's position relative to it.

Craig Wood won two major championships in the year of 1941, but before that he was known for his losses in majors: He was the first player in golf history to lose all four men's majors in extra holes. But he was a consistent winner from the late 1920s through the early 1940s, and was known for prodigious length off the tee.

Putt for Dough is the name of a golf game in which points are awarded for made putts on each hole. But not just any putts — one-putts. And the value of those one-putts is determined by distance.

"Proxy contest" is a collective name for several distance-related bonus games that organizers of some golf tournaments — charity tournaments, corporate outings, association playdays and the like — include as part of the day's play. We're talking about things such as closest-to-the-pin contests.

How often has a tour player won a "regular" PGA Tour tournament one week, then won a major championship the following week? Not very often! It's a rare achievement. But it does happen every so often.

Have you ever heard of a golf game called Joker Stableford? It's a fun game for a group of two, three or four golfers, ideal for friendly wagering or just bragging rights. The bottom line: Joker Stableford is played using Modified Stableford scoring, but you get to double your points on one or more holes that you select before the round begins.

The 2020 PGA Championship was the 102nd time this tournament, one of the four major championships of men's professional golf, was played.

A golfer who wins the PGA Championship once is doing something few tour golfers will ever do: win a major. A golfer who wins the PGA Championship twice joins an exclusive club of multiple major winners. But a golfer who wins the PGA Championship three times or more? That's much harder to do, so hard that only six golfers (so far) have accomplished the feat.

Lew Worsham was a professional golfer who won on the PGA Tour and also had a long and distinguished career as a club professional. He is best-known as a U.S. Open champion, but he also was an important player in the earliest days of televised golf.

The PGA Championship is one of the four majors of men's professional golf. It was founded in 1916 and has always been run by the PGA of America, the trade organization for club professionals across the United States. One can imagine that if you grew up the son of a PGA of America golf professional, then, that winning the PGA Championship would have a little extra meaning for you. And that is exactly what the sons of PGA Professionals who have won the PGA Championship say.

The PGA Championship was first played in 1916, and it is the only of the men's major championships that has used two different formats of play over its history: first match play, then stroke play. Below are the biggest winning margins in tournament history for both those eras.