Golf Compendium

On the vast majority of golf courses, par-5 holes are the longest holes. Par-3 holes are the shortest, par-4 holes are in the middle, and par-5 holes are the longest. (A small percentage of golf courses have par-6 holes, which, where they exist, are longer than par-5s.) But how does being "the longest holes" translate into actual yardages?

Which golf courses have been the site of the U.S. Women's Open golf tournament over the years? The tournament dates to 1946. Today, this major championship rotates around the United States to some of the most-famous courses in America.

The goal of every golfer in the field at a PGA Tour tournament is to win it, but, obviously, all but one of them won't. So the next-best thing is finishing as high as you can — that's why golf tours, golfers and golf fans pay attention to Top 10 finishes. Do you know who the oldest golfer to record a Top 10 finish on the PGA Tour is?

Sam Urzetta was a golfer who pulled off a major surprise in winning the U.S. Amateur. His attempt at playing the PGA Tour in the 1950s was, alas, surprisingly unsuccessful. But he was a local legend in the city where he was born, raised, lived and died.

"Bermuda grass," or "Bermuda" for shorthand, is a common type of turfgrass used on golf courses. It is classified as a warm-season grass , so is most common in areas with hot summers and winters that don't typically get very cold. One region famous for its use of Bermuda grass on golf courses is the American South, particularly Florida, Georgia and South Texas.

Par-4 holes on a golf course can be thought of as the middle ground of golf holes: They are longer than par-3 holes, but shorter than par-5 holes. But what does that mean in terms of yardage?

George Gadd was an English professional golfer who won tournaments in the 1910s and 1920s. He also was involved in the formative events of the Ryder Cup, including the very first competition.

A "skull shot" or "skulled shot" in golf happens when the golfer lifts the club up off the ground at impact, resulting in the leading edge of the clubface striking the golf ball above its equator. That leading edge is sometimes called the blade of the clubface, which is why skulls are sometimes called "bladed shots."

Many recreational golfers struggle with shots out of the sand, so when you add a sidehill lie on top of the basic bunker shot that just complicates things more. But playing sidehill bunker shots doesn't have to be hard!

Par-3 holes are the shortest holes on a golf course — holes that expert golfers are expected to need three strokes to play. But when we say they are the shortest holes on the course, what do we mean? Are there guidelines for how long a par-3 hole should be?

Making a hole-in-one is a thrill for even the best golfers in the world, such as those on the PGA Tour. And PGA Tour aces happen here and there throughout every tour season. But how about making two aces in the same round? Has any PGA Tour golfer made two holes-in-one in the same round of a tour event?

A "blind shot" in golf is one the golfer plays without being able to see the intended target. For example, if you are standing in the fairway but cannot see the putting green from your location, you are playing a blind shot into the green.

Helen Dettweiler is best-remembered today as one of the 13 founders of the LPGA Tour. But she also won an LPGA major championship and was a famous golf instructor, and she led a remarkable life off the golf course, too.

The Oakland Open was a golf tournament played on the PGA Tour for only seven years, but it played an important part in the early careers of Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Jim Ferrier.

There's a well-known tale in the golf world told to illustrate Ben Hogan's powers of concentration, a story about the time he was so focused on his own coming shot that he failed to even notice when his playing partner made a hole-in-one. It's a great story ... but is it true?

Are you in charge of planning a golf tournament? Then you probably have questions about the best way to go about it.

When you are trying to get the ball up-and-down from off the green, there are four types of shots you can play: putt, chip, pitch, lob. And that is the order in which they should be favored,

If you want to win a golf tournament, you better make some birdies. The PGA Tour golfers we discuss in this article made a lot of birdies: They are the record-holders and the runners-up in the category of most birdies in a 72-hole tournament on the PGA Tour.

Salvador Balbuena was a Spanish golfer who made his mark in the 1970s, the early years of the European Tour. He won the first European Tour event he ever played outside of his home country. Unfortunately, what he is best known for is dying young.

How has the PGA Tour's 18-hole scoring record progressed over the years? That's the question the drove us to research this article.

The Gold Mashie was a golf tournament for amateur golfers that was played in the 1920s. And for the brief period it was played, it was one of the top amateur tournaments in the world, won by several of the best American amateur golfers ever.

Which sudden-death playoff lasted the longest on the LPGA Tour, and how many holes did it go? The longest sudden-death playoff in LPGA history lasted a whopping 10 holes before the winner finally emerged.