Golf Compendium

The first golfer in PGA Tour history to score 58 in tournament play was Jim Furyk, and the side game known as 58 (Fifty-Eight) is named after him. That's why it is also called Furyk or the Furyk Game. And it's a very simple game that revolves around when in your round you and your golf buddies hit 58 strokes played.

Who is the youngest golfer ever to win on the European Tour? And how old was he? The answer to the second question is 17 years old. Twice in European Tour history, a golfer younger than 18 has won. And both times, it was the same golfer.

Embed from Getty Images Phil Rodgers was a brash, fun-loving young pro on the PGA Tour in the early 1960s, when he established a lifelong connection to Jack Nicklaus. Rodgers was an early rival to Nicklaus, although not for very long: All of his wins happened prior to 1967. But he did win multiple times on the PGA Tour. Later he established a reputation as a sought-after teacher of the game. And Nicklaus was one of those who benefited from Rodgers' help.

The European Tour (also known, for its title sponsor, as the DP World Tour) has existed since 1972. Since that inaugural year, there are only two golfers in the tour's history who are credited with winning an official tournament past the age of 50. Those two golfers are Phil Mickelson and Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Patsome, or Patsomes, is the name of a game for 2-player teams in which the golfers rotate formats every six holes. Fourball (better ball), greensomes and foursomes (alternate shot) are the three formats used, each played for six holes.

The Henredon Classic was a professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour, played annually for 10 years beginning in the early 1980s. It was played in North Carolina, and for its last three years used a Stableford scoring format. In its later years, the tournament's name was changed to Planters Pat Bradley International.

Eduardo Romero was a professional golfer from Argentina whose run of tournament victories stretched from the early 1980s into the 2000s. Never a winner on the PGA Tour, Romero wons dozens of times on other tours, including wins in three decades on the European Tour. Later, he won two senior majors on the Champions Tour.

In the golf betting game called the 6-Point Game, a certain number of points are up for grabs on each hole. Big surprise: It's six. The 6-Point Game is for a group of three golfers, and on each hole they are competing against one another for those six points.

Which golfers on the PGA Tour are most successful at one-putting greens? The tour has a stat for that. It's called One-Putt Percentage, and the list below shows which golfers have led the tour going back to the early 1990s.

In the golf game known as 5-3-1, those numbers in the name tell you how many points are at stake on each hole: Nine. This is a game for a group of three golfers and, if you wish, you can assign a monetary value to each point earned.

Total Driving is the name of an old-school statistic tracked by the PGA Tour since the 1980s. It is a combined measure of both a golfer's driving distance and driving accuracy. Below is the list of golfers who have led the PGA Tour in Total Driving each year since 1987, the year the tour began officially tracking it.

Embed from Getty Images Paul Runyan was a professional golfer and golf instructor who won two PGA Championship trophies in the 1930s. He won nearly 30 PGA Tour tournaments overall, and was the first golfer to claim nine such tourneys in a single year. Runyan was a short hitter with a standout short game who later became renowned for teaching the short game.

30 Balls is the name of a golf tournament format for teams of three golfers. In an 18-hole round, a team of three golfers, each of whom is playing his own ball into the hole, will record 54 total scores (18 holes multiplied by 3 golfers). How many of those scores are used in 30 Balls? Thirty of them.

The PGA Tour's "Ball Striking" statistical category is a ranking of golfers based on their ability to follow up a good drive by hitting the green in regulation. And below is the list of golfers who have led the PGA Tour in this stat since the tour added it in 1987.

The 3-Point Game is a golf format for groups of four golfers who pair off into two teams for a 2-vs.-2 competition. On each hole, three points are awarded, one point each for three different accomplishments. And in this game, partners rotate every six holes so that each golfer partners every other member of the group.

The Ladies European Tour (LET) crowns an Order of Merit (OOM) winner at the end of each season. Below is the list of Order of Merit winners going back to 1979, when the OOM was first recognized.

The "2-By-4" game is a format for golf competitions involving 4-person teams. The numbers in the format's name refer to the number of scores used on each hole: on most holes, two players' scores are combined for the team score. But on four holes, four players' scores are combined for the team score.

What is the longest, officially measured drive in PGA Tour history? What are the longest drives struck on the PGA Tour each year? We can answer those questions thanks to the tour's own shot-tracking system.

The golf game named "16 Points" is for a group of four golfers. On each hole, 16 points are divided among those four players based on their scores. (Note that this game is also sometimes called "Sixteen" or "Sixteens.")

Bob Rosburg played on the PGA Tour from the 1950s into the 1970s. He was known for a brilliant short game and for winning a major championship. Later, Rosburg became even better-known as a golf broadcaster. He pioneered a new role on golf telecasts, and ultimately appeared on golf broadcasts for 30 years.

What is the largest playoff that has ever taken place on the LPGA Tour? That is, the most golfers who participated in a playoff at one of the tour's official events?

The Jamie Farr Toledo Classic was a professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour that was played over four decades. It was known by multiple names over that time, including Marathon Classic (full list of names below). Actor Jamie Farr's name was part of the tournament name for nearly 30 of those years.

If you play in a golf tournament that is a fund-raiser for a charity or cause, you might run into something called the Cone Game. It's a tournament add-on that is entirely optional for golfers, but that helps the tournament organizers increase the amount of money they can raise.

How do you sometimes feel at the end of a poor day of play on the golf course? Sometimes you just feel like packing it all in.

Some charity golf tournaments will include a "circle hole." What is that? The gist of it is this: On the one, designated hole, golfers will have a chance to buy extra strokes to try to get their ball within a circle drawn on the green around the flagstick.

The WGC Match Play Championship was a professional golf tournament played on the PGA Tour from the late 1990s into the early 2020s. It was the only match-play tournament on the PGA Tour during those years. This tournament was part of the World Golf Championships (WGC) series of limited-field events, and went by many different names over its lifespan. Those included:

If you are the chairman of the golf hole, and you win that hole, you also win points from each of the other three players in your group. But before you can win those points, you first have to win the right to sit "in the chair."

The Scrambling statistic in professional golf, also known as Scrambling Percentage, tells us how good golfers are at chipping it close and sinking the following putt. And the golfers on the following list are the ones who led the Champions Tour in Scrambling at the end of each season.

Bingle Bangle Bungle is the name of a popular golf game within a group of golfers, best for groups of four but playable by twosomes or groups of three, as well. On each hole, three points are at stake: the bingle point, bangle point and bungle point. So let's explain what those are and how to play the game.

Posting Top 10 finishes throughout the year on any golf tour is a sign of a golfer who is playing consistently well. And it's a great way to fill up a bank account. Below is the list of senior (50-and-over) golfers who have led the Champions Tour in Top 10 finishes each year since that tour's founding in 1980.

Cesar Sanudo was a professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour from the late 1960s into the 1980s. His competitive career was nondescript except for one big distinction: Sanudo was the first golfer from Mexico to win on the PGA Tour.

The BellSouth Senior Classic was a golf tournament on the Champions Tour (Senior Tour) played from the mid-1990s into the mid-2000s. It was played in Nashville, Tennessee.

A golf tournament's "cut" is the reduction in the number of players after (typically) two rounds of play. In other words, the golfers scoring worst after two rounds are cut from the tournament, with only the better-scorers to that point continuing to the tournament's finish.

Canadian Foursomes is the name of golf competition format for 2-person teams. It boils down to this: Canadian Foursomes is a scramble off the tee, then alternate shot into the hole.

We often, during broadcasts of professional golf tournaments, hear the announcers talk about "the cutline moving," or say that "the cutline just moved to ..." Do you understand what that means? We'll explain it here.

In the golf game called Bus Driver, the bus driver is the one you don't want to be. In this game, the "bus driver" is the golfer who tees off last on the ninth and 18th holes, and that is also the one who has to pay the other players in the group.

Jo Ann Prentice was a winner on the LPGA Tour in the 1960s and 1970s. One of her victories was in a tournament that later became a major championship. She was also involved in the longest sudden-death playoff in LPGA history.

Being selected as the site of a USGA championship tournament is a major feather in the cap for any golf course. And the USGA has its favorites, certain clubs and courses to which the organization has returned many times. That's what this article is about: those golf courses that have hosted the most USGA championships.

In the name of a "Box Tournament," also known as "Man In the Box," the box in question is the tee box. On every hole, one member of the four-person team is required to step up and provide one of the two scores on that hole that are combined for the team's score.

George Sargent was an English golfer whose greatest successes happened in America: He won the U.S. Open in 1909, and through the 1940s was the head pro at a succession of major American clubs. He also was an innovator in golf instruction who played a big part in popularizing the use of film to analyze golf swings.

Battle Golf is the name of a game in which the golfer who wins a hole gets to make it even harder for his opponent to come back in the match. That's because when you lose a hole in Battle Golf, you also lose a club.

The Sea Island Open (called the Sea Island Women's Invitational its final two years) was a professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from the mid-1950s into the 1960s. Five times it was won by Mickey Wright. It was played in Georgia.

Designated Hitter, also known as 4-Player Baseball, is a golf tournament format for four-person teams. On each hole, the scores of two of those team members are combined for the team score. And one of those scores must come from the team's "designated hitter."

Do you know what the numbers on a golf ball mean? Do you know whether they even mean anything at all? The numbers that are most commonly stamped by manufacturers onto golf balls do not really having a meaning , but they certainly do have a purpose . We'll explain that, plus what other numbers golfers might see on a ball, and what those numbers mean.

American Foursomes is the name of a golf format that you might actually know under a different name. That's because American Foursomes is just another name for the format more commonly called Chapman System .

Embed from Getty Images Gloria Ehret had a 15-year-career on the LPGA Tour that started in the mid-1960s. It included a couple victories, one of which was in a major championship. She had a knack for finishing second and also for getting into playoffs.

Golfers sometimes talk about "duffing" a shot. Do you know what it means to duff it on the golf course? It is a common type of mis-hit that goes by several other terms, too.

"Four Horsemen" is the name of a golf tournament format for teams of four golfers. Each golfer in the game gets to play normal stroke play and post a score, but handicaps are applied at the end and scores are combined for the team score.

The LPGA Tour event known as The Office Depot was played only five times, but had an impressive roster of champions. It was played in Florida from the late 1990s into the early 2000s.

Four-Ball Aggregate is the name of a golf competition format played by teams of two golfers. It can be used as a tournament format, or a group of four golfers can pair off into two teams, two vs. two, and play for money or pride.

John Schlee was a PGA Tour player in the 1960s and 1970s who won only one time on tour. But he is the answer to a couple trivia questions about the tour in those years, and later in life operated instructional schools where he taught what he himself had been taught by Ben Hogan.

"Flaggies" is the name of a golf game in which golfers earn points by making putts beyond a certain length. Which length? The length of the flagstick.

A "duffer" is something that every golfer has been, but that no golfer wants to be. "Duffer" is a term that refers to a player who is bad at golf.

Duffer's Defense is the name of a points game for groups of three or four golfers in which one golfer on each hole is the designated "duffer." The duffer's goal is to avoid losing the hole. And on each hole, only the designated "duffer" earns or loses points.

The "driving putter" (often hyphenated as "driving-putter") was a golf club, long since gone from golf, that was sometimes used by pre-20th century golfers. But did they use it for driving, or for putting? Yes!

Felix Serafin was a golf pro who made about 100 starts on the PGA Tour, mostly in the 1930s. He was born in Pennsylvania, lived his whole life there, and all of his professional tournament wins happened in that state.

The Suntory Open was one of the highest-profile tournaments on the Japan Golf Tour (JGTO) over four decades, from the early 1970s into the 2000s. Its roster of champions included the best of Japanese golfers, as well as a few big PGA Tour names.

"Crenshaws" is the name of a golf game that rewards players who one-putt. Hole your first putt once your ball is on the green, or, depending on the version you are playing, make a 1-putt par, and you earn a Crenshaw point.

A hole-in-one on a par-4 is called ... a hole-in-one. Or an ace. It can be called by a couple other terms. And we'll tell you what those other terms are. But we'll also explain why no golfers actually use those other terms.

The Drop Out Game is a golf format, or rather formats: the name is used for a couple different games. We'll explain them all below, and also tell you the other common names by which the Drop Out Game is known.

R.H. Sikes was a golfer on the PGA Tour who played in the 1960s and 1970s. Before that, as an amateur golfer, he won two USGA national championships as well as the NCAA Championship.

The Madrid Open was a professional golf tournament played in Spain over the course of 40 years, from the late 1960s into the 2000-aughts. It predated the formation of the modern European Tour, but was part of the European Tour from that circuit's launch in 1972.

Dots is the name of a golf game in which the players earn points (called dots) for each of a series of achievements made during the round. At the end of the round, the golfer with the most dots on her scorecard is the winner.

How many holes-in-one have been made by golfers in the Presidents Cup? The answer might surprise you.

There are five golfers in Presidents Cup history who top the list of golfers with the most appearances in the tournament, and also the list of golfers who played the most matches in the competition. And they even appear in the same order on both lists.

Louis Tellier was a French golfer who emigrated to the United States in the mid-1910s. Although he won no big tournaments in France, the French Golf Federation calls him "one of the most important French golfers of the early 20th century." That's because Tellier was the first golfer from France to win in America on the circuit that grew into the modern PGA Tour. Tragically, Tellier took his own life at age 35, dying on the Boston-area golf course where he was the head pro.

The Scandinavian TPC Hosted by Annika was a 72-hole, professional golf tournament played in Sweden. Part of the Ladies European Tour schedule, it was played from the mid-1990s until the late 2000-aughts, with Sorenstam's name added to the event title in the latter stages.

"24-Second Clock" is the name of a game that, several times in a round, gives a golfer who hits a poor shot the opportunity to replay that shot without penalty. The catch? They have to retrieve their original shot, place it back where it was, and play the new stroke all within 24 seconds.

The phrases "in relation to par," "scoring in relation to par," "relative to par," and "scoring relativeto par" pop up with regularity in the golf world. If you're not sure what they mean — or why it matters — read on for an explanation.

"Disaster" is the name of a golf game or side wager within a group of golfers, in which the players "earn" points for doing things golfers try to avoid (for example, 3-putting). The goal is to end the round with the fewest "Disaster points" (just like in regular stroke play, in the Disaster game the low score wins).

Wally Ulrich was a pro golfer beginning in the late 1940s, but before that, as an amateur, he won the national collegiate championship. As a pro, he played on the PGA Tour full-time during a roughly 10-year stretch, his one tour victory happening in 1954.

The basics of the golf game named Irons Only are right there in the name of the game. This game requires the golfers playing to only use their irons to play shots from anywhere other than the putting green.

The Kansas City Open was a men's professional golf tournament played on the PGA Tour from the late 1940s to the late 1950s. It was a 72-hole, stroke-play tournament. It took place in the Greater Kansas City, Missouri, area, although several times on the Kansas side of the border.

Hollywood is the name of a game in which four golfers pair off into two sides (2-vs.-2), and then change partners after every six holes. That way, each golfer partners each other golfer for six holes over an 18-hole round: one round, three partners.

William (Bill) Hyndman III was a lifelong amateur golfer from Pennsylvania who once beat Jack Nicklaus in U.S. Amateur match play, but never actually won the U.S. or British Amateur titles. He did win dozens of other important amateur tournaments, represented the United States numerous times in international team events, and once hit what Bobby Jones said was "the greatest clutch shot" he ever saw. And when he finally did win a USGA championship, Hyndman set a record as oldest USGA champion.

The largest margin of victory in any foursomes match played in the Solheim Cup is 6-and-5. And that score has been registered five times so far.

The largest winning margin in any fourball match at the Solheim Cup is 7-and-5. That score has been recorded twice. And it means that the winning side ended the match after just 13 holes.

What are the biggest margins of victory in singles matches at the Solheim Cup? The largest winning margin in a Solheim Cup singles match is 8-and-7.

"Gritty par" can be either a slang expression for a specific type of golf score, or it can refer to a type of side game (side bet) played by golfers. In either case, though, it is really just a synonym of sandie/sandy.

The 2026 Presidents Cup will be the 16th time this tournament is played. Played on an every-other-year basis, it was first contested in 1994. Today, it takes place in even-numbered years. The Presidents Cup is a team, match-play tournament, between two squads:

Helen Holm was one of the top British golfers of her era, winning the British Women's Amateur twice in the 1930s. But she also reached the championship match of the Scottish Women's Amateur 10 times, winning half of them. Today, a major U.K. women's amateur tournament is named in her honor.

The 2026 Curtis Cup Match will be the 44th time this tournament is played. The Curtis Cup is a team, match-play tournament contested by two squads of amateur women golfers, one representing the United States (USA), one representing Great Britain & Ireland (GB&I).

The Curtis Cup is one of the biggest events in women's amateur golf. Here, we'll list the largest margins of victory (which also means the worst losses) in the competition's history, for Team USA/Team GB&I, and also in the individual matches.

Which golf courses have played host to the Solheim Cup? The list of all Solheim Cup courses appears below. This event is played every two years between two squads of women professional golfers: One team represents Europe, the other the United States.

Gotchas (got you's) is the name of a golf game that is best played only by friends — especially the second, more, um, personally invasive version of the game. Basically, Gotchas gives each golfer in your group the right to try to disrupt your swing once or twice during the round.

Jock Hutchison was a two-time major championship winner in the first decade of the PGA Tour's existence. Born in Scotland, he was one of the best golfers in America in the 1910s and 1920s. And he became a naturalized citizen just in time to earn the distinction of first American winner of the British Open. Hutchison finished second in the first-ever PGA Championship, then a couple decades later won the first-ever Senior PGA Championship.

The LIV Golf League was launched in 2022 with eight tournaments. In seasons since, its schedule has included 14 tournaments. So the golfers who lead the tour in career wins so far are still on low numbers — they simply haven't had a lot of tournaments to play yet.

The Eastern Open Invitational was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in the 1950s and 1960s. It was played annually in Maryland, for the first nine years and last two years at Mt. Pleasant Municipal in Baltimore, and for three years in-between at Pine Ridge Golf Club in Lutherville, near Towson.

The 2026 Solheim Cup will be the 20th time this competition is played. It features two teams of women professional golfers from the LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour, one representing the United States, the other Europe. The tournament is played every two years, currently in even-numbered years.

Low Ball-High Ball (also known as High-Low) is a golf format for groups of four golfers. It can played as a tournament format, but is more common as a 2-vs.-2 team game played within a quartet.

What is the tournament record for victories in the Women's British Open? Three. There are two golfers who share the record for most wins in this major championship with three victories each.

Matches at the U.S. Amateur Championship are either 18 holes or 36 holes in scheduled length, depending on the round being played. But which matches in the tournament's history have extended beyond that, into "extra holes," by the largest amount?

What does it mean when a golfer "squares the match," or when someone refers to a golfer "squaring the match" or says something along the lines of "if he wins this hole, he will square the match"? "Square the match" is a match-play term that refers to a tie score, or the act of tying the score in a match.

Low Ball/Low Total is the name of a golf format for 4-person groups that pair off into 2-person teams. On each hole, two points are at stake: one for the lowest individual score among the four golfers, and another for the lowest total score of the two teams.

What are the biggest blowouts in U.S. Amateur Championship history? In an 18-hole match at the U.S. Amateur, 9-and-8 is the largest margin of victory. In a 36-hole match, 14-and-13 is the largest winning margin. And in a championship match, the biggest blowout is a 12-and-11 victory — in the very first U.S. Amateur ever played.

Willie Hunter first became famous as an amateur golfer in his native Great Britain in the 1920s. Then he emigrated to the United States, where he became an influential club pro, serving nearly 30 years at Riviera Country Club. He defeated Bobby Jones in match play and also won a handful of PGA Tour titles in the 1920s and 1930s.

A funny thing happened on the PGA Tour in 2010: A loophole in the rules was discovered — remembered, actually — and a handful of golfers began using 25-year-old wedges in order to exploit it.

You've probably heard of the long-drive contest as a fund-raiser at charity golf events: Golfers buy the chance to take a swing or swings and the one who hits it the farthest is the winner. But those contests use golf balls. What would you call such a contest that substituted a marshmallow for the golf ball?

The West Virginia LPGA Classic was a professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour in the 1970s and 1980s. Known as the Wheeling LPGA Classic in its early years, it was played 11 times.

You might have heard of golf games with names like Trash, Junk, Dots or Garbage. Those are catch-all games — games that combine many different side games, sometimes dozens of them, to be played simultaneously. Legends is a similar catch-all format, but one that is smaller in size: Legends combines side games that are named after golf greats.

Embed from Getty Images Bernard Hunt was one of the leading British pro golfers from the early 1950s through the early 1970s. He won dozens of tournaments, mostly in the U.K. but also in Continental Europe and elsewhere. And Hunt had a very good singles record in the Ryder Cup, which he played eight times as part of Team Great Britain & Ireland.

"Lagging" is the name of a golf game in which every golfer playing, no matter how much better or worse one might be than another, has a real chance at winning. Lagging is all about being closest to the pin on each green — but only after all balls are on the green.

Which golfers in the history of the Walker Cup won the most points for their team? Below is the list of all Walker Cup golfers with at least nine career points earned in the competition.

The Curtis Cup takes place every other year between teams of amateur women golfers, one representing the United States (Team USA) and one Great Britain & Ireland (Team GB&I). In the event's history, which dates to 1932, only four golfers have earned 10 or more points over their Curtis Cup careers. But just one of those has reached 20 points.

Golfers know about the scores called "eagle" and " double eagle ," and we use these terms all the time — even if most of us never score one ourselves. But what about a "triple eagle"? Is that a real score in golf? If so, what does the term mean?

In the pre-professional days of women's golf in Great Britain, Frances Stephens Smith was one of the biggest names. Most of her victories happened in the first 10 years or so after the end of World War II. But her fame as a player extended into the 1960s thanks to a remarkable record in the Curtis Cup, including twice securing her side's clinching point while playing the last match on the course.

The South African Masters was a golf tournament played for nearly 90 years, from the early 1920s into the 2010s. The biggest names in South African golf history were the tournament's biggest winners. It was a match play tournament for its first few decades, known as the South African Professional Match Play Championship. It switched to stroke play in the 1960s.

We often hear the term "local knowledge" used in golf, whether by players discussing their games and their favorite courses, or by journalists and broadcasters. Local knowledge is something that's good to have, and it can help a player who has it gain an advantage over one who doesn't.

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.

Have you ever made a score of a sextuple bogey? Chances are you have at some point in your golf journey, no matter how good a player you might be now. But, make no mistake, a sextuple bogey is a terrible score in golf.

The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (the R&A) stages both The Amateur Championship and The Open Championship, also known as the British Amateur and British Open. These are the two biggest R&A titles for amateur golfers and professional golfers, respectively. How many golfers have won them both?

Maybe you've heard of the Abominable Snowman , the mythical beast of Mount Everest and the Himalayas. Did you know there is also an "abominable snowman" in golf? And just like the Himalayan monster, the golf version is one you very much want to avoid.

Odd Fellows is the name of a golf game that can be played between two golfers, or between all the golfers in a group of three or four. In this game, the players get to toss out three of their worst scores.

Winning the same tournament — any tournament — in three different decades is a sign not just of a great golfer, but of a golfer who maintained that greatness over a long period of time. In the history of The Open Championship, dating to 1860, only three golfers have won the Claret Jug in three separate decades.

Jimmy Hines was a professional golfer who won nine times on the PGA Tour, mostly in the 1930s. After his tour career ended, he had a hand, as a club pro, investor and developer, in the popularizing of electric carts, the advent of the daily-fee model for American golf courses, and the growth of golf in the California desert.

A "Maxwell tournament" is a format for 5-golfer teams. And the key factor for this format is pretty simple: On each hole, the worst score among those five golfers is tossed out.

(Affiliate links are used for products mentioned in this article; commissions may be earned) A yardage book can be very helpful to golfers of all playing abilities. But do casual golfers, weekend golfers, recreational golfers need one? No. What about top-flight golfers, golfers who take their games very seriously? Those golfers probably don't need a yardage book, but they might want one, and can benefit from having one.

How many golfers have won The Open Championship by leading after each of the four rounds? The number of wire-to-wire winners who had the solo lead after each round during this major's 72-hole era (1892 and forward) currently stands at just seven.

Russian Stableford is the name of a golf format for 2-person teams using, obviously, Stableford scoring. But the team score on each hole is not the one best score among the two partners but, rather, one partner's score multiplied by the other.

English golfer Harold Hilton's competitive career stretched from the 1880s into the 1920s. As the winner of two British Opens, four British Amateurs and one U.S. Amateur, he was among the top handful of pre-World War I British golfers. He remains to this day the only British golfer win both the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur titles in the same year.

The U.S. Senior Open, the biggest tournament in men's 50-and-over professional golf, was first played in 1980. Since that time, seven tournaments have ended with a playoff.

The United States Golf Association (USGA) has a reputation for creating very difficult golf course setups for