Golf Compendium

The Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn, sponsored in its last couple years by carmaker Kia, was a golf tournament on the Champions Tour (senior tour) in the early 2000s. It was three rounds (54 holes) in length and was staged for 12 years.

There is a golf format for groups of four golfers named Twelves, and it also goes by the name 12-Point Game. And the names give away the key to this game: On each hole, 12 points are at stake to be split amongst the four golfers.

What is the lowest score for a front nine or a back nine during the PGA Championship? Since 9-hole scoring has been tracked in this major, only seven golfers have broken 30 for one nine during PGA Championship play. But only one of those scored a 28.

Clarence Hackney was a Scotland-born golf pro who worked — and won tournaments — in America in the 1910s into the 1930s. He was the pro at a prominent club in the Northeast for nearly 30s years. Hackney's biggest tournament win was the Canadian Open, and he also took part in one of the foundational competitions that led to the Ryder Cup.

Split Sixes is the name of a game specifically for three golfers. On each hole, those golfers' scores determine how they split the six points that are at stake.

What is the lowest winning score in the history of the Chevron Championship, one of the majors of women's professional golf? How about the 18-, 36- and 54-hole tournament scoring records? Let's find out.

Which golfer holds the record for most wins in the Chevron Championship? There are actually three golfers who share this record. Each won this LPGA major championship three times.

"Shark" is the name of a golf side game in which golfers are wagering they can make par on a hole even after hitting their golf ball into water. Of course, avoiding water is something golfers very much want to do. But if you do find water on a shot, Shark rewards a great recovery.

There is a word in golf that most golfers are scared of. That most consider very bad luck to use. That most of us try to avoid uttering. What is that word? The s-word. And what is "the s-word"? It's sh— shhhhhhh! don't say that word!

Fred Haas wasn't just the golfer who ended Byron Nelson's 11-tournament win streak in 1945. He won that tournament while still an amateur. Haas went on to a productive PGA Tour career. He won four more tournaments in the 1940s and 1950s, and also had success in senior golf before the Champions Tour existed. Haas was also the first golfer to play in both the Walker Cup and Ryder Cup.

The Charlotte Open was a professional golf tournament played in North Carolina for a few years in the 1940s. Part of the PGA Tour circuit of the time, it was born in the war years and its history includes a couple significant events.

Tiger Woods has won a lot of pro golf tournaments. Most of those wins happened on the world's biggest tour, the PGA Tour. But Woods also ranks highly in career European Tour victories, and recorded wins on several other world golf tours, too.

The children's game tic-tac-toe has been around for a very long time. And almost everyone knows how to play it: Draw a grid to create nine squares; two players alternate placing X's and O's in those squares trying to get three across, three up-and-down, or three diagonally. In the golf version of tic-tac-toe, two golfers are putting or chipping to those nine squares, trying to place balls into three boxes across, up-and-down or diagonally.

Perhaps our title should have been "what it meant " to bone a shot, because "bone" is an archaic bit of golf lingo. The term is rarely used in golf today. But it was once (and, you never know, could be again) a synonym for a bladed or thinned shot.

Sherri Turner, born October 4, 1956, in Greenville, South Carolina, played on the LPGA Tour from the early 1980s into the 2000s. Her long career produced only three victories. But Turner did have one big year in which she not only won a major championship, but some Player of the Year awards, too.

In the betting game known as Savies, the goal is saving par after you've missed the green. Do that and you'll earn points. Do it enough, and you could earn some of your opponents' money.

Which golfer has the most wins over his career on the Japan Tour? You might say that golfer is a "big" name, because he is best-known by his nickname, "Jumbo." And he won nearly 100 tournaments on the Japan Tour.

The LPGA of Japan Tour (JLPGA) was founded in 1968, making it the second-oldest women's professional golf tour, behind only the LPGA Tour. The golfer who has the most career wins on the JLPGA is a Hall-of-Famer who later became commissioner of the tour.

Do you know what stroke play is? Then you also know what "medal play" is. Because stroke play and medal play mean the exact same thing — they are synonyms for determing the outcome of a golf competition based on the total number of strokes used over a round or series of rounds.

Ralph Guldahl was one of the greatest golfers of the 1930s. But his peak lasted only four years. In those four years, though, he won three majors and he totaled 16 PGA Tour wins for his career. Guldahl once simultaneously held the scoring records of the U.S. Open and The Masters, and still appears on lists today of the tour's youngest winners. But he stopped playing the tour shortly after turning 30. According to popular legend (emphasis on legend), Guldahl once quit the tour in frustration and later quit the tour after the sudden collapse of his game.

The Ube Kosan Open, which, for many years, had Pepsi as a title sponsor, was a men's professional golf tournament in Japan. Part of the Japan Golf Tour, it was played for 40 years. Among its winners were Hall of Famers and two pairs of brothers. The tournament is most-famous for being the site of the longest sudden-death playoff in pro tour history .

What is the longest playoff in the history of professional tournament golf? When golf fans talk about playoffs, we are mostly thinking of sudden-death playoffs. And the longest "sudden"-death playoff on any of the world's top golf tourns lasted a whopping 14 holes.

Did you just "overcook" a shot? Overcooking is something golfers sometimes do on the course, and, just like in the kitchen, it's not a good thing.

In the golf game known as Umbriago, a group of four golfers divides into two teams of two golfers each. Then they play stroke play, 2-vs.-2, with six points at stake on each hole.

Ralph Guldahl was one of the best golfers of the 1930s. He won 16 times total (including a couple wins in the 1940s), and three of those victories were in major championships. On this page we'll take a closer look at those wins, plus his other close calls in majors.

The Lawrence Batley Seniors was a golf tournament for 50-and-over golfers on the European Senior Tour. It was part of that tour's very first schedule when the tour launched in 1992 and was a mainstay event for 11 years.

Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are standing at the throne of heaven. God looks at them and says, "Before granting you a place at my side, I must ask you what you have learned, what you believe in."

A "double hit" is an embarrassing thing that rarely happens at the top levels of the game, and isn't all that common for recreational golfers either. But it happens. And when a double hit does happen, what, exactly, is taking place? And is there a penalty?

As golf fans we sometimes hear that a golfer needs to "par-in" or that another has already "parred-in." What do these golf expressions mean? Let's define the terms.

Hubert Green was one of the stars of the 1970s, with all but three of his 19 career PGA Tour wins happening during that decade. He even once won three tournaments in three weeks. Green was a two-time major championship winner, a three-time Ryder Cup player, and a World Golf Hall of Fame inductee. And he did it all with a homemade and unorthodox swing.

Hubert Green was a force on the PGA Tour in the 1970s, and he kept winning into the 1980s. Then he won a few more times in senior golf.

Double eagles ( also called albatrosses ) are rarer scores than holes-in-one. In the history of The Players Championship, there have only been six double eagles so far — far fewer than the number of aces scored in the tournament .

What are the lowest scores recorded in The Players Championship for nine holes, 18 holes, 36 holes, 54 holes and 72 holes? All those tournament scoring records follow.

Have you ever seen a brand-name golf ball — say, a Titleist or TaylorMade ball — that had the word "Practice" stamped on it? What does it mean when a manufacturer does that? Are "Practice" balls just as good as "regular" balls? Let's answer these and other questions.

Are you an animal lover? The golf game called Zookeeper (also known as Zoo, Animals or "the animal game") might make you question just how much you love those cuddly and not-so-cuddly critters. Because in this game "winning" an animal is a bad thing.

Malcolm Gregson was an English golfer who turned pro in the early 1960s and had one glory year: From 1967 into 1968, he won four times and played in the Ryder Cup and World Cup. Gregson later went on to record multiple victories in senior golf.

Sometimes in golf we hear that one golfer "closed out" another, or closed out a match. What does that mean? Simple: "Closed out" means beat or won. But when the expression closed out is used, it is almost always accompanyied by information about how a match was won.

The Epson Grand Prix of Europe was a golf tournament on the European Tour during parts of the 1980s and 1990s. It began as a match-play tournament but ended as a stroke-play event.

We hear about golf tournaments called Opens (e.g., U.S. Open, The Open Championship) all the time. But what about the rarer tournament that has Closed (or Close) in its name? What does the "closed" mean?

Ugo Grappasonni was one of the leading Italian golfers in the 1940s and 1950s, and a prominent player in the post-war European professional circuit. He won multiple national opens in those decades prior to the existence of today's European Tour, including his home Italian Open twice, plus the French, Dutch and Swiss opens.

Every year since 1952, former Masters Tournament winners who are in attendance at Augusta National Golf Club gather for the "Champions Dinner." It takes place on the Tuesday evening of tournament week, and the defending champion decides what the menu will be.

Benjamin the golfer sets off on an around-the-world trip in his new boat, but he winds up veering off course and gets lost. He drifts onto a deserted island, where he is stranded, all alone.

Which golfers have posted the lowest scores for the first two rounds (36 holes) of The Masters? And who holds the record? The record-holder is Jordan Spieth. And the fact is that only a handful of golfers in Masters Tournament history have posted scores lower than 135 following the second round of play.

What is a "sidehill lie" in golf, and what is the best way of playing a golf shot from such a lie? Let's define the term, and then we'll let Jack Nicklaus explain what adjustments to make in order to pull off a good shot from such a position.

Willie Goggin never won on the PGA Tour. But he was a tour player for many years in the 1930s and 1940s and racked up a good number of second-place finishes. Among those was finishing runner-up in the PGA Championship when that tournament was match-play. He was the second golfer to make an ace in The Masters, and had one great year as a senior golfer long before the Champions Tour existed.

Yes, the PGA Tour, whose history traces back to 1916, has had a handful of teen-aged champions. So far, five golfers still in their teens have recorded wins in official PGA Tour tournaments. The youngest of them was only 18.

Any golf tournament, professional or otherwise, that includes a cut will also have a "cutoff number." And what is that number? It is the score a golfer must match or beat to make the cut and continue playing.

What are X-out golf balls? They are golf balls that have some kind of small defect — in some cases, just a cosmetic defect — that the manufacturer doesn't want to trash but can't sell at regular prices because of the defect(s). So the manufacturer labels them X-outs and offers them at a discount, usually a steep discount.

The Pacific Ladies Classic, also known as the Eugene Open, was a professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour during the 1960s. It took place in Oregon in the first or second week of September.

Larry Gilbert was in the forefront of a new type of professional golfer: The one who works as a club pro rather than chasing the PGA Tour, but then wins big on the senior tour after turning 50. Gilbert won a senior major along with a couple other Champions Tour titles in the 1990s. But he died about six months after winning that major.

Sometimes golfers buy golf balls whose manufacturer has stamped the word "Practice" on them, and priced them at a discount. It's a way to save a little money. But what is the status of such "Practice" balls under the rules: Are they "legal"? Can they be used in tournament play?

What is a 4-putt in golf? Something you want to avoid, because it is 33-percent worse than a 3-putt — but feels about 100-percent worse.

Golfers who want to save a few bucks sometimes buy a type of golf ball known as an X-out . These are balls deemed by the manufacturer to have some kind of small defect. But are X-outs considered in the Rules of Golf? Are they "legal" for tournament play? Sometimes, yes! But in high-level competitions, almost certainly not.

Pedro was looking forward all week to his Saturday round of golf. He was heading to a fancy resort — the type of golf course he didn't normally play. And when the day arrived, he couldn't wait to get there. It also marked a first for Pedro: He'd be using a caddie for the very first time.

There are a couple types of discount golf balls that golfers sometimes run across, either online or in physical stores: X-outs and "practice" balls. In both cases, these are golf balls whose manufacturer has decided it can't market and sell them at regular price due to some kind of quality-control issue. But is there any difference between an X-out and a ball stamped "practice"?

Robert Gardner was an American amateur golf champion whose biggest titles came in the first 15 years of the 20th century. He won two U.S. Amateur Championships. In the first of those, he set a record that stood for nearly 90 years, until it was finally broken by Tiger Woods. A multisport star, Gardner once held the world record in pole vault and won national championships in a sport similar to squash.

Only around 50 golfers in the history of men's pro golf have won three or more major championships. (See the list of golfers with the most wins in majors .) Of those golfers that have won at least three majors, who were the youngest golfers to do it?

What is the lowest round of golf ever scored on the Korn Ferry Tour? There have been multiple rounds of 59 and lower on the Korn Ferry Tour. But the all-time 18-hole scoring record for this tour is an eye-popping 57.

You've signed up to play in a charity golf tournament that is using a format called Ambrose. Do you know what you've gotten yourself into?

Many golf courses provide on-course ball washers to golfers. They can often be found atop a post near the teeing area of each hole: A plastic or metal box or other container that holds water and, often, some type of detergent. Inside the box, there are also bristles for scrubbing. If you are a newcomer to the game, you might now know how to use one. So read on.

Marty Furgol was a PGA Tour golfer from the late 1940s into the mid-1960s. He won five times on the tour during that span. He was known during his career for his eccentrities and, sometimes, gamesmanship.

In golf, "rota" is a term that is simply short for "rotation." But rotation of what? "Rota" specifically refers to a regular rotation of golf courses being used for tournament play.

What is The Masters Tournament all-time record for consecutive birdies — the longest birdie streak in tournament history? Two golfers share the record with streaks of seven birdies in a row.

Have you ever played an "emergency nine" at the golf course? That is a term that originated in the world of golf gambling, but has come more generally to refer to an extra nine holes, or a squeezed-in nine holes, or any 9-hole round that you play because you just couldn't stand another day without golf.

Ed Furgol was a PGA Tour golfer from the 1940s into the 1960s, winning a half-dozen times. And one of those wins was a U.S. Open. To have his successful golf career, he had to overcome the permanent and shattering effects of a childhood accident that left one of his arms withered, crooked and shorter than the other.

The Denver Open Invitational was a pro golf tournament on the PGA Tour that was played six times over a 16-year period from the 1940s to the 1960s. Although sporadically played, and played over three time periods, those tournaments are considered one continuous event in PGA Tour recordkeeping. The Denver Open is best-remembered as the site of Chi Chi Rodriguez's first tour victory.

The U.S. Amateur is the national championship of amateur golf in the United States. It rotates each year to a different golf course and its current spot on the calendar is mid-August.

What is the PGA Tour's all-time record for most consecutive birdies during a round in an official tournament? Nine birdies in a row is that record. Two golfers share the record.

The U.S. Women's Open is one of the five major championships in women's professional golf , and is the biggest tournament in women's pro golf. Below is a list of golf courses that are already scheduled as the future sites of this major.

Has an amateur golfer ever won a tournament on the PGA Tour against the world's best professionals? Yes! It hasn't happened very often since 1945, but it has happened very recently.

Val Skinner was an LPGA Tour golfer whose biggest successes happened during a three-year stretch in the 1980s and another three-year stretch in the 1990s. After her playing days ended, she had a career as a broadcaster. Skinner also, in memory of a fallen friend and through charitable efforts, raised millions of dollars to support breast cancer research organizations.

The NFL Golf Classic was a professional golf tournament on the Champions Tour played from the early 1990s into the early 2000s. Its field included, competing along with the senior golfers, professional football players, hence the tournament name.

The U.S. Senior Open is the biggest tournament in senior (ages 50 and over) professional golf. Played annually, it is staged by the United States Golf Association. But where and when are future U.S. Senior Opens scheduled?

The "chip-in" is type of golf shot that sometimes results purely from luck, but the odds of scoring a chip-in increase dramatically as one's short game improves. A golfer makes a "chip-in" by, natch, chipping the golf ball into the hole; by playing a chip shot that ends with the ball in the cup.

When and where will the British Open golf tournament be played in coming years? Future dates and golf courses are listed below for this event, which is formally named The Open Championship (often shortened to The Open).

Rod Funseth was a PGA Tour golfer from the early 1960s into the late 1970s, winning three times and coming close at The Masters. Then he burst onto the senior circuit in his 50s. But in his early 50s, Funseth succumbed to an asbestos-caused cancer. He still managed to win a senior tournament, though, after doctors had already predicted he'd be dead.

When and where are future PGA Championships going to be played? Below is the list of those coming PGA Championship tournaments for which the site (golf course) has been announced and, in most instances, also the future dates.

Once upon a time, it was common in golf (at least in the U.K.) to hear golfers talking about needing to "bolt" a stroke, or to brag about "bolting the hole." The old golf lingo is mostly gone from the game, but let's find out what it meant. Maybe you'd like to bring it back to your group of golf buddies.

Golfers have lots of different terms to describe lots of different ways the golf ball sits on the ground (the ball's "lie"). One of those terms is "bird's-nest lie." Do you know what it means?

When and where will future U.S. Open golf tournaments be played? The "when" is known for future U.S. Opens a few years in advance; there "where" is known for U.S. Open several decades into the future.

Emmet French was an American professional golfer who played during the early years of the PGA Tour, from the 1910s into the 1930s. He lost to Gene Sarazen in the finals of a PGA Championship, but won several tour tournaments. French also was the captain of an American team in one of the events that inspired the Ryder Cup.

Manny and Darvin were two singles who showed up at the golf course on a slow day and were paired together in a twosome. It was the favorite golf course for both, and they were enjoying the round. There was only one problem:

The ADT Championship was a high-dollar, season-ending "tour championship" golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from the mid-1990s into the late 2000-aughts. For its final three years, it boasted the first "playoff format" in professional golf and the highest first-place prize money in women's golf history to that point.

The Masters Tournament takes place annually in April. But when, specifically, are future Masters Tournaments scheduled? Let's see what the dates are for upcoming Masters golf tournaments.

Doug Ford was a professional golfer who won nearly 20 times on the PGA Tour, mostly in the 1950s. A fast player with a great short game, Ford was the winner of multiple major championships. At one time he held the record for most starts in The Masters, and he also ranks among the most prolific players in combined PGA Tour/Champions Tour starts.

The Finnair Masters, originally named the Ladies Finnish Masters, was a 54-hole golf tournament on the Ladies European Tour (LET) from the mid-2000s to the early 2010s. It took place annually in the capital city of Finland.