What Does 'Shoot Your Temperature' Mean in Golf?
When a golfer shoots his temperature, that golfer has scored 98 or 99 for the round. The phrase is, obviously, based on the normal, average temperature in human beings, which is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
The phrase is often used in a mildly pejorative way by one golfer speaking about another, perhaps one golf buddy teasing the other who just had a poor round: "Congrats, buddy, you just shot your temperature. Just be happy you didn't have a fever today."
A golfer can also use it in a self-deprecating way after scoring 98 or 99. In 1954, a newspaper in Missouri reported on a company outing by one of the local television stations. In the tournament, one of the station's news anchors told the paper he "tried to shoot my age, but instead I shot my temperature."
But sometimes, depending on the user, the phrase has a more expansive meaning than just 98 or 99. A 1961 California newspaper article explained the phrase as meaning "anywhere from 98 to 104."
It's a tradition at The Masters that journalists covering the tournament get the chance to play the course on the Monday after the tournament ends. In 1975, Bob Hurt, in his sports column for The Daily Oklahoman, revealed that he scored 101 at Augusta National.
"Don't snicker," Hurt wrote, "at least I shot my temperature."
There is also another meaning (rarely used today) in which the phrase is used figuratively to refer to a golfer whose score increased a lot from one to the next, or from one hole to the next.
For example, a newspaper article from 1933 about a tournament in Austin, Texas, states that the host pro, Harvey Penick, scored 69 in his morning round. But after being aggravated by his some of the requirements of his hosting duties in-between rounds, Penick "shot his temperature and score up to 81 in the afternoon."
More golf scores:
Sources:Alameda (Calif.) Times Star. "Fairway Tales," June 30, 1961.
Hurt, Bob. "Wet 101 at Augusta Didn't Hurt So Much," The Daily Oklahoman, April 16, 1975.
San Antonio (Texas) Express-News. "Amateurs Take Austin Golf Pot," February 6, 1933.
Springfield (Mo.) Advertiser. "Notes from the Studios," July 1, 1954.
