The 'Closing Hole' in Golf Explained
When broadcast announcers talk about the closing hole, or golfers do so, they are most likely referring to the 18th hole. They are definitely referring to the last hole of the round.
On an 18-hole golf course, the closing hole is No. 18. On a 9-hole course, it's the ninth hole, on a 12-hole course it's the 12th hole. However many holes a golf course has, its last hole — the one that finishes your play of that track — is the closing hole.
"Closing hole" is one of several common terms used for the same thing. "Finishing hole" and "home hole" are two other terms, and all three are interchangeable when talking about the physical routing of a golf course.
"Closing hole" can also refer to the last hole a golfer plays in a round, whether that is the ninth, 18th, or any hole in-between.
But wait — why would a golfer be ending her round on a hole other than the last hole on the golf course? Not all rounds begin on the first hole. Most do. Typical rounds of golf do. But in tournament settings, sometimes large fields use a split-tee start, with half the field starting on No. 1, half starting on No. 10. In such a case, golfers who start on No. 10 will finish their rounds on the golf course's ninth hole.
A shotgun start is another instance where the "closing hole" of an individual golfer's round (as opposed to the closing hole of a course) might be something other than the course's last hole. In a shotgun start, you might be teeing off your round from any hole on the course, the first, the seventh, the 11th, whatever. In a shotgun start, only the groups starting from No. 1 will have the 18th as their closing hole.
But those examples are mostly exceptions to the rule. And the rule, in this case, is that "closing hole" refers to the 18th hole on an 18-hole course, or the ninth hole on a nine-hole course — the final hole of the golf course being played.
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