I have had a few requests to translate the golfers’ nomenclature so here is a little dictionary defining certain terms and slang that us golfers use.
“FAIRWAY” -the center part of the playing surface, shortly cut grass, the easiest surface on which to hit the ball. The fairway is marked with yardage markers to help golfers decide which club to hit, the yardage markers are placed on the edge of the fairway, which helps to define the boundary of the fairway.
“ROUGH”- the other parts of the playing surface, usually left longer, more difficult to hit a good shot.
“KP”-a fanciful spelling of “Closest to the Pin”, this is a betting contest in which players wager a small amount betting on who’s shot is closest to the pin, the pin being the flagstick that marks the hole. The ball must be on the short-cut grass that makes the putting surface of the green. The location of the ball is marked with a small flag on which a card is attached, if the player’s ball is closer to the pin, the player writes his/her name on the bottom of the list. At the end of the tournament, the markers are collected and winnings paid out.
“SECOND (or) THIRD SHOT KP”-the closest to the pin after two or three shots. This is used on a long hole on which we might not want a long drive competition or a hole with various obstacles that make reaching the green impossible in one shot.
“LONG DRIVE”-the players wager on who hits the ball the furthest on a designated hole. The ball must be in the fairway, between the yardage markers.
“SKIN”-bets are placed by players and make up a pool of betting money. A SKIN is the outright winner of the hole over all other scores. If there is a lowest-score tie then the hole is considered a tie for everyone. At the end of the round, all scores are compared on each hole and the outright winners split the pool of betting money.
“PAR”-a score that an average good player can achieve on that certain hole.
“BIRDIE”-one stroke fewer than PAR.
“BOGIE”-one stroke higher than PAR.
“EAGLE”-two strokes fewer than PAR.
“PAR THREE”-a hole on which an average good golfer can hit the green with one shot.
“PAR FOUR”-a hole on which an average good golfer can reach the green in two shots.
“PAR FIVE”-same but three shots, an average good golfer can nearly always put the ball into the hole with 2 putts so it really comes down to how many it takes to get the ball onto the green.
Monday and Wednesday skins had just a few show up each night. Monday winners had Todd and Graham splitting the skins by winning almost every hole, the rest of us playing poorly and not putting up much competition. On one of the three-par holes everyone had a bogie which is a little unusual. Each subsequent missed putt caused a collective groan from the group. Tracy washed my pants with all my notes so I can’t report the rest of the KPs and skins ha ha.
Friday night family, friends and kids night had 6 golfers for the evening skins. Todd got a skin on #1, Zion on #2 and Todd again on #3.
Nobody got on the green on #4 so we carried that one over. Todd got another skin on #6. Roland got the KP on #8 for about $8. And Grahamwon the skin on #9 with a monster drive that ended up on the edge of the Kerby Ditch, second shot very nearly on the green, then a nice
close chip and sunk the putt for a 4 birdie. After we played the 9 holes of skins, me, grandson Ashton and Lucas Cababag helped me set up the glow sticks on the driving range. We also set out a burn barrel and got a roaring fire started in it to keep us nice and toasty warm after the sun set.
Usually we play for $2 per round but as it was the first week, we decided to just hit a few and then let the kids run around amongst the lighted sticks. We will try to set up glow sticks every Friday night at dusk if the weather is dry, cold is not a problem as the burn barrel is a nice and cozy warm. Come on out and enjoy a cocktail and watch the glowing balls flying over the driving range, you don’t need to play in order to spend the evening with us.
Sunday afternoon skins were pretty fun with eight players. Todd, Zion, Roland, Graham, Colby, John, a newbie-Cori and I all teed off at 2 O’clock. Zion won the first skin on hole #10, Todd picked up a couple on #12 and on #15. Everyone bogied or worse on #14, leaving opportunities for us poorer golfers, squandered opportunities unfortunately. Nobody hit greens on #13 and #16, leaving a nice large carry-over pot going into #17 (the last 3-par of the afternoon). Todd landed one that looked from the teebox to be very close. I landed one on the left side that either could be close or not, depending on the placement of the pin from front to back and Roland landed one on the far right but it could also be close. When we reached the green mine turned out to be the one.
The leaves are just beautiful right now and the contrast between the oranges and green fairways make for some incredibly picturesque scenery. The orange carpet surrounding the maple trees covers 100% of the grass and has a defined boundary at the edge of the grass and the leaves. In one rough, the pine needles have fallen all facing the same direction and look like a hand-made mat covering an area of about 100 by 100 feet. The lime-green new seedlings have come up in all of the unwatered areas and are still at single-leaf stage like little green soldiers all standing at attention. We urge anyone who would like to see the course to come out and ask the pro shop for directions on where to walk and stay safe from flying Titleists to come and enjoy the fall colors and mild weather.