Say What?

Posted Oct 01 2009, 12:51 PM by Cathy Erickson
When I'm on the golf course with my golf pals it seems we have our favorite words and phrases that get thrown out from time to time.  Since I'm a big fan of words and phrases that make me smile (or sometimes cringe) and also a fan of Top Ten Lists, I thought I'd put together a Top Ten List of my favorite golf sayings or words that I hear on the course...since our season is coming to an end soon I'll have this list to make me smile until I find myself on the course again soon.

10.  Good Out - of course it's never good that you got yourself in a predicament where you need to hear this, but it's nice to hear it when you're punching out of the trees, coming out of a bunker, or just able to advance the ball from a terrible lie.
 
9.  Tinkering - this is in honor of one of my favorite golf pals...in one of my favorite top 10 lists, I honor the guy that is always doing something a little different with his swing, stance, or ball placement every time we play.  I always tell my pal that he'll never figure out what's really wrong because he never sticks with one thing long enough to find out if it works (he's a great golfer in the first place!).  He's actually tried to replace "tinkering" with other words to try to throw me off, but now I just smile when I hear it.
 
8.  Hang On!  No, I don't say that to the passengers in my golf cart (although I'm sure some hold on for their lives!)...Our course has a lot of trees lining our holes that we play as lateral hazards and inevitably someone's drive or second shot decides to flirt with danger instead of going down the middle - it's just instinct to yell out as you're watching a ball tail of to the right or left...and sometimes right after saying "hang on" I might just say "members bounce!" as the ball makes its way back into play.
 
7.  Gonzo.  And on those shots that have no chance of coming back...well, it's just gonzo.  And it's usually followed by some explanation - Yanked it, snapper, pulled it, off the toe, I was late, dropped my shoulder, zippy swing, foot slipped, and the list goes on!
 
6.  Somebody call the bomb squad - I like to say that when my buddies launch a great drive.  And they do it on a regular basis!
 
5.  Run!....well, technically, I say "Run, Run, Run!" to my golf ball a lot!  And it usually listens.  On the flipside of that, I can't tell you how many times I say to my putts..."Get There!"...and it usually doesn't listen.
 
4.  Shazbah.   When I was at my old job I met some great guys who just happened to be golfers (that just confirmed how great they are!).  We've golfed several times over the past 7 or 8 years and I can still remember the time one of the guys hit a shot and it ended up in a lateral hazard and Gary said - "Oh that's in the shazbah"  - I've loved that word ever since!
 
3.  Junk Points.  I have been slowing learning the art of the Junk Points in our local games.  Besides "low ball" and "low total" there are all kinds of points that can be had on the course..."dodes" and "poleys" are my favorite!
 
2.  Good - Good.  It's not unusual for there to be a little game or two on the course and when we're playing teams or partners, gamesmanship can be a big factor.  You have to know the right time to offer it and the right time to accept it, but usually hearing "Good-Good' is like music to my ears.
 
1.  Dormie - Ahhhh, my FAVORITE word in golf!  I'm smiling right now just thinking about it!  When a golf pal and I would play match play I would love to get to the point where I knew I was dormie...and then he would say (with a small eye roll) - "Go ahead, you can say it." And I did...  Dormie!! Smile
 
If you've got any favorite words or phrases (that don't have to be edited for content) -share them!!

Filed under: putting, Gonzo, Hang On, Shazbah, Dormie, Top Ten List