Albatross: 3 under par on a single hole. Also known as a double eagle, but who says double eagle when you can say albatross?

Banana ball: A remarkably bad shot that curves violently to the right in the shape of a banana.

Best ball: Format of group play in which each player in a foursome plays his or her own ball, as usual, but only the best score for each hole is counted toward the group’s 18-hole score.

Birdie: 1 under par on a hole. Worthy of a fist-pump.

Bite: What you might say if you hit the ball too far on your approach to the green and want it to slow down or spin backward when it lands.

Bogey: 1 over par on a hole. It really isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be.

Break: The curve on the green that causes a putt to move left or right.

Bump and run: A short shot that’s intended to bounce once or twice and then run along the ground the rest of the way.

Bunker: A big pit filled with sand that’s usually alongside the green or sits exactly in that spot where you just hit your drive.

Chip: A short approach shot from around the green. Try to knock it close.

Chili dipper: A big, bad, ugly shot. Also known as “hitting it fat” or “chunking it.” If you dig a hole to China with one swing, that’s a chili dipper.

Course rating: The score a scratch golfer should shoot on a particular course. A scratch golfer averages par for the course, so a difficult par-72 course might have a course rating of 74 and an easy par-72 course might have a course rating of 68.

Divot: The grassy dirt blob that remains after your big chili dipper.

Dogleg: A golf hole that turns sharply to the left or right.

Draw: A controlled shot hit with spin that moves the ball to the left in midair.

Driver: Also known as “The Lumbah” or “The Big Bertha” or any number of masculine titles for the longest-hitting club in your bag.

Duck hook: A horrible shot that moves sharply to the left and barely gets off the ground. Try to avoid these.

Eagle: 2 under par on a hole. Drop to your knees when this one goes in; eagles are a rare bird.

Fade: A controlled shot hit with spin that moves the ball to the right in midair. The opposite of a draw.

Fairway: Also known as “the short grass,” it’s that light-green patch in the center of the hole where you should aim your tee shot.

Fairway markers: Bricks, posts or signs (often in the ground or marked on trees) that signify yardage left to the green. Red is 100 yards, white is 150, blue is 200 and yellow is 250.

Flop shot: A high chip shot that lands on the green and rolls no more than a few feet. One of pro golfer Phil Mickelson’s signature shots.

Fore: What you should yell if you hit your ball toward some unsuspecting players. Repeat, if necessary.

Fringe: The outer ring of the green with slightly longer grass.

Gimme: An easy putt you could make with your eyes closed, usually a few inches from the hole.

Green in regulation: Term used when you’re on the green, putting for a birdie. That means on the green in one shot on par 3s, two on par 4s and three shots on par 5s.

Golden ferret: Without much explanation, this is what you call it when you hole out from a green-side bunker. A regular ferret is when you sink a chip from off the green.

Hacker: A bad golfer. A chili-dipper connoisseur. One who makes friends with bunkers.

Handicap: The average number of strokes a golfer shoots above par over 18 holes. On a scorecard, the handicap line indicates a hole’s difficulty, with the No. 1 handicap hole being the most difficult.

Hazard: A body of water, section of brush or woods, or anywhere marked with red or yellow stakes. Avoid at all costs or prepare for penalty strokes.

Hit it thin: A phrase used when you hit the center of the ball and send it much farther than you intended. Hitting it thin often stings your hands.

Hook: A shot on which the ball is struck with too much left-spin and the ball curves quickly in that direction. The opposite of a slice.

Irons: Clubs in your bag broken down by loft, usually ranging from a 2- or 3-iron to a 9-iron. Used for shorter distances and approach shots. Supposedly more accurate than your driver.

Knock-down shot: When you hit a shot with less than 100 percent power – when you use a quarter, half or three-quarter swing.

Lag: An extraordinarily long putt with little hope of going in.

Lie: The way the ball sits on the ground, in grass or sand. A bad lie might be stuck deep in high grass or on top of a sprinkler head.

Links course: A course layout where only the first and 18th holes return to the clubhouse area. Traditional courses also return to the clubhouse after the ninth hole. Links courses are popular in Europe, especially the United Kingdom.

Loft: The degree or angle of the club as it meets the ground. It gives you an idea of how far or how high the ball will go off the club. More loft means more height. Less loft means more distance.

Match play: Pits one golfer against another where the best score wins the hole and the most holes wins the match.

Mulligan: Also known as a “redo” or a hacker’s best friend. It happens when you want to forget that duck hook and try for an albatross. Just be careful on par 3s; you wouldn’t want your first hole-in-one to be a mulligan.

O.B. or out of bounds: These are sections on the course marked by white stakes or posts. You can’t play your next shot from these areas; you must take two penalty strokes and hit another shot from your previous spot.

Par: The number of strokes a scratch golfer would take to finish the hole.

Pin: Another word used for the flag stick or the location of the hole on the green.

Pitch: Longer than a chip shot but shorter than a full approach. Usually, pitch shots are taken from closer than 100 yards to the green.

Punch: A low shot hit in order to go far but also stay under obstacles, such as trees.

Putter: Also known as the “flatstick” or the “10-iron,” this is the club you use on the green.

Rough: Thick grass outside the fairway. Usually creates a more difficult lie.

Sandy: Term used when you take a shot out of a bunker, land it on the green and sink your next putt.

Scramble: Format of group play in which each player in a foursome plays one shot off the tee and the best of the four shots is taken. This continues, with four shots from each best location, until the group finishes the hole.

Scratch golfer: Someone who averages par for the course. The opposite of a hacker.

Shanks: A curse or mental sickness in which a golfer’s every stroke is awful, sprayed to the left or right without explanation. Try putting your change in your left pocket, tying your left shoe in a double knot, turning your hat around backward and sticking a tee behind your ear. It worked for Roy McAvoy.

Slice: A shot on which the ball is struck with too much right-spin and the ball curves quickly in that direction. The opposite of a hook.

Snowman: Taking eight strokes on a single hole. Also known as “Hacker’s Par.”

Tee: The small wooden spike with a cupped top used to hit the first shot on each hole. A tee box is the area where golfers hit their first shots on each hole. Tee markers designate where certain golfers start: black and blue are for professional or experience golfers, white is for men, red is for women and anything in front of that is ridiculous.

Wedge: The highest lofted clubs in your bag. Used for short shots and chips around the green.

Whiff: As they say in baseball, “Swing and a miss.” Also, the purest swing a hacker can feel.

Woods: The lowest lofted clubs in your bag, used for teeing off or long-distance shots.

Worm burner: A low shot that skims across the ground and doesn’t go very far.

Yips: Not to be confused with the shanks, the yips are a curse of a different kind, when golfers tend to twitch while putting. It can happen to even the best of golfers, as longtime greats Ben Hogan and Sam Snead struggled with the yips in their storied careers.

Zinger: Can be used both positively and negatively, but most often used for a long, great golf shot struck perfectly in the sweet spot.

Cameron Kittle can be reached at 594-6523 or ckittle@nashuatelegraph.com.