17 Words

Words on this card

Only the words the notes actually use. If a word is not here, it is not required to play the first round.

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Address: The moment you are standing to the ball and ready to swing. Not a speech. The setup notes are about this moment.
Ball position: Where the ball sits between your feet. Center, a ball forward of center, or opposite the lead heel, depending on the club.
Chip: A short shot from just off the green. The ball spends some time in the air and more time rolling. The wrists stay quiet.
Face: The front of the clubhead, the part with grooves that is supposed to meet the ball. Open means it is pointed right of the path, for a right-handed player. Closed means pointed left of the path.
Finish: Where you are when the swing has stopped. On a full swing, a useful finish has the chest toward the target and the weight on the lead foot.
Grip: Both the handle of the club and the way the hands hold it. On this card the second meaning is the one that matters.
Hosel: The neck, where the shaft meets the head. A shank is the ball hitting the hosel instead of the face.
Interlock: A hold where the trail pinky hooks with the lead index finger so the hands do not separate.
Lead side: The side closer to the target. For a right-handed player, the left side. Lead hand, lead foot, lead heel.
Lie of the ball: How the ball is sitting on the ground: perched, sitting down, or on a bare patch. This card does not use the word for a score.
Overlap: A hold where the trail pinky rests on top of the lead index finger, in the channel next to the middle finger.
Path: The direction the clubhead is traveling as it meets the ball. A slice often pairs an open face with a path that cuts across the ball, from outside the target line toward you.
Putt: A stroke with the putter, meant to roll the ball on the green. Speed is how far that roll would go.
Shank: A strike on the hosel. The ball leaves low and sharp to the right for a right-handed player, and the grooves never touched it.
Slice: A curve to the right, for a right-handed player, because the face is open to the path. It often starts left and then peels away.
Ten-finger grip: All ten fingers on the handle, no overlap and no interlock. Also called a baseball grip. The hands still touch.
Trail side: The side farther from the target. For a right-handed player, the right side. Trail hand, trail shoulder, trail hip.
Weak grip: The lead hand turned toward the target so you see one knuckle or none. The face tends to arrive open.

Nothing here is a rule, a rating, or a measurement of how good you are. For what to do around other people, read first-round manners.