Golf Compendium

"Average Score" is the name of a competition format for teams of two golfers. The two golfers on a side each play their own ball into the hole. And on each hole, their two scores are averaged to produced the team's score.

The 1947 U.S. Women's Open was just the second time this tournament was played. But it was the first time the tournament used a stroke-play format. In its debut the year before, match play was the format.

Grace Lenczyk had a brief but exceptional career at the top of U.S. women's amateur golf in the late 1940s and early '50s. She won a U.S. Women's Amateur title, also shared for a time an all-time scoring record, and played another round one author in the 1950s called "probably the greatest round" to that point in women's golf history. But Lenczyk's career barely lasted five years.

Golfers have many slang terms or phrases that refer to a specific golf score, such as " Dolly Parton " for a score of 8 on a hole, or " abominable snowman " for a score of 9. "Shooting your temperature" is one of the phrases, but it applies to a golfer's full score for the round rather than just a single hole.

Points for Par is the name of a golf tournament format for individual golfers playing stroke play and using handicaps. On most holes during this tournament, a player earns point by making a net par or better. But on a few holes, the golfer loses points if he fails to score net par or better.

The 1948 U.S. Women's Open was the third time this major championship was played, and just the second time it was a stroke-play tournament. The champ was Babe Zaharias, who won by eight strokes.

Mac McLendon was a PGA Tour player from the late 1960s into the early 1980s. After winning some state titles and collegiate titles as an amateur, he claimed four victories on the tour in the 1970s.

You've signed up to play in a golf tournament next weekend at your club. What's the format? The notice on the clubhouse billboard only says "Mystery Tournament." Hmm, that's odd — Mystery Tournament? What does that mean? It means you won't know the scoring format — or even whether you are competing as an individual or as part of a team — until the tournament is over.

The 1949 U.S. Women's Open was the fourth time this major championship was played. The winner, Louise Suggs, set a record for margin of victory that still stands today.