Golf Compendium

Golfers sometimes refer to making a "natural birdie" on a hole, or a "natural par." But just what are those scores? In this usage, "natural" is just another way of saying "gross." A natural birdie is the same thing as a gross birdie; a natural par is the same thing as a gross par.

The 1978 Curtis Cup was the 20th time this tournament was played. Following Team USA's victory, the all-time standings were 16 wins for Team USA, two for GB&I, and two ties.

What is a "net double bogey" in golf? It's a score that in 2020 became important for golfers — or at least those golfers who play using their handicap indexes — to know with the introduction of the World Handicap System. A "net double bogey" is a score on a golf hole whose exact number of strokes depends on the specific hole and specific golfer playing that hole. We'll go over examples below to show you the actual number of strokes involved. But know that all net double bogeys follow the same formula: take the hole's par rating, add two strokes, and add the number of handicap strokes you get on that hole. That's your net double bogey. To put it in equation form: Hole's par + two strokes + any handicap strokes = net double bogey Now let's differentiate between a "gross score" and a "net score": gross means your actual number of strokes played; net means your actual strokes minus your handicap strokes. If you car...

The 1976 Curtis Cup was the 19th time this tournament was played. Following Team USA's victory, the all-time standings were 15 wins for Team USA, two for GB&I, and two ties.

A very early winner of the British Open, Andrew Strath was a St. Andrews golfer from a family of golfers. He also was one of the earliest golfers known for his ability to create backspin on iron shots.

The 1974 Curtis Cup was the 18th time this tournament was played. Following Team USA's victory, the all-time standings were 14 wins for Team USA, two for GB&I, and two ties.

The 1972 Curtis Cup was the 17th time this tournament was played. Following Team USA's victory, the all-time standings were 13 wins for Team USA, two for GB&I, and two ties.

The golf grip — they way golfers place our hands on the golf club and hold onto it during the swing — is one of the most important factors in every golf swing. So knowing the right way to grip a golf club is very important.

The 1970 Curtis Cup was the 16th time this tournament was played. Following Team USA's victory, the all-time standings were 12 wins for Team USA, two for GB&I, and two ties.

The 1968 Curtis Cup was the 15th time this tournament was played. Following Team USA's victory, the all-time standings were 11 wins for Team USA, two for GB&I, and two ties.

Clifford Ann Creed was a star on the LPGA Tour for several seasons in the 1960s, and had a long, productive career even after the wins stopped coming.

The 1966 Curtis Cup was the 14th time this tournament was played. Following Team USA's victory, the all-time standings were 10 wins for Team USA, two for GB&I, and two ties.

The 1964 Curtis Cup was the 13th time this tournament was played, but it was played with a new, expanded format this year: 18 points were at stake rather than just nine. The result was another United States win, however. And following that win, the all-time standings were nine wins for Team USA, two for GB&I, and two ties.

What is a score of 5-under-par on a single golf hole called? That's an ostrich. And if you ever make one, you might just be the first golfer anywhere who's ever made one.

The 1962 Curtis Cup was the 12th time this tournament was played. Following the American side's dominating victory, the overall standings to this point in the tournament's history were eight wins for Team USA, two for GB&I, and two ties.

The 1960 Curtis Cup was the 11th time this tournament was played. Following Team USA's win here, the overall standings were seven wins for Team USA, two for GB&I, and two ties.

Billy Burke was a PGA Tour winner from the 1920s into the 1940s. He's most famous because he played in, and won, the longest playoff in major championship history: 72 playoff holes.

Pete Dye had a huge impact on the golf world through his career as a golf course architect, influencing generations of other course designers, not to mention golfers, golf fans and golf tours. Dye passed away early in 2020, but he'll be talked about for decades to come by golfers, just as previous golf course architecture giants are still talked about (and debated) today.

Splashies is the name of a side bet in golf that pays off any time a golfer in your group makes par on a hole after hitting into a pond, lake, creek, stream or other standing body of water.

The 1958 Curtis Cup was the 10th time this competition was played between teams representing the United States and Great Britain & Ireland. Following the halved result here, the all-time standings were six wins for Team USA, two for GB&I, and two ties.

Team Great Britain and Ireland earned its second-ever win in the Curtis Cup in 1956, making the all-time standings to this point six wins for Team USA, two for GB&I, with one tie.

J.L. Lewis reached the PGA Tour in the mid-1990s — and well intos his 30s — after years of trying to get there while working club jobs. The wait was worth it when he finally won in 1999. And then he won again.

The 1954 Curtis Cup was the eighth time this competition was played. Following the result, the all-time standings to this point were six wins for Team USA, one for Team GB&I, with one tie.

The Wales Ladies Championship of Europe was a golf tournament that originated in Scotland before moving to Wales. It was part of the Ladies European Tour schedule from the mid-1990s into the early 2000s.

Something happened at the 1952 Curtis Cup that had never happened before in this competition: Great Britain and Ireland won. Following the result here, the all-time standings in the event, dating to 1932, were five wins for Team USA, one for Team GB&I, with one tie.