The 'Back Nine' of a Golf Course
The "back nine" of any 18-hole golf course is comprised of the 10th hole though the 18th hole — holes 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18. The back nine ends with the 18th hole, and, assuming you began the round on the No. 1 tee, the end of the back nine also means the end of the golf course and the end of your round.
The back nine is also called the "inward nine," and can also be called the "second nine" or the "back side" of the golf course. The back nine comes after the "front nine," which refers to the first nine holes of an 18-hole golf course (holes 1-9).
Golfers think of 18-hole golf courses as two sets of nine holes, the front nine and back nine. We add up our scores after nine holes, add up the score of the next nine holes that make up the back nine, then combine our scores on the two nines to get our total, 18-hole score.
A golf course that is fewer than 18 holes in length does not have a back nine (or front nine). Those terms are specific to the standard golf course length of 18 holes.
"Back nine" is a very commonly used term in our sport. A golfer who does particularly well on one of the nines might say something along the lines of, "My back nine score was great, unfortuntely I got off to a slow start on the front side."
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