Golf Compendium

The Bridgestone Open was a 72-hole, stroke play golf tournament in Japan from the early 1970s into the 2020s. It was played annually as part of the Japan Golf Tour (JGTO) schedule.

"Putts by the Yard" is the name of a golf game that pays off to golfers who sink a high length of putts during the round. The number of putts you make isn't what's important (not directly, anyway). Rather, the total length of the putts you make determines the game winner.

The golf side game named Pavins is named for a golfer who was a famously short driver of the ball. So you can probably guess that this game pays off to golfers who fare well after hitting a short drive.

Golfers often refer to the "short grass" on a golf course. But even if you're not sure what the "short grass," specifically, refers to, you probably know that it's where you want your golf ball to wind up after playing a stroke.

The golf side wager known as Municipals is one that is usually safe to bet, because it rarely pays out. That's because a golfer has to make par from the wrong fairway in order to win the Municipals bet.

The Pasadena Open was a men's professional golf tournament in California in the 1920s and '30s. It was part of what was known at the time as the PGA's "winter circuit." Some important history in golf equipment was made in this tournament.

Most of our accounts of Masters Tournament records are focused on good achievements — the bests. But sometimes you have to acknowledge the worsts , too. Such as the worst 72-hole scores ever seen in Masters Tournament history.

"Chuck Wagon" is the name of a side bet in golf that pays off once, maybe twice, during the round — the number depends on how many snack bars the golf course has.

Jocelyne Bourassa had a great career as an amateur golfer in her native Canada before turning pro and joining the LPGA Tour. Despite her competitive career ending prematurely due to injury, she made her mark as the first Canadian to win an LPGA tournament played in Canada.

The Honda Civic Classic was a pro golf tournament on the LPGA Tour, played for a handful of years in the 1970s in California. But its roster of champions, though short, is impressive.

What are the highest scores for one round of golf yet recorded in The Masters Tournament? The all-time worst 18-hole score in The Masters is 95.

There are two different side games that go by the name Bogeyman, both of them, as you probably guessed, based around making (or avoiding making) bogeys. One of them is best-suited for low-handicappers, the other is more-often played by higher handicappers.

Imagine having Magnolia Lane on one side of you and the Augusta National Golf Club clubhouse on the other. If you are lucky enough to attend The Masters Tournament (or otherwise find yourself on the Augusta National grounds), you don't have to imagine: You'll be in that spot when you visit Founders Circle.

Frank Walsh was never a big winner in pro tournaments, but he did win on the PGA Tour and was in contention quite a bit in the 1920s and 1930s. His career highlights included reaching the championship match in the match-play era of the PGA Championship, and setting a long-standing Masters Tournament record (but one he'd rather not have).

The Las Vegas Senior Classic was a professional golf tournament in Nevada that was played from the 1980s into the early 2000s. It was part of the Champions Tour, then called the Senior PGA Tour.

What is the worst score on a single hole in the history of The Masters Tournament? The tournament record for single-hole high score is 13, a tally recorded by three golfers so far.

"Let the big dog eat" is one of the more colorful golf slang expressions. Do you know what it means? And how long golfers have been using this phrase?

Would you guess that a golf game named Birdies is one that pays off when a golfer ... makes a birdie? This side bet is one of the simplest, and it is also one of the most popular among golfers.

Jimmy Clark was a professional golfer on the PGA Tour whose tournament appearances mostly came in the 1950s. He is best-known for two things: First, as an amateur, he once set a 36-hole scoring record for all USGA competitions ... and then broke his own record the next time the same tournament was played. Second, as a pro Clark won only twice on the PGA Tour, but they happened in the same year (1952) and the same golfer was runner-up both times.

The Fort Wayne Open was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It was played in Fort Wayne, Indiana, seven times during the 1950s.

From 1972 through 2022, Mission Hills Country Club in California's Coachella Valley was the site of a big LPGA Tour event, a tournament that for most of its history was one of the LPGA's major championships . And every year during the broadcast of that tournament, television viewers heard repeated references to "the Indio effect."

No, an amateur golfer has never won The Masters Tournament. A few have come close, including three who finished runner-up. But it has been a very long time since any amateur even finished in the Top 5 at this major championship.

The golf wager known as "Duck" (sometimes "Duckies") is one that is lost by the last golfer to hold the duck. And what does "holding the duck" mean? It means you hit into water.

Billy Joe Patton was a lifelong amateur golfer who never came close to winning either of the two biggest amateur tournaments. But he did come close to winning a professional major, The Masters, and had multiple Top 10 finishes in both The Masters and U.S. Open. Patton was a big-bombing country boy who captured the imagination of golf fans in the 1950s and 1960s.

Do you know what the golf slang terms "cat box" and "kitty litter" refer to? They are both alternate names for sand bunkers (sand traps) on golf courses.

Do the USGA and R&A, the two governing bodies that set the rules of golf, impose a minimum and maximum size for golf balls? Yes and no. There is a minimum size, but there is no maximum size.

The Florida Lady Citrus (known as the Freedom/Orlando Classic in its final year) was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour played mostly during the 1980s. Although played only six times, it produced some memorable results.

Good golf etiquette is, along with your opponent, the enemy in the game known as Caddy Shack. That's because in Caddy Shack, you are allowed to violate every rule of golf etiquette, you are allowed to do pretty much anything, to distract your opponent and throw them off their game. It's the whole point of Caddy Shack.

Golf is full of side games and competition formats, hundreds of possibilities for a group of buddies or a field of tournament players. What you'll find here are explanations of hundreds of those games.

"Misery" the name of a golf game in which the points "earned" are actually penalties: Golfers are assessed points each time they make a mistake (such as 3-putting or hitting into water). So the object of Misery, just like the object of regular stroke play, is to have the lowest score at the end.

When my golf game ended the other day, I headed straight to the grocery store. My buddies and I have a tradition for our big weekly game: loser buys the steaks. Then we meet back up at one of our houses and enjoy a meal together.

Henry Ransom was a professional golfer, later a rancher and college golf coach, whose victories on the PGA Tour came during the period 1946-55. He once got into a fistfight with another pro during a tournament, but also finished as high as fourth on the PGA Tour season money list.

The Ladies European Open was a professional golf tournament played under various names in the 1980s and 1990s on the Ladies European Tour. It rotated to different golf courses most years, mostly in the U.K. The tournament used a 72-hole, stroke-play format.

"Target golf" is a term that describes a type of golf strategy — or requirement, actually — in which the golfer's strokes are almost all carry, almost no roll, due to course design and/or course conditions. The golfer is playing lofted shots that stop very quickly, trying to avoid penal areas, with the ground game (options to play shots that lead to the ball running a lot after landing) all but eliminated from consideration.

To win the golf side bet known as Froggies, you need some luck. But that's all you need: Winning this bet does not require making par or posting any other specific score.

Dai Rees was a professional golfer from Wales whose long, productive career as a tournament winner spanned from the 1930s into the 1970s. He came close multiple times to winning the British Open, and did win dozens of tournaments on the British and European circuits of his era. Particularly noted as a match player and famed for his dedication to the Ryder Cup, Rees helped hand Team USA the only Ryder Cup loss it suffered between 1933 and 1985.

Mabel walks into the clubhouse looking for her husband, Jasper, who she's arrived to pick up after his round of golf. She finds him at the bar and asks how his round went.

The Wales Open (which was called the Cazoo Open its final two years) was a men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour in the 2000s. It was always played at Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales.

Has an amateur golfer ever won on the European Tour? The answer is yes. How many amateurs have won Euro Tour tournaments? That answer is three.

The putting game named 50/50 (Fifty-Fifty) is one that is played on the practice green. You can play it as a competition between golfers, but it is probably best for a single golfer: You can use 50/50 to spice up your practice session, challenging yourself to earn points on putts of varying lengths.

Andy jumped out of his car in front of the hospital, grabbed his unconscious wife out of the back seat, and dragged her into the emergency room.

Diana Fischwick was an English golfer who was a major player in British women's golf starting as a junior in the 1920s and continuing into the 1930s. Her exploits included a major upset victory in the British Ladies Amateur, and playing in the first two Curtis Cups. By the 1940s she was captaining international teams.

Which golfers finished the year 2024 in the Top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking? Who was No. 1? Below is the year-end list of 2024's top-ranked golfers.

Who was the No. 1 player in women's golf at the end of 2024? Which golfers finished the year ranked the highest in the Rolex Rankings, the official world rankings of women's golf? Below is the year-end list of 2024's top-ranked golfers.