Golf on TV…How to Watch

I’ve had a few emails asking/commenting about golf on TV. Some are general comments asking why on earth anyone would watch golf on TV since it appears to be too boring. Other questions are related to terminology and how to understand the basic game of golf for the casual viewer.

First off, some basic knowledge of a few terms:

Scoring Terms

• Par – the number of strokes alloted to complete a hole in golf. The value assigned to represent par is always comprised of two putts and the number of strokes it should take to reach the green. For example, if the hole is a par-4, it should take a player 2 shots to get the ball onto the green and two putts to get the ball into the hole. This is called par, or making a par, or parring a hole. Par is good.
• Birdie – A score on a hole that is one shot below par. For example, if you reach a par-5 in 3 shots and then make your next putt, you’ve made a birdie on that hole. Birdies are very good.
• Eagle – A score on a hole that is two shots below par. Eagles are rare for most weekend golfers, but they can and do happen. Most of time, a golfer has reached a par-5 in two shots and they two-putt for an eagle. Eagles are very, very, good.
• Bogey – A score on a hole that is one shot over par. For example, you reach the green on a par-4, and then take three putts to get the ball into the hole. Not only have you made a bogey, but you three-putted the hole to boot. Bogeys are common for the weekend hack. However, bogeys are bad.
• Double Bogey – Although it comes from the bogey family, it’s two shots over par on a given hole. Double-bogeys are rare for touring pros. Not so for weekend hacks though. Double-bogeys are very bad. You can extrapolate from here to see what triple-bogeys and quad-bogeys are.
• One-under – You very often hear the term “one-under” during a golf telecast and they are referring to a players position in relation to his or her round, or overall tournament score. For example, you might hear, “Tiger Woods is one-under for his round and even par for the tournament.” All this means is that Tiger also has a bogey somewhere and the birdie has evened his score.

Listening to the Commentators

You can actually learn a lot about golf by listening to the golf commentators. Granted, they speak in golf lingo most of the time, but they are generally former players and have an excellent knowledge and insight into the game. My personal favorite (thought he rubs people wrong) is Johnny Miller. Miller pulls no punches (though this year they’ve reined him in) and is not afraid to give a controversial view or opinion. A good commentator also talks about the strategy a player might be thinking during a hole and will give some insight into why a player might have hit the shot they did. Case in point is Phil Mickelson’s blunder on the 18th hole at the U.S. Open. All Mickelson needed was a bogey to get into a playoff and a par to win. His first mistake was hitting his driver off tee. He had mis-hit his driver all day and this was not the time to try and correct it. After hitting his drive into the left rough he was left with a very difficult second-shot and had virtually no chance to reach the green. However, he tried to hit the miracle shot around a tree and instead hit the tree and the ball only went about 30 yards. In any case, the commentators (both on-course and in the booth) were questioning Mickelson’s strategy from the get-go. Granted, if Mickelson makes a par and wins, then no one would have second-guessed his strategy.