Golf Glossary - 'F'

face - see "clubface"

fade - a shot that curves or moves gently from right to left (for a right handed golfer). A very aggressive or uncontrolled fade may be termed a slice. The opposite of a 'draw'. Example: "Julie faded her second shot nicely into the fat part of the green."

fairway - one of the major components to a golf course. The closely cut grassy area between the tee and the green. Exclusive of the rough, the green, the tee and the hazards.

fairway bunker - a large indentation in the fairway usually, but not necessarily, filled with sand.

fairway wood - any wood other than a driver, or #1 wood.

fan - (aka: "whiff") the action of swinging the club with the intention of contacting the ball but missing entirely.

fat - (aka: "chunky", "fat", "thick", "heavy", and many more) when too much contact is made with the ground either before or after contact is made with the ball resulting in a shot that does not travel as far as intended.

feel - (aka: "touch") having very good judgment, or sensitivity for specific shots in golf. Most applicable on or close to the green. Example: "Phil had great feel around the green and was seldom unable to get up and down."

flag - (aka: "flagstick", "pin") the fabric attached to the top of the flagstick denoting the location of the hole. Often colour coded to indicate the location of the hole on the green. Often used interchangeably with flagstick or its synonyms.

flagstick - (aka: "pin", "stick") the pin which is inserted into the hold on each green with a flag attached denoting the location of the hole.

flange - the bottom side of an iron. Most often in relation to a wedge as the flange on wedges tends to be much larger than other clubs. Especially with respect to sand wedges. Also see "bounce angle".

flatstick - a seldom used term to describe a putter.

flat - used to describe a swing plane that a relatively shallow in relation to the typical or 'perfect swing'.

flex - (aka: "frequency") the stiffness of a particular golf club shaft. Usually measured as a numerical frequency but indicated on the shaft of most clubs as: L-Ladies, A-Senior, R-Regular, S-Stiff, or X-Extra stiff. These examples are listed from most flexible to least flexible (most stiff). A faster clubhead speed is required to regularly benefit from the attributes of a stiffer shaft.

flier - (aka: "flyer", "shooter", "jumper", "airmail") a shot that goes farther in the air than intended. Generally as a result of a poor lie and the inability of the golfer to apply backspin to the ball. Example: "Josh drove his ball 250 yards into the rough but then sent a flier into creek behind the green."

flop shot - a relatively short short (i.e. within 50 yards of the green) that travels very high and lands very softly with little or no role.

fluffy - (aka: "fluffy lie") used to describe a lie where the ball is sitting up on either long grass or large leaves and surrounded by the same. A fluffy lie presents a difficult next shot as the ball must be impacted with out any assistance from the ground.

follow-through - (aka: "finish") the crucial part of the golf swing that begins immediately following impact and continues until all motion of the club and body has ceased. Often referred to as the second half of the swing.

fore - usually yelled loudly to warn golfers of an incoming ball of which they need to be aware for safety sake.

forecaddie - (aka: "spotter") non-players positioned in the general landing area of a hole (off to the side) whose responsibility it is to spot each players drive and determine its final resting place. Example: "PGA events make good use of forecaddies in order to keep play moving and reduce the number of unnecessarily lost balls."

forged - (aka: "forged irons") a process by which iron clubheads are manufactured. Specifically the heads are stamped or hammered into shape and then filed and ground into a finished product. The opposite of 'cast'. Example: "As a general rule forged irons have a softer feel but smaller sweetspot than do cast made irons."

forward press - when used, it is the beginning of the golf swing. It relates to a slight forward movement of the hands ahead of the ball and towards the intended target immediately after which the backswing begins.

foursome - a group of four players playing golf. Example: "My weekly foursome plays at noon on Monday."

Four-Ball - a competition whereby two 2-person teams compete against each other using the one best individual score from each team as the team score on each hole.

frequency - (aka: "flex") a measurement of the relative strength of a golf club shaft as compared to another. Also see 'flex'.

frequency matched - referring to a set of clubs that have different shafts but all consistently display the same flex as determined by a frequency analyzer. As such the clubs, in spite of their different shafts are all frequency matched.

fried egg - refers to a lie, usually in a sand trap, where the ball appears to be the yolk of a fried egg and the sand (or ground) around the ball resembles the whites.

fringe - (aka: "apron", "collar", "frog hair") the grass that is shorter than that found on the fairway and longer than that found on the green that encircles the green and separates the rough &/or fairway from the green.

frog hair - see "fringe"

front nine - (aka: "front", "front side") the first 9 holes of any course. The nine holes before the back nine. Example: "I find the front nine here much easier than the back."