Golf Glossary - 'T'

takeaway - after the address the actual swing motion begins with the takeaway. Thus it is the first movement of the head of the club away from the ball and the beginning of the backswing. Example: "A smooth takeaway is essential in maintaining a consistent swing-plane."

tap in - (aka: "gimme") a golf shot that takes place on the green. The act, or potential act of putting the ball in the hole using your putter with little or no effort as a result of the distance left to the hole. Often referred to as a 'gimme' in informal situations because the competitor recognizes that there is no possible way to miss the shot given the proximity to the hole (note: a gimme is not permitted in any competitive stroke or medal play. The ball must always be holed in order to complete the golf hole) Example: "My 185 yard 4 iron into the green left me a tap-in for birdie."

target line - the imaginary straight line between the ball and the golfer's intended target. Example: "There was a large oak tree on my target line and so I needed to play my shot to the right side of the green and hope to get up and down from there."

tee - 1. (aka: "peg") the short straight device on which a golf ball is placed prior to hitting the first shot on any given hole. Usually made of wood and available in many different sizes and lengths as well as colors with or without branding. Plastic tees are also available. There is no rule in golf that a tee must be used. 2. the act of placing the ball on the tee is known as "teeing up the ball". 3. (aka: "the tee", "teeing ground", "tee area", or "tee box") the area of each hole from which the first shot is meant to be taken and where the tee blocks are located. The grass on the tee is usually cut shorter than the fairway but not as short as the green grass. Example: 1. "As I arrived at the first hole I realized that I didn't have any tees in my pocket and needed to borrow one from John on every hole." 2. "I had the lowest score on the previous hole so I ahead and teed my ball up." 3. "The starter was eager to get us on the tee so that groups behind us would not be late."

tee blocks - (aka: "blocks", "tee markers", "markers") the indicators placed on every hole to designate the area from which the first shot on that hole must be taken. Usually found in pairs of matching colours. Each tee box typically has a number of different colours signifying different levels of play/distances to the green. Example: "As I walked up to the 6th hole I almost teed by ball up between the blue markers/tee blocks by mistake."

tee markers - see "tee blocks".

tee off - the act of taking the first shot on any hole. In particular the first hole. Example: "Andy was goofing around getting his bag organized so I teed off even though it was his honour."

tee off time - the time at which a round of golf is intended to begin. Example: "Peter and I have a regular tee off time Thursdays at 4:30."

tee shot - (aka: "tee ball", "drive") the shot resulting from striking the ball off of the tee. The first shot of any golf hole. Example: "Vince's tee shot faded left and bounced into the creek."

teeing ground - see "tee" definition #3.

texas wedge - a term used to describe a putter when used from any location other than on the green. Example: "I was so close to the green and the pin was in the front location, so I played my texas wedge to within about 3 feet."

thin - (aka: "skinny") when the ball is not contacted in the sweet spot of the face of the club head, but instead by the leading edge of the flange. Typical flight path of a shot hit thin is much lower and produces less spin than intended or than is typical of a shot with the same club. Example: "I laid up perfectly but then hit my wedge thin and sailed it over the green into a bunker."

third wedge - (aka: "utility wedge") a wedge carried in a golfer's bag in addition to the pitching wedge and sand wedge. Example: "My third wedge is a 60° lob wedge - and its my favourite club."

through the green - 1. a official golf term/description used in the rules of golf to describe the entire hole/course. Any location "in play" is considered "through the green". 2. A ball hit so that it travels onto and over the green. Example: 1. "Candy stayed through the green during her entire round on Saturday and didn't take any penalty strokes at all!" 2. John hit his three iron 200 hundred yards right at the stick but it didn't hold and went right through the green."

tight - 1. a term used to describe a particularly narrow area of play in golf. 2. a slangish term used to describe two locations in very close proximity. Example: 1. "A lot of people don't like Royal Woodbine G.C. because it's so tight you often lose a lot of balls." 2. "On the fourth hole Marty hit it his 8-iron so tight that we thought it was going to drop in for his second hole in one!"

toe - from a golfer's position at address, the edge of the club head facing away from the golfer. When looking a the face of the club face the area of the club farthest away from the shaft/hosel. Example: "I hit the ball with the toe of my club and it went almost directly right into the pond beside the tee."

toe hook - a shot that hooks as a result of contacting the ball with the toe of the club. Example: "Melissa toe hooked it right into the woods on the 8th hole."

top - 1. (aka: "dub" or "duff") to strike the top half of the ball usually with the an area on the club face lower than the sweetspot. The result of a topped shot is that the ball travels directly to the ground after contact without any meaningful time in flight and typically travels a much shorter distance than intended. 2. the point of any golfers swing when his/her hands are at their highest location. Example: "I topped my approach shot and had to settle for a double bogie!" 2. "Pam's wrists were way too weak at the top of her swing."

touch - (aka: "feel") a per son who is able to play very sensitive or speed specific shots is said to have great 'touch'. Touch is particularly important for shots around/on the green. Example: "Sean could hit the ball a mile off the tee but he had no touch around the green so his score was well over one hundred."

tournament - (aka: "tourney", "open", "invitational") a golf competition played amongst many golfers. Example: "Doug had only played in amateur tournaments. This was his first tournament as a professional."

trouble shot - (aka: "recovery", "recovery shot") a shot taken from any location of particular difficulty. Example: "Tim was hitting trouble shots all day but still managed to break 80!"

turn - 1. term used to describe the rotation of a golfers body during a golf swing. 2. the transition between the front nine and the back nine (between the 9th and 10th holes) 3. the curve of a shot whether it be from off of a tee or not. 4. another description for a break in a putt. Example: 1. "Tiger Woods isn't a huge person but he has a great turn that gives him a great deal of power!" 2. "I was one under par at the turn but finished with an eighty three." 3. "Pam's approach shot turned from left to right and rolled through the green." 4. "The putt turned left when the read was that it would go right!"