Golf Notes: That’ll work!
“That’ll work.” is a description of a golf shot that many golfers don’t like to hear. It means that your ball is on the fairway, did not go into the rough but is not a particularly good shot. “It’ll work.” Bill Speak recently stated I hate it when someone says. “That’ll work.” A comment about an honestly good shot maybe, “Wow!” Or “Perfect.” or “Long down the middle.” It also might be described as “nice.” Another term for a not-so-good shot but that has redeeming qualities is “cart golf.” When a player riding in a golf cart hits their ball close to a cart path, someone usually calls out, “cart golf.” The shot does not have to be a perfect shot, but since it lands close to the cart path, the player steps out of the cart and hits their second shot rather than having to walk or drive across the fairway. “Cart Golf.”
The worst shot in golf is a shank, hitting the ball almost dead right or left if you are a lefty. A shank is like an evil spirit that hovers around a golf course, ready to pounce on a victim. It is awful to hit a shank. You don’t even want to say the word “shank” for fear of somehow attracting the shot.
A shank is worse than a “whiff.” A whiff is just hitting the air completely missing the ball. It is embarrassing and counts as a stroke, so you are now hitting your second shot if it is a tee whiff. Another unpleasant shot is called the “banana ball.” A banana ball is hitting a curving slice to the right or left the ball path, mimicking the shape of a banana. Curving the ball the other way is called a “Duck Hook.” Either shot is considered a yuck ball! Hitting the ball fat is another unwelcome golf shot. A fat shot is grabbing too much turf and not enough ball. Then there are beach balls, the large round colorful rubber bouncy balls people play with on the beach but in golf, a beach ball is when a golf ball lands in a sand trap.
“Where did that shot go?” “It’s on the beach.” A worm burner is a ball hit on the fairway just barely above the grass-burning worms. When you finally land on the green, you can dunk it, putting it confidently into the hole. You can also yip it. The yips are awful like the shank. A yip putt is when the golfer kind of jabs at the ball instead of a nice smooth stroke. Yanking a putt is pulling it radically to the left. Don’t worry; keep your head down and swing as hard as you can, and everything will fall in place.