A bogey is one stroke over par on a hole, par being the number of strokes a skilled golfer is expected to need there. One worse than that is a double bogey, and one worse again is a triple bogey. In the other direction, one stroke under par is a birdie. The scoring category of the table lists all of them together with eagle, albatross and ace, so you can see where each name sits relative to par.

For a right-handed golfer, a draw curves from right to left and a fade curves slightly from left to right. Both are controlled shot shapes played on purpose. The uncontrolled versions have their own names: a hook starts right of the target line and turns sharply left, while a slice starts left of the target and curves sharply right. So the distinction is about how much the ball bends and whether you meant it, not about direction alone.

Strokes gained compares a player's result on each shot with the field average, using shot-level data: from a given spot, everyone else needs some average number of strokes to finish, and your difference from that average is what you gained or lost. It splits into strokes gained putting, which covers the greens, and strokes gained tee-to-green, which aggregates tee shots, approach play and short game before putting. That split is why an analyst can say a player is winning with the long clubs and giving it back on the greens.

Stroke play decides the winner by the total number of strokes taken over the round, so every shot adds to one running number. Match play instead settles each hole on its own, won, lost or halved, and whoever takes more holes wins the match; a disastrous hole costs you that hole and nothing beyond it. Most professional events are stroke play, which is part of why hole-by-hole team competitions feel so different to watch.

Your handicap index is a numerical measure of your potential ability, updated as you post rounds to the governing association. It is not the number of strokes you actually receive on the day: you convert it into a course handicap for the specific course and set of tees you are playing. The conversion leans on the slope rating, which expresses how much harder a course plays for a bogey golfer than for a scratch player, so the same index yields more strokes on a tougher course.

A hybrid blends features of woods and irons so the ball launches easily from varied lies. It is usually carried in place of a long iron, meaning the low-lofted 2, 3 or 4 iron that flies flatter and longer but demands very solid contact. Against a fairway wood, which has a shallow face and is built for distance from the tee or fairway, the hybrid is shorter and easier to control out of trouble.