R

R & A – The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews who oversee golf in Europe, Asia and the Commonwealth
Range – An area set aside for practice. Campo pratica.
Ranger – A course official who ensures prompt play on a golf course.
Rating Marker – A sign next to the tee which indicates the point from which the holes yardage is measured.
Reading the Green – The act of determining the preferred path the ball must take in order to go in the hole. Leggere il green.
Recovery Shot – To bring the ball back into a favourable playing position from an unfavourable one such as a hazard. Colpo di recupero.
Referee – An official who interprets the Rules of Golf during a match or competition. Arbitro.
Regular shaft – A golf club shaft with an average amount of torque.
Release – To hit the ball such that it rolls on impact with the green. Also refers to movement of golfer’s hands during a swing.
Relief – To lift and drop the ball without penalty in accordance with the rules. Droppaggio gratuito.
Reverse Overlap – Gripping the club with the little finger of one hand placed over the index finger of the other.
Rimmed – A shot which circles the lip of the hole without dropping in. Ricciolo.
Rough – The high grass area adjacent to the fairway and green.
Round – 18 holes of golf. Giro.
Round robin – A tournament in which everyone gets to play everyone else.
Royal and Ancient – Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews – golf’s primary governing body.
Rub of the Green – An unexpected bounce of the ball after it hits the ground. Sometimes helpful, normally not.
Rule – Official R&A rule or local rule. Regola.
Rules of Golf – As published by the R&A. Regole del golf.
Run – The distance that the ball continues to travel after it’s initial impact with the ground. Rotolo.
Running iron – An iron used to make short shots which roll. Ferro a correre.
Run-up – To hit the ball along or close to the ground toward and onto the green.

S

Sand Trap – A sand bunker. Trappola di sabbia.
Sand Wedge – An iron club designed to lift balls out of sand hazards.
Sandy – When a golfer still makes their par after escaping from a sand hazard.
Sclaff – When the club strikes the ground well behind the ball.
Scoop – To scoop the ball into the air rather than loft it. Scodellata.
Scorecard – The card on which a golfer records his score during play. Score.
Scotch foursome – Where players play in teams of two taking alternate shots. Each hole is started alternatively as well.
Scramble – Team competition where players play from the position of the best ball of a team member after every stroke or drive. Lousiana.
Scratch – A player without handicap meaning that he can complete the course on par.
Scratch Player – A golfer who does not require a handicap, such as a professional.
Second Ball – Situation in which a player is obliged to play with two balls because of a question over the legality of the first ball which cannot be settled by a referee or other members of the group. The player’s score is that for whichever ball is deemed legal at a post match adjudication. Seconda palla.
Selective Perimeter Weighting – Equal weight over the toe and heel of the club head.
Semi-Private Course – A club with members but also allows non-members to pay and play. Campo semi-privato.
Set – The number of golf clubs carried (maximum is 14).
Shaft – That part of the club between the head and the grip.
Shag Bag – A bag used to store balls whilst practising.
Shagging – To collect balls from a practice area.
Shank – To strike the ball with the part of the club head where the heel is joined to the shaft.
Short Game – Chipping, Pitching and Putting. Gioco corto.
Shot – An attempt to hit the ball. Colpo.
Shotgun Start – Tournament in which the field start from different holes at the same time rather than queuing up at the first tee. Partenza shotgun.
Sidehill lie – When the ball comes to rest on a slope.
Single – An unaccompanied golfer.
Sink a putt – To hit the ball into the hole. Infilare un putt.
Sit – Expression aimed at the ball to encourage it to stop rolling. Stop!.
Sit Down – A term which the golfer says to the ball to encourage it to land or stop rolling. Giù!.
Skull – Hitting the ball above it’s centre, thus making it fly very low to the ground. Toppata.
Sky – When the club head only just strikes the very bottom of the ball causing it to fly straight up into the area. Normally happens when the ball is on a tee or in the rough. Palombella.
Slice – To induce too much backspin onto the ball causing it to travel through the air following inside to out swing. Opposite is Hook.
Smile – Colloquialism for a lacerated golf ball; a cut in the ball is normally caused by a thinned shot. Palla che ride.
Snake – A long putt which travels over the undulations of the green. Siringa.
Snap Hook – To severely hook the ball.
Snipe – To hook the ball such that it drops quickly.
Sole – The underside of the club head. Suola.
Sole plate – The metal underside of a wood’s club head.
Speed of Play – The time it takes to play an 18 hole ground. Velocità di gioco.
Spike Mark – A tuft of grass caused by spiked shoes. Segno dei chiodi.
Spike Wrench – Instrument used to remove spikes from golf shoes. Chiave.
Spoon – Another name for a 3 wood.
Square stance – When your left and right feet are level and at right angles to the ball when you take your stance.
Stableford – Point scoring competition. One point for a bogey, two points for a par, three for a birdie, four for an eagle and five for an albatross.
Stance – To place your feet in preparation for a swing. Mettersi sulla palla.
Standard Scratch Score – The score a scratch golfer should get when playing a course in normal conditions.
Starter – An official who determines where and when golfers tee off.
Stick – The pole in the centre of the green with a flag attached. Asta.
StimpMeter – An instrument used to measure the speed of a green by applying a known force to the ball and measuring the distance travelled.
Stipulated Round – To play the number of holes of the course determined by the committee during competition. Giro convenzionale.
Stony – When a ball comes to rest near the flagstick.
Straight Flight – A ball travelling in a straight line during flight.
Stroke – An attempt to hit the ball. The stroke starts on a players downswing. Colpo.
Stroke Counters – Gadget to keep track of strokes. Conta-colpi.
Stroke Hole – A hole where in match play an opponent receives a shot. It is determined by the stroke index of the hole.
Stroke Index – An assessment of a holes difficulty used to award shots during strokeplay / matchplay conditions. Indice di difficoltà.
Stroke Play – Where the winner of a match or competition is the player who used the least number of strokes (after handicap deduction) to complete the course. Gara a colpi.
Stymie – When an object such as a tree lies between a player’s ball and the green.
Sudden Death – Where additional holes are played after a tie. The winner is the first player to win a hole outright.
Summer Rules – The normal local rules of the course apply (i.e. allowances made for the winter weather are removed).
Surlyn – Tear resistant plastic outer of modern golf balls (by DuPont Corp).
Swale – A depression in the terrain.
Sweet Spot – The preferred spot on the club face with which to strike the ball.
Swing – The action of hitting the ball.
Swing weight – A measure of a club’s weight.

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