Golf Has The Best Nicknames

Just in case you never noticed, golf is all about nicknames and there’s pretty much one for everything. We have names for parts of holes, entire holes and even stretches of holes. Some courses have nicknames and so do the architects who first mapped them out. Two weeks ago the game’s best tried to tame the Bear Trap, this week they’ll try and figure out how to climb out of the Snake Pit. It’s all about the nicknames so what are some of the game’s best?

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First we start with actually playing the game cause there’s plenty there that will keep us busy. Put the ball in the hole in one swing it’s a hole-in-one, a dunk or my personal favorite an ace. Then there’s eagles, birdies and old man par, we like it when we hear these names. Our excitement is tamed when bogey and double bogey come to the party. Miss the fairway your ball is in the thick stuff. Hit it in the sand it’s a day at the beach, dunk it in the water and your stuck in the drink.

How about some of the most iconic holes in golf, the seventeenth at St. Andrews could just be a number, but the Road Hole just sounds better and the Road Hole Bunker sounds much better then that sand trap in front of the green. There’s a Postage Stamp at Troon, an Island Green at Sawgrass, and the Bule Monster at Doral. Let’s not forget about Augusta National where every hole has a nickname, but Amen Corner trumps them all.

Jack Nicklaus won eighteen majors so he deserves a nickname, how about we call him the Golden Bear? He spent most of his career fending off the Black Knight (Gary Player) who gave way to The Big Easy (Ernie Els). I guess if you’re from South Africa and you win multiple majors you get a nickname. Louie Oosthuizen and Trevor Immelman have one major each but no nicknames. Then again Louie’s real name is difficult enough.

Some nicknames are simple, Phil Mickelson is “Leftie” and Rory McIlroy is “Rors.” Then there are ones that when you really think about it, they’re perfect. Henrik Stenson is “The Ice Man” Craig Stadler “The Walrus” and Sergio Garcia “The Bull.” That makes for a heck of a Halloween party. Finally there’s the guys who just come with their own titles. Eldrick Woods couldn’t win fourteen majors, but Tiger Woods definitely sounds like a name that can. Bubba Watson’s real name is Gerry but thank goodness he doesn’t go by that because “Gerry Golf” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

See we’re all about the nicknames in golf. It just adds to the romance of the game and why people like it so much. Sometimes a nickname is special and other sports are losing touch of that. In football there was something special about Giants Stadium, but when you slap a Met Life in front of that it loses its luster. In baseball we all know what happens at Fenway Park but ask ten people where the Detroit Tigers play and you may get ten different answers. Golf has more names than you could ever think of but they’re all special.

Next: Tim Finchem Talks Tiger and Rory

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