Finesse Shot – Any nonstandard shot used to get a ball out of an awkward or impossible lie by bending, twisting or stretching the rules or by hitting it directly through a loophole.
First Tee – See Fluff, Hook, Sclaff, Shank, Slice, Top and Whiff.
Flagstick – Long, flexible metal pole with red-and-white markings along its length and a numbered flag at its top, which, had it not been left lying on the green by the previous foursome, would have indicated the position of the hole.
Flub – A shot that is too weak to register on conventional score-keeping equipment.
Fluff – A shot in which the clubhead strikes the ground behind the ball before hitting it, causing it to dribble forward one or two yards. A more widely used term for this type of stroke is “practice swing.” See Whiff.
Follow-through – The part of the swing that takes place after the ball has been hit but before the club has been thrown. See Swing.
Fore – The first of several four-letter words exchanged between golfers as one group of players hits balls toward another in front of them on the course.
Four-ball – A match in which two pairs of players each play their better ball against the other. Additional golf matches include: best-ball, in which one player plays against the better ball of two or the best ball of three players; three-ball, in which three players play against one another, each playing his or her own ball; and no-ball, in which two, three of four players, all of whom have lost all their balls, go to the clubhouse and play gin rummy.
