Skip to content
    • Tour Homepage
    • PGA Tour
    • LIV Golf
    • DP World Tour
    • LPGA
    • LET
    • The Masters
    • The Open
    • The Players
    • US Open
    • PGA Championship
    • Ryder Cup
    • Solheim Cup
    • WITB
    • Betting
    • News
    • Features
    • Equipment Homepage
    • Reviews
    • Drivers
    • Fairway Woods
    • Hybrids
    • Irons
    • Wedges
    • Putters
    • Golf Balls
    • DMDs
    • Apparel
    • Shoes
    • Trolleys
    • Features
    • News
  • Buying Advice
    • Rules
    • WHS
    • Features
    • News
    • Instruction Homepage
    • Driving Tips
    • Long Game
    • Iron Play
    • Short Game
    • Putting
    • Learn from the pros
    • Course Management
    • Fitness
    • Mental Game
    • Nutrition
  • Giveaways
    • Top 100 Rankings
    • Travel
    • Top 100s Tour
    • Society Guide
    • NCG Golf Podcast
    • NCG Top 100s Podcast
    • Your Golf Podcast by NCG
  • Digital Magazine
National Club GolferNational Club Golfer Logo
  • TourHas submenu items

    Tour Homepage

    • PGA Tour
    • LIV Golf
    • DP World Tour
    • LPGA
    • LET
    • The Masters
    • The Open
    • The Players
    • US Open
    • PGA Championship
    • Ryder Cup
    • Solheim Cup
    • WITB
    • Betting
    • News
    • Features
  • EquipmentHas submenu items

    Equipment Homepage

    • Reviews
    • Drivers
    • Fairway Woods
    • Hybrids
    • Irons
    • Wedges
    • Putters
    • Golf Balls
    • DMDs
    • Apparel
    • Shoes
    • Trolleys
    • Features
    • News
  • Buying Advice
  • ClubHas submenu items
    • Rules
    • WHS
    • Features
    • News
  • InstructionHas submenu items

    Instruction Homepage

    • Driving Tips
    • Long Game
    • Iron Play
    • Short Game
    • Putting
    • Learn from the pros
    • Course Management
    • Fitness
    • Mental Game
    • Nutrition
  • Giveaways
  • CoursesHas submenu items
    • Top 100 Rankings
    • Travel
    • Top 100s Tour
    • Society Guide
  • PodcastsHas submenu items
    • NCG Golf Podcast
    • NCG Top 100s Podcast
    • Your Golf Podcast by NCG
  • Digital Magazine

Sign up here for our newsletter and you'll never slice a drive again. Promise.

Newsletter sign up

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
National Club Golfer Logo

© 2025 National Club Golfer | 2 Arena Park, Tam Lane, LS17 9BF

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy
Country: gb Page generated at: Thursday, 11 December 2025 at 1:13:52 Greenwich Mean Time
club
Glossary
NCG’s Golf Glossary: What is a lie?

published: Jan 1, 2010

|

updated: Apr 17, 2024

NCG’s Golf Glossary: What is a lie?

NCGLink

FacebookXInstagramYouTubePodcast0 comments

Don’t know your dormies from your doglegs? NCG’s Golf Glossary is here to help

what is a lie

Here at NCG we pride ourselves on being the publication for the everyday player, so we’ve taken it upon ourselves to delve into the wonderful world of the golfing lexicon.

Sometimes the most obvious terms have the most interesting story, so you might find yourself an interesting conversation starter…

What is a lie?

A lie in golf is simply how and where the golf balls sits on the golf course. It mainly refers to the quality of the lie as in whether a player is able to get a clean contact on the ball.

How would I use it in a sentence?

“Have you got a good lie or a bad one in the bunker?”

What are the origins?

There are multiple adjectives that golfers use to help describe different lies.

A ‘flyer lie’ refers to a lie that is unpredictable to golfers where the ball comes out and overshoots the target by a considerable distance. Sometimes a golfer can’t predict this will happen but other times you can tell especially if the ball is sat up on the rough or semi rough.

A ‘hanging lie’ refers to a ball that is sat on some form of slope where the ball is above or below the golfers feet.

Any other business?

There is also a tight lie which is often referred to a type of lie where there is hardly any grass and it would be difficult to get a clean contact on the ball.

Click here to return to NCG’s Golf Glossary

Advertisement

Comments (0)

Leave a Comment

No comments yet. Be the first to comment!