NCG's Golf Glossary: What is a chili dip?

I’m a sweeper.

I like to brush the ball off the turf. A greenkeeper once told me he liked my style because I only ‘bruised’ his precious grass, rather than employing my wedge in the way a lumberjack might use an axe to fell a particularly stubborn tree.

So the only chili dip I tend to enjoy is accompanying a big plate of nachos.

But that’s just me. I’m one of the lucky ones. For some of us, though, this is a real and present danger.

Take a brief look at any around the green and you will see its evil all around. The tell-tale gouge in the turf and the bent shaft of a golf club rammed into the nearby bin.

Word of the week: Chili dip

The Americans are so dramatic, aren’t they? Across the pond, we have a much simpler term for this. It’s a shot that’s fat.

When you chili-dip, it means the club – whether you are hitting a pitch or a chip – strikes the ground behind the ball.

‘Behind the ball’ is actually a loose term, because it’s normally at least half a foot behind and you’ll always know at the moment of impact that something is very, very wrong.

You dig up a heap of turf and this means little, or no contact, with the ball at all.

If you do manage to get something on it, the result is a dribble of a shot that doesn’t go very far. Look down, the ball might still be there.

Night terrors

It’s a horror show all around. It causes maximum embarrassment – particularly if you’ve smashed a long drive and then wasted a shot by losing your mind around the green.

And it breeds uncertainty. See how you feel about that simple chip when you next have a wedge in your hand.

The professionals are no means immune.

We could put together a long list of players to suffered this torment when the ultimate pressure was on, one of the more notable occasions being Hunter Mahan’s ‘flub’ on the 17^th that cost the United States the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in 2010.

chili dip