NCG’s Golf Glossary: 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.

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