NCG’s Golf Glossary: What is a lip out?
What is a lip out? 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 lip out?
Something of an annoyance for golfers, a lip out is where a putt hits the edge of the hole and proceeds to follow the circumference without dropping in.
If you’re skilled enough, the odd few golfers might be unfortunate enough to lip out after trying to hole a chip shot.
Normally the golfer who is standing on the putting green next to you shouting and cursing?
That’s probably courtesy of a lip out.
How would you use it in a sentence?
“Phil Mickelson was on the verge of history at The Open in 2016 – he had a 16-foot birdie putt to be the first man in major history to shoot 62, but it lipped out.”
What are its origins?
There isn’t really a history behind the phrase lip out – it’s simply say what you see.
When you lip out, the ball makes contact with ‘the lip’ of the hole proceeding to go ‘out’ rather than in the hole.
There are a number of ways that someone could lip out of the hole. These normally are, from a putt, a chip shot, or even from an approach shot.
Any other business?
If you lip out it’s not the most pleasurable of experiences, and it normally makes a golfer slightly hot under the collar.
The most common lip outs are usually the ones within 10 or 20 feet, and there are none more famous than this one…
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