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Golfing Terminology brought to you by The Golf Club

Golfing Terminology starting with "C"

Caddie: A person paid to carry a player's clubs and offer advice or suffer abuse. Players are responsible for the actions of their caddies.
Caliper: Measuring device used to accurately measure the diameters of shaft tips and butts as well as finished grip sizes.
Calcutta: An auction in which people bid on players or teams in a tournament.
Cambered Sole: A rounding of the sole of the club to reduce drag. A four-way cambered sole is one that is rounded at every edge of a wood.
Carry: How far the ball travels through the air.
Cart: 1) The four-wheeled electrical vehicle for use in transporting players from hole to hole. 2) A hand-pulled cart for carrying a bag of clubs, also now available in powered versions controlled by remote.
Carryover: When a hole is tied in a match and the bet is carried over to the next hole.
Casting: An uncocking of the wrists prematurely on the downswing, resulting in a loss of power and control. Also known as "hitting from the top."
Casual water: Any temporary standing water visible after a player has taken his stance. Snow and ice can also be taken as casual water, as well as water that overflows the banks of existing water hazards.
Cavity-back: A type of iron in which a portion of the back of the clubhead is hollowed out and the weight distributed around the outside edges of the clubhead.
Centrifugal Force: The action in a rotating body that tends to move mass away from the center. It is the force you feel in the downswing that pulls the clubhead outward and downward, extending the arms and encouraging to take a circular path.
Center of Rotation: The axis or swing center that the body winds and unwinds around during the swing.
Chicken Wing: A swing flaw in which the lead elbow bends at an angle pointed away from the body, usually resulting in a blocked or pushed shot.
Chip: a short shot (typically played from very close to and around the green), that is intended to travel through the air over a very short distance and roll the remainder of the way to the hole.
Chip and Run: A low-running shot played around the greens where the ball spends more time on the ground than in the air.
Choke: A derogatory term describing poor play that results from nervousness.
Choke Down: The act of gripping down on the shaft, which is generally believed to provide greater control.
Chunk: a swing that results in the clubhead hitting the ground several inches before the ball, resulting in a large "chunk" of ground being taken as a divot. Also called a "fat" shot, or "chili-dipping".
Cleek: A fairway wood with the approximate loft of a 4-wood that produces high shots that land softly.
Clone: An umbrella term for generic brand golf clubs.
Closed Face: Caused when the clubface does not strike the ball in a neutral plane of impact, but instead strikes it at an angle, sending the ball toward the player's front foot, to the left for right-handed players.
Closed Stance: When a player's front foot is closer to the ball, used to draw the ball or to prevent a slice.
Closed-to-Open: A swing in which the clubhead is closed on the backswing but then manipulated into an open position on the downswing.
Coefficient of Restitution: The relationship of the clubhead speed at impact to the velocity of the ball after it has been struck. This measure is affected by the clubhead and ball material.
Cocked Wrists: A description of the hinging motion of the wrists during the backswing in which the hands are turned clockwise. Ideally, the wrists are fully cocked at the beginning of the downswing.
Coil: The turning of the body during the backswing.
Come Over the Top: A motion beginning the downswing that sends the club outside the ideal plane (swing path) and delivers the clubhead from outside the target line at impact. This is sometimes known as an outside-to-inside swing.
Component: Any of the parts used to assemble golf clubs, be they heads, shafts or grips.
Compression: A measure of the relative hardness of a golf ball ranging from 100 (hardest) to 80 (softest).
Connection: A description of a swing in which all the various body parts work harmoniously to produce a solid, fluid motion.
Core: (Ball): Any one of various materials used inside the golf ball. A solid core ball utilizes a hard material inside the cover; a wound core ball typically has softer core covered by a series of windings and the cover.
Club: a tool for the player to hit the ball. 14 clubs are allowed by the rules.
Clubface: The angled surface of the club head that is used to strike the golf ball. The center of the clubface is known as the "sweet spot." Players should strive to hit the ball with the center of the clubface to maximize distance and accuracy.
Clubhouse: This is where play begins and ends. The clubhouse is also your source for information about local rules, the conditions of the course, upcoming events and other essential information for the avid golfer. Normally, you can also purchase balls, clubs, clothes, and other golfing equipment at the clubhouse.
Come-backer: a putt required after the previous putt went past the hole.
Compression: The measurement for expressing the hardness of a golf ball, normally 90 compression. Harder balls (100 compression) can be used in windy conditions.
Condor: a four-under par shot, a hole-in-one on a par 5 . This has occurred on a hole with a heavy dogleg, hard ground, and no trees. Might also be called "a triple eagle".
Course Management: The members of the course staff who run and maintain the course. The term also refers to a golfers expected behavior in helping to maintain the course in optimum condition. This involves repairing pitch marks, replacing divots, taking care when using the greens, raking bunkers out when finished, and so forth. It is only as a team of committed golfers that we can maintain the course in premium shape.
Croquet Style: A putting stance popularized by Sam Snead in which the player stands aside the ball, facing the hole, holds the club with a widely-split grip, and strikes the ball with a croquet-type stroke. A similar style, in which the player faced the hole with the ball positioned between the feet, was banned by the United States Golf Association.
Cross-handed: putting (and, occasionally, full-swing) grip in which the hands are placed in positions opposite that of the conventional grip. For right-handed golfers, a cross-handed grip would place the left hand below the right. Also known as the "left-hand low" grip, it has been known to help players combat the "yips".
Cupped Wrist: A position in which the left or top hand is hinged outward at the top of the backswing.
Cuppy Lie: A lie when the ball is sitting down slightly, usually in a small depression.
Cut or the cut: after the first two rounds of a tournament, a select number of players will have earned the right to play over the weekend for a chance to win the championship on Sunday, by having a score at or lower than this number. The cut is calculated as the mean average? median average? of all scores. As an example, if 5 players in a tournament score respectively 148, 144, 142, 140, and 146, then 142 would be the cut, and those scoring higher will watch as those who scored lower play on through the weekend.
Cut Shot: same as a fade, a cut curves from left to right, but is generally higher in trajectory and more controlled than a standard fade. The "high cut" is a staple among PGA Tour players.