Take-away - The initial part of the backswing. The name derives from the fact that a properly executed, ground-scraping, slow, backward sweep of the club with the clubhead pressed firmly onto the ground will "take away" most impediments interfering with the lie.

Tap In - A short, easy putt that anyone can make.

Tap-In - A putt short enough to miss one-handed.

Target Line - An imaginary line from a player's lie to the target which the ball would follow if an imaginary golfer hit it.

Tee - Small wooden peg on which the ball is placed for a drive from the teeing ground. The condition of the tee after the tee shot provides an indication of whether or not the ball was hit correctly. If the tee flips backwards and lands in one piece a few inches behind the place where it was inserted into the grass, the ball was probably hit well. If, on the other hand, the tee breaks into three or more pieces, is driven deeper than two inches into the ground, travels farther than the ball or catches fire, it probably wasn't.

Tee Off - To drive a ball off a tee. Players who have made their drives off a tee are said to have teed off, but at this point it is almost always also correct to say that they are teed off.

Teeing Ground - A clearly defined rectangular area 2 club-lengths in depth from which players hit shots 20 to 30 club-lengths directly forward or 5 to 10 flub-lengths to either side.

Tempo - The speed of a golfer's swing.

Tending the Flag - To hold the flagstick such that a player may aim for it and then remove it as the balls approaches.

Tester - A putt that's long enough so that it's not a gimme but short enough so that a decent player should hole it, so called because it tests a golfer's skill.

Texas Wedge - When you use your putter from off the green, that club becomes a Texas wedge, so named because the shot became popular in Texas, where hard, dry conditions make it less risky to putt from off the green.

Thin - Hit it To hit the ball in the centre with the club's leading edge, instead of sliding under it. Chances are your shot will fly lower and farther than you intended. This is still much better than hitting it fat.

Tight Lie - Poor playing position in which the ball is lying low in the grass or sitting on a bald or bare spot. Also known as a "close lie" or, more commonly, as an "original lie," "preliminary lie," "previous lie" or "former lie."

Through the Green - Any part of the course which is not 'out of bounds' except the tees, greens and hazards.

Tiger Tee -The tees used in a pro competition.

Tight Fairway - A Fairway (the cut grass area between tee and green) that is only a few yards across.

Timing - Precise control of the speed of movement in the swing to achieve the greatest possible power and accuracy. If a player's timing is off, then there is no way his or her shot will reach its . . .

Toe - The part of the club head farthest from the club shaft. If you hit a ball out there you toed it, or hit a toe job, and it will probably travel on a right-to-left flight path.

Top - To hit the ball well above its centreline, causing it to hop or trickle a few feet forward. Topping the ball is a problem that usually afflicts only beginning golfers, and it is quickly left behind once a player has learned to master the hook, the slice, the shank and the airball.

Tournament - An elaborate, time-consuming but basically fair method used by many country clubs to decide which individual members will be stuck for the next 12 months with the job of polishing, dusting and displaying their huge collection of ugly silver trophies.

Track Iron - Old fashioned club with metal head used to lift balls from tracks and carriageways.

Trap - A geek's term for bunker. There are no such things as traps, only bunkers.

Two Piece Ball - A ball made from a core of rubber, metal or other wrapped in strands of rubber encased in a surlyn or balata shell.

Triple Bogey - Three strokes more than par. Four strokes more than par is a quadruple bogey, 5 more is a quintuple, 6 is a sextuple, 7 is a throwuple, 8 is a blowuple, and 9 is an ohshutuple.