Golf Crossword Puzzles

Print a criss-cross vocabulary crossword on golf: the course, the clubs, the scores, the shots and the rules.

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Golf Crossword

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Answer key: Golf Crossword

1BO2GEYR3FORE4BEI5BUNKERD6FI7CADDIEI8DRIVE9RWO10PAR11PUT12TYGEHE

Across 1 BOGEY · 3 FORE · 5 BUNKER · 7 CADDIE · 8 DRIVER · 10 PAR · 11 PUTT

Down 2 GREEN · 4 BIRDIE · 6 FAIRWAY · 9 ROUGH · 12 TEE

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Around the Course 27

  • Apron Short lawn that separates the smoothest part of a hole from the mown strip before it
  • Bounds A ball that leaves the course is out of ___
  • Bunker Hollow of sand that players try to keep out of
  • Clubhouse Building at a course with changing rooms and a restaurant
  • Cup Another name for the hole itself
  • Divot Chunk of grass and earth cut out by a club
  • Dogleg Hole that goes straight, then bends left or right
  • Dunes Sandy hills by the sea, the usual ground of a seaside course
  • Fairway Stretch of closely cut grass on the way to the hole
  • Flagstick Pole that marks the hole, also called the pin
  • Fringe Band all around the smoothest lawn, mowed a little taller
  • Grain Direction in which the grass grows, which can turn a rolling ball
  • Green Specially prepared lawn where the hole is cut
  • Hazard Older word that covered both sand and permanent water on a course
  • Links Type of course usually found on coastal sand hills
  • Markers Two of them show where the first shot of a hole must be played from
  • Nine Holes in the front half of a full-length course
  • Pond Still water, smaller than a lake, that may guard a hole
  • Range Practice ground where players hit ball after ball into a field
  • Rough Longer grass that borders the closely cut part of a hole
  • Round A full one is 18 holes
  • Scotland Country called the home of the game, first played there in the 1400s
  • Stakes Red or yellow posts at the edge of a lake or stream
  • St Andrews Scottish town whose Old Course set the full game at 18 holes in 1764
  • Tee Little peg set in the ground for the ball to sit on at the start of a hole
  • Turf Grass and its mat of soil, which a low stroke can cut into
  • Yardage Distance to the target, measured in units of three feet

Clubs, Balls and Gear 25

  • Coin A small one can show where a ball lay before it was lifted
  • Dimples Small dents that cover a ball and steady its flight
  • Driver Big-headed club for the longest shots
  • Feathers Stuffing of the hand-sewn leather ball of early times
  • Fourteen The most clubs a player may have in the bag
  • Glove Worn on one hand to help hold the club
  • Grip Covering at the top of a club, where the hands hold it
  • Grooves Fine channels in a club's face that grab the ball and spin it
  • Guttie Nickname of the ball of dried tree sap invented in 1848
  • Heel Near end of a club head, named after part of the foot
  • Hickory Tree whose timber made the long stems of clubs from the middle of the 1800s
  • Hosel Neck of a club head, where the long part of the club is fixed in
  • Hybrid Kind of club, popular in the 21st century, that crosses two older kinds
  • Iron Club with a flat-faced, solid metal head, numbered from 1 to 9
  • Loft Backward tilt of a club's face, measured in degrees
  • Pencil What a player writes each hole's strokes down with
  • Persimmon Tree whose timber made the heads of big-headed clubs before metal
  • Shaft Slender rod of a club, from the handle down to the head
  • Sole Underside of a club head, which rests on the ground
  • Sweet spot Place on a club's face that gives the best strike
  • Titanium Metal of the hollow heads of many modern long-hitting clubs
  • Toe Far end of a club head, named after part of the foot
  • Trolley Wheeled frame that takes a player's clubs along the course
  • Wedge Club for the shortest full shots; its face tilts back the most
  • Wood Club with a bulb-shaped head, named for what the head used to be made of

Scores and Ways to Play 29

  • Ace A hole in one, in three letters
  • Aggregate One score added up from several trips over the course
  • Albatross Three strokes better than the standard on one hole, named for one of the largest birds
  • Birdie One stroke better than the standard for a hole
  • Bogey One stroke worse than the standard for a hole
  • Condor Unofficial name, borrowed from a huge bird, for four strokes better than the standard on a hole
  • Dormie Ahead by as many holes as are left to play
  • Eagle Two strokes better than the standard for a hole
  • Even Word for a score exactly equal to the standard
  • Four-ball Pairs game in which each player plays their own throughout and the lower score on a side counts
  • Foursomes Pairs game in which the two on a side share one ball and hit it in turn
  • Gimme Tiny roll that the other players agree to take as made
  • Gross Score of strokes actually taken, before any allowance comes off
  • Halved Word for a hole on which both sides took the same number of strokes
  • Handicap Number that lets a weak player have a fair game with a strong one
  • Honor The right to play first from the starting place of a hole
  • Match ___ play: the side that wins more holes wins
  • Medal ___ play: another name for the game of fewest strokes
  • Mulligan Free second try at a shot, outside the rules
  • Net Score after a player's allowance of strokes has come off
  • Par Standard score for a hole
  • Penalty Stroke that goes on a score with no swing made, the price of a rules breach
  • Playoff Extra holes that settle a tie
  • Scorecard Where each hole's strokes are written down
  • Scramble Team format: after every shot the side picks its best ball and everyone hits from that spot
  • Scratch Word for a player so good that the allowance is zero
  • Snowman Nickname for a score of 8 on one hole, from the look of the numeral
  • Stableford Scoring by points for each hole in place of a total of strokes
  • Turkey Three holes in a row, each played one stroke better than the standard

Shots and the Swing 36

  • Address To take position and set the club head behind the ball
  • Aim Direction in which a player means the ball to go
  • Approach Shot meant to land the ball on the smoothest grass
  • Backspin Rotation that makes a ball halt fast where it comes down, or roll toward the player again
  • Backswing First part of the stroke, taking the club up and behind the head
  • Blast Shot that sends sand flying with the ball, also called an explosion
  • Break Bend in the path of a ball rolling over tilted ground
  • Carry Distance a ball travels through the air
  • Chip Short shot that flies a little and rolls the rest
  • Downswing Part of the stroke from the top to the moment of contact
  • Draw Controlled bend to the left for a right-handed player
  • Duff A badly mis-hit shot, also called a dub or a flub
  • Fade Controlled bend to the right for a right-handed player
  • Fat Word for a stroke that hits the ground well before the ball
  • Flop Very high, soft-landing shot played with the club laid open
  • Hook Shot that curves sharply from right to left for a right-hander
  • Lay-up Shot played short on purpose, to set up an easier next one
  • Lie How the ball is resting on the ground
  • Line Path a ball is expected to take
  • Lob Short shot that climbs steeply
  • Pitch Short shot made with less than a full swing and a club whose face tilts well back
  • Pull Miss that flies off to the side of the ball where the player stands
  • Punch Low shot kept beneath tree branches
  • Push Miss that flies off to the far side of the ball from the player, also called a block
  • Putt Rolling stroke made on the closely cut lawn where the hole is
  • Run Distance a ball travels after it lands
  • Shank Shot struck by the neck of the club head, which flies off at a severe angle
  • Skull To strike the ball with the leading edge of the club, sending it low
  • Slice Shot that curves sharply from left to right for a right-hander
  • Stance The way a player sets the feet before a stroke
  • Tap-in Very short roll into the hole
  • Tempo Rhythm of a stroke, from first movement to follow-through
  • Topped Word for a ball struck on its upper half, so that it only rolls or bounces
  • Waggle Wiggle of the club at the ball while a player settles before a shot
  • Whiff A miss: the club passes the ball without touching it, and it still counts as a stroke
  • Yips Tendency to twitch during a stroke

People, Rules and History 24

  • Advice Help in choosing a club or a shot; during play a player must not give it to another competitor
  • Amateur Word for a player who is not a professional
  • Archery Skill the king wanted Scots to learn in place of the game in 1457
  • Away Word for the player whose ball is farthest from the hole, who plays first
  • Banned What a Scottish king did to the game in 1457
  • Caddie Helper who looks after a player's clubs
  • Cadet French word, once meaning a student officer, that gave its name to the helper who minds the clubs
  • Chuiwan Chinese stick-and-ball game of the 700s to 1300s, named by some as a forerunner
  • Drop To let a ball fall from knee height to put it back in play
  • Etiquette The game's good manners toward other players and the course
  • Fore Warning shout when a ball flies toward people
  • Integrity The first rule asks players to act with it: to follow the rules and own up to every stroke
  • James Name shared by the Scottish king who outlawed the game in 1457 and the one who lifted the ban in 1502
  • Leith Scottish place where golfers played by the game's oldest surviving rules, of 1744
  • Lost Word for a ball not found in time
  • Minutes A player has three of them to look for a ball
  • Opponent The other side, in a game scored hole by hole
  • Prompt Kind of pace at which the rules ask everyone to play
  • Provisional ___ ball: a spare, hit at once when the first may not be found
  • Rake Tool for smoothing sand after a shot from it
  • Referee Person named by the committee to settle questions of fact
  • Repair What a careful player does to the dent a landing ball leaves
  • Spirit The ___ of the game: what the first rule asks every player to play in
  • Unplayable A player may declare a ball this and move it, at the cost of a stroke

How this list was compiled: Clues written for this site, in five sets after a basics set: the course, clubs and gear, scores and ways to play, shots and the swing, and people, rules and history. Terms were checked against English Wikipedia's Glossary of golf and Golf articles (CC BY-SA 4.0), and every rule figure against the Rules of Golf published by The R&A (randa.org), in October 2026. No player, tour or tournament is named. Licence: own work

How it works

These printable golf crossword puzzles fit Letter or A4, answer key included. The first puzzle has 12 basic words, among them Tee, Fairway, Green, Putt, Par, Birdie, Bogey and Caddie. No player, tour or tournament is named in any clue.

Read the full guide

Five sets after the basics

Around the Course has Dogleg, Fringe, Links and Flagstick. Clubs, Balls and Gear has Wedge, Hosel, Loft and Dimples. Scores and Ways to Play has Albatross, Handicap, Stableford and Dormie. Shots and the Swing has Hook, Slice, Shank and Backspin.

Rule and history clues

Rule clues follow the Rules of Golf: Fourteen clubs at most, three Minutes to look for a ball, a Drop from knee height. History clues go back to 1457, when a Scottish king Banned the game, and to Leith in 1744.

  • New to the game: print Golf Basics. For players who know it: Scores and Ways to Play or Shots and the Swing.

Questions and answers

Are the golf crossword puzzles free to print?

Yes. Printing is free and needs no sign-up, and the answer key comes out last, on a sheet of its own.

Are these golf crossword puzzles for kids or adults?

Both. Golf Basics has short, common golf words such as Tee, Cup, Ace and Chip. The other sets suit people who play, with answers such as Stableford, Dormie and Hosel. This is our judgment, not a published standard.

What golf terms are in the crossword?

Course words such as Bunker and Rough, club parts such as Hosel and Sole, scores from Birdie to Albatross, shots such as Fade and Draw, and rule words such as Provisional and Unplayable.

What is a birdie, an eagle and an albatross in golf?

Scores on one hole, counted against par: a birdie is one stroke under, an eagle two under and an albatross three under. One over par is a bogey. All five words are answers, so the clues say the standard for a hole.

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