The article below was written by Matt Chivers of National Club Golfer.

Andy Murray has holed the final putt on the 18th green of his illustrious tennis career. Rest and reflection in the clubhouse await.

The three-time grand slam-winning Scot bowed out of the professional tennis game at the 2024 Olympics in an emotional fashion after being beaten in the men’s doubles, but he openly pondered an interesting prospective new chapter when speaking afterwards.

“I’ll play a lot of golf,” he said. “I want to become a scratch golfer. I’ve always loved playing golf, but because of the issues with my back, I haven’t played for five or six years.

“I don’t know exactly what the rest of my life will look like, but I will still stay in touch with the sport. Initially, I want to be at home with my family. I want to spend a lot of time with my kids and my wife, so I won’t be on the road much, I know that.”

Reporting the handicaps of athletes from other sports and celebrities can be a murky game, especially when they admit to not playing for five or six years. Murray is said to play off 7, a handy mark indeed.

In 2019, his mother Judy shared a clip of her double Olympic gold medal-winning son hitting a driver and showing quite a tidy swing. Perhaps he and his contemporary Rafael Nadal could soon share the fairways.

Nadal reportedly plays off scratch, the mark Murray aims to reach. Despite his unorthodox swing which has been frequently shared online in previous years, the legendary Spaniard has no issue getting his ball around the course as well as the court.

Could the Andy Murray golf handicap sail down?

Shot Scope data tells us that scratch golfers hit 62% of greens in regulation during a round and from 50 – 70 yards, scratch golfers miss the green four times.

From 150 yards, Shot Scope tells us that a scratch golfer’s average proximity is 41.58 feet and from six to 12 feet, scratch golfers miss more putts than they hole. Surprised? Despite such a great standard, statistics suggest scratch is not as unattainable as you might think when crunching the numbers.

So how difficult is it? Could Murray, assuming he plays at a decent level already, reach a scratch handicap? PGA professional and National Club Golfer’s in-house teaching guru Jack Backhouse had this to say on whether Murray could realistically reach such a low handicap:

“Scratch golf is the pinnacle of amateur golf – everyone knows what this is and what it means; you’re an expert player.

“Unfortunately, a scratch golfer needs to have a scoring average of 74 and below which is extremely difficult across a whole season.

“A scratch golfer needs to have a pretty much complete game and can’t have any gaping holes in their shot arsenal – there are plenty of 5 handicappers who struggle with one area of the game that could be scratch if they sorted it.

“Getting to scratch takes a considerable amount of time and effort, something Andy Murray now has in abundance and he certainly has the work ethic. I think getting from 7 to scratch is as big a jump as 28 to 10.”

Every golfer knows that feeling—when you’re out on the course and feel loose and relaxed, when you’re in the flow, and the shots just seem to land on the green and slot into the hole with ease. Yes, a good round of golf depends on how you feel in your head, but you want your body to be right, too.

Warming up is a simple thing to help your body get in the flow, but too many amateur golfers ignore it in a rush to get on the tee. Take the time to warm up properly and your score will thank you for it.

In this guide, we’ll look at eight of the best golf warm up exercises, including both the upper and lower body, to get you ready to hit the round of your life.

Golf warm up exercises: the static vs. dynamic stretching debate

Of course, stretching is good before a round, but only if it’s the right kind of stretching. We’re all used to static stretching, where you hold a stretch for ‘X’ amount of seconds in the same position. However, some research suggests that static stretching can, in fact, impede your performance on the course and reduce your power. And no one wants that!

Instead, a simple change of switching things up to dynamic stretching can do wonders for your game. So, what is dynamic stretching? Dynamic stretches are active movements where your joints and muscles go through a full range of motions. Rather than keeping things static, dynamic stretches for golf mimic the movement you’re about to perform—just at a slower pace to get you warmed up.

Think of it as lighting the fire of your muscle memory for that killer swing or perfect putt.  

Related: What’s the difference between static and dynamic stretching?

8 quick golf warm up exercises to build into your routine

Engage your upper body, lower body and core with these quick warm up exercises for golf.

Upper body

1. Arms across the chest

Start with your arms out wide and cross them across your chest at the same time. You should do about 15-20 reps of these.

2. Arm circles

An old one but a goodie. Throw your arms out wide at the same time and make circular motions with both arms. Do around 10-15 circles in each direction.

3. Toe touches

Begin standing and reach overhead to extend your spine through the middle of your back rather than your lower back. Keep your back straight as you move your hands down to touch your toes. Don’t worry if you can’t reach; just remember not to round your back.

Lower body

When you tee off, you want your power to come from your hips and legs. To get your hips feeling loose and any tight muscles in your legs warmed up, try the following dynamic stretches.

4. Hip rotations

Stand with your hands on your hips with your feet shoulder width apart. Rotate your hips 10-15 times in the same direction. Switch directions and complete another 10-15 reps.

5. Lunges

Warm up your core and legs with lunges. Stand with your back and legs straight. First, lunge forward with your right leg and step back into your straight position. Do between eight and 10 lunges on the right leg before switching to the left.

6. Forward leg swings

Stand straight with your right leg slightly off the ground. Use your left hand to balance against a wall to keep your posture straight. Swing your right leg back and then forward. Complete 10-15 swings for your right leg before switching to your left.

Grab your clubs before you hit the course

7. Body weight squats

Stand up straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Grab a golf club and hold it overhead. Then, lower your hips as if you’re sitting in a chair. Keep your upper body straight, and your arms extended all the way down.

It will help with your core muscles and the power from your posterior.

8. Speedy practice swings

Before you tackle the course or practice your swing at the driving range, grab your clubs and get ready to swing. Without using a ball, make 10 swings as fast as you can. Make sure you reset after every repetition. Switch your grip and make another 10 swings in the other direction.

This golf warm up exercise helps with your speed and will also get the blood pumping in your muscles.

You’re now good and ready to show your golf mates what you’re made of.

A few extra tips to keep you warmed up like the pros…

• Spend at least 10-15 minutes getting properly warm before your round. Don’t just jump straight from the changing rooms or your car to the first tee
  
  
• You may want to consider the driving range before the course—just don’t overdo it. You want to feel loose and warmed up at the first tee, not tired and overworked
  
  
• Stay hydrated, as your mind and muscles will thank you for it
  
  
• It’s not just about warming up properly. To really take your golf game to the next level, build upper body and arm exercises into a regular training routine. Here are seven of the best to try
  
  
• Keep your mind relaxed too. After one bad shot, it’s easy to get into your own head. But remember, you’re warmed up, and you’ve been working on your game and your training routine. You’ve got this

So, now you know how to warm up properly before your next round, don’t forget this vital step to improving your golf performance. Now, let’s hit the course!

Golf is a sport that can easily confuse the newcomer with its weird and wonderful sayings. In this blog, we’ll look at some commonly used golf slang and explain what each term actually means.

Golf slang

Ace

An ace is a hole-in-one. Not many of us can claim to have had one of these, but the word stems from other games, such as the ace in a deck of cards representing the number one. The term ‘ace’ is believed to have been used in golf since the 1920s.

Army Golf

This comes up when a player is struggling to find a fairway and is hitting it all over the place: left-right-left, left-right-left—you get it.

Birdie

A birdie means one-under-par. It’s said that someone remarked ‘that is a bird of a shot’ at the Country Club in Atlantic City in 1903, and a playing partner claimed they should double his money if he played the hole in one-under.

So it became known as a ‘birdie’ all around the world. Similarly, an eagle is bigger than your average bird, and an albatross is very rare, much like its golfing version.

Bogey

This was originally accepted as the score that recreational golfers should record on a hole. So, in the early days, there was no talk of a score to par but rather a player’s aggregate score.

Now, a bogey is when a player finishes a hole over par. The word itself comes from the popular song ‘The Bogey Man’ from the early 1890s.

Dormie

The French for ‘to sleep’ is ‘dormir’, which lends itself to the fact that a golfer in ‘dormie’ can relax given that they can’t lose the match.

Dormie means that a player is leading by as many holes as there are holes remaining.

Cabbage

This can also be described as spinach, and refers to very tangly, gnarly rough. So, cabbage is certainly not something you want to get involved with on the golf course.

Chilli Dip

Again, this is not very favourable and refers to when a player mishits a shot so badly behind the ball that it barely moves or not even at all. This is also sometimes referred to as a ‘chunk’ or a ‘fat’.

Fore

According to the USGA, ‘fore’ originates from Scotland and is a shortened version of ‘before’ or ‘afore’.

The old Scottish warning, essentially meaning “look out ahead,” most probably originated in military circles, where it was used by artillerymen as a warning to troops in forward positions. It’s thought that golfers used this as early as the 18th century.

Whatever the origin, however, it’s one of the most unwanted words to be uttered or heard on the golf course, as it usually means a wayward shot is heading your way.

Related: Why do golfers shout fore?

Foot Wedge

This is fairly literal and refers to when a player chooses to use their foot to improve their lie into a better position. So, yes, basically, this is a cheat.

Fried Egg

This is when a ball is plugged into a bunker and simply does what it sounds like. For years, the difficulty of this shot has been exaggerated, but with some green to work with, there’s no need to fear it too much. 

Gimme

Gimme is believed to have been coined in the early 1900s, with the most likely derivation being a slightly shorter version of the phrase ‘give me’.

It refers to a putt so short that it is virtually unmissable. So, rather than making your partner roll it in, you essentially ‘give it’ to them without them playing the shot.

Whatever the origin, a gimme still seems to cause the odd argument with some golfers being very affronted by the lack of their playing partners’ generosity. There have been many famous flare-ups in the professional game over some unnecessary confusion over a short putt that hasn’t been conceded.

Inside the Leather

Back in the days of leather grips, this would refer to any putt concession inside where the grip started. So, if you could get your putt close to the hole, and it was measured to be ‘inside the leather’, you could then pick it up.

Mulligan

A mulligan is simply a replayed shot. There are various claims over the origin of the opportunity to replay a shot, but the most likely is that Mr Mulligan, a Canadian hotelier from the 1920s, hit a shot and impulsively hit another one.

Mulligan called it a ‘correction shot’, and it was agreed that it merited a better name.

Par

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, par derives from the Latin meaning ‘equal’ or ‘equality’. It took until the 19th century for it to come into golf, though, and in 1911, the USGA defined it as ‘perfect play without flukes and under ordinary weather conditions, always allowing two strokes on each putting green’.

Sandbagger

This was originally a term used to describe gangs who would use a small bag or sock filled with heavy sand in the 19th century to assault their victims. In golf, however, it refers to a bandit who plays off a handicap which is too high for their relative skills.

Sandbaggers generally pop up when there’s a decent prize to be had!

Shank

This is an old English word and refers to the lower part of a leg—think of a lamb shank.

It’s thought that it came into the golfing world in the 1920s and is the most feared shot in the game—so bad that many players won’t even say the word. For those lucky enough not to be familiar, a shank is when the ball meets the hosel of the club and heads sideways.

Snowman

This is when you record an eight on the scorecard, and whatever your standard, it’s not going to do you any favours. 

Worm burner

This refers to a shot that is topped and barely gets off the ground.

Yips

Yips are involuntary spasms that can affect all parts of a golfer’s game—or indeed any sportsperson’s, for that matter.

Tommy Armour is the golfer thought to have brought the word into our consciousness, having suffered from the affliction despite being a three-time Major winner in the 1920s and 30s.

How much of this golf slang do you recognise? How many of these golf slang terms have you used yourself when playing? Get in touch via our social media channels and let us know!