Parts of a Golf Course Explained: Fairway, Rough, Apron and More

Tee, fairway, rough, bunker, apron, fringe, green - the vocabulary of a golf hole, explained for families new to the game.

Golf has a vocabulary for every part of a hole, and it is used constantly on course and in coaching. For a family new to the game, learning the map makes everything else easier to follow.

The tee

Each hole starts from a teeing area, usually marked by two tee markers. Courses have several sets at different distances, often colour-coded, so players of different abilities can play a sensible length. Juniors normally play from the forward tees, and many Australian clubs now have dedicated junior tees closer still.

Which set of tees a junior plays from changes how much of that ground they actually have to cover - see our junior tee yardages guide.

The fairway

The fairway is the closely mown corridor between tee and green. The grass is short, so the ball sits up and is easy to strike cleanly. Getting the ball on the fairway is the main objective of a tee shot on most holes.

The rough

Either side of the fairway the grass is longer. Rough makes clean contact harder because grass gets between clubface and ball, reducing control and often distance. Many courses have graduated rough: shorter close to the fairway, longer further out.

Bunkers

Bunkers are prepared areas of sand, found beside fairways and around greens. They carry specific rules - historically a player could not ground the club in the sand before playing, and that restriction still applies in a bunker - which is why they are worth understanding early rather than discovering mid-competition.

The green, and the bits around it

The green is the very closely mown surface where the hole is cut, prepared for putting. Around it you will hear several terms that describe the transition from fairway to putting surface:

• Fringe or collar: the narrow ring of slightly longer grass immediately around the green
• Apron: the mown approach area in front of the green, running back towards the fairway

These matter because they change your options. On the green a player putts and may mark and lift their ball; just off it, in the fringe, they may putt or chip but the ball must be played as it lies.

The flagstick and hole

The hole is 108 millimetres in diameter, marked by a flagstick. Flag position moves around the green day to day to spread wear, which is why a hole can play quite differently on consecutive visits. Some clubs use coloured flags or markers to signal whether the pin is at the front, middle or back of the green.

Putting the map together

A standard hole runs tee, fairway with rough either side, hazards or bunkers placed to make the route interesting, apron, then green. Once a child can name these, coaching instructions like 'aim for the right half of the fairway' or 'land it on the apron and let it run' stop being abstract.

For the wider vocabulary beyond the course itself, our junior golf glossary covers the terms that come up around scoring, equipment and competition.