Weekly Workplace Word Wisdom(W.W.W.W.) Vol.16は
ゴルフで使える英語表現です。
接待ゴルフ、または同僚と休暇にゴルフに出掛けるなど
仕事関係の付き合いでゴルフに行く機会は多いかと思います。
もし、英語を話す同僚や上司とゴルフに行くことになったら？！
Jonathan講師が日本とカナダとのゴルフ事情の違いから
日本で使われている英語のようなゴルフ用語と本来の英語表現の違い、
さらには、プレー中に使える英語表現をご紹介いたします。
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Doing business on the golf course.
I am a golfer, I love the game. I started to play when I was very young; 8 years old and I was very lucky to have people show me how to play the game. They showed me not just how to swing the club and how to hit certain shots but also and perhaps most importantly they taught me golf course etiquette. I am thankful to those people every time I play because to me playing golf well is less about your score and handicap than it is about your ability to enjoy the game and to make sure your playing partners enjoy themselves. Proper etiquette goes a long way to make sure that people enjoy playing with you, and given the amount of business that gets done on a golf course, it is critical that your clients enjoy playing with you.
I actually played last week in Chiba with 3 colleagues and at the turn one of them asked me how golf was different in Canada. This is a tough one to cover in one article so I will briefly touch on a couple of key differences and then look in detail at the language of golf.
An obvious difference between golf in Canada and Japan is the price. Now the courses in Japan aren't as expensive as they were during the bubble era, but they are still quite expensive. You can find expensive courses in Canada, some of the best resorts will cost up to $250 (Glen Abbey, host of the Canadian Open) but most of the top courses are around $100.
This price difference is easily accounted for in my opinion. The level of service and amenities at a Japanese course far exceeds that of a Canadian course. When I pay green fees at a top course in Canada I may get some service when I arrive in the form of bag boys that help me with my clubs, but I won't get a locker, and I won't shower or bath after the round. If the clubhouse has those facilities, they will be reserved for members only.
Another difference I will speak to is time. In Canada it is expected that you will finish your round in less than 4.5 hours. I often play my home course in less than 3.5 hours. That means that I can play 18 holes after work. I also know some people that play 9 holes before work. The beauty of daylight savings time often saw me playing golf at 10pm. We do not stop for lunch, it is actually frowned upon for a foursome to stop for anything more than a hot dog and you are expected to eat it as you walk to the 10th tee.
Finally I would like to say that despite the cost and time savings, in many ways I prefer golf in Japan. I love the respect for the game; its traditions and etiquette. And I love the fact that you treat a round of golf as an event; something to be savored and enjoyed like a fine wine. As far as an “experience” goes, golf in Japan is wonderful.
The language of golf is an interesting difference and one you should be aware of if you play with foreign colleagues or clients. In my opinion the confusion comes from the fact that you use plenty of English in golf here, but it is not English that I would use. For example;
“Nice on” is used to compliment a shot that ends up on the green. In English we would say; “Nice shot” or “great shot” if it was close to the pin. Perhaps “Nice on” is short for “Nice shot, you are on the green.” In Japan you say “nice approach” when you hit a short shot onto the green. In English we say “nice chip.” Approach is an English word used in golf but it describes your first attempt shot to the green. A well played par 4 would consist of a “Great drive” followed by an “approach shot” (from 130 yards) to 12 feet and two putts.
Here are some other golf expressions;
Nice drive
- A nice drive is on that is in the fairway and is of a good length.
“You hit a nice drive on the par five; it was in perfect position for your second shot.”
Big drive
- A big drive is used when we talk about a long drive.
“That was a big drive you hit on 10; it was close to 300 yards.”
Nice chip
- used to describe shots around the green.
“that was a great chip you hit on the par 3.”
Up and down
- describes when you take 2 shots to get into the hole from off the green; usually when it is a difficult chip.
“That was a great up and down from behind the green.”
Sand save
- when you make par from the sand trap
“Great sand save!”
Closest to the hole or Closest to the pin
- In Japan I hear it called “near pin”
“Let's play closest to the pin on the par three. Loser buys the beer.”
Lag putt
- a lag putt is one where you are simply trying to keep the ball close. Often used when you are putting down hill on fast greens.
“Wow. That is a great lag putt.”
Weight & line
- When putting there are 2 key factors; line and weight. When your playing partner putts his ball the correct distance you can compliment his weight judgment. Usually the putt is a little long.
*weight = how hard you hit the ball
“Nice weight” or “nice line”
Line
- this is also used to describe the route of your ball to the hole.
“Your marker is in my line; would you mind moving it 1 club head to the left?”
Short game
- the part of the game around the greens; chipping, putting and bunker play.
“You have a great short game” or “Your short game is great today.”
Touch
- we describe people with good short games as having good touch around the greens or having “soft hands” and sometimes compliment a tough chip with “nice touch”.
“He displayed a nice touch around the greens the whole tournament.”
“He has soft hands, so he gets up and down a lot.”
Stone hands
- conversely one who displays no touch around the greens has stone hands.
“My stone hands cost me a lot of strokes on the greens today.”
Chip and a putt
- used as an expression of encouragement when we or our playing partners missed the green with their approach.
“Don't worry; it's just a chip and a putt from there.” “You will still make par.”
I hope that these expressions will help you the next time you tee-it up overseas or with some English speaking colleagues or clients here in Japan. I can't help you with your game but hopefully I can continue to help you with your English!
Here are a few useful Golf websites that might kill two birds with one stone; improve your English and improve your score.
http://www.golf.com/golf/
http://www.golfdigest.com/
http://www.golfweek.com/
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
＜本日の単語＞
critical 【形】重大な
comparable 【形】同程度の、比較できる、見合う
foursome 【名】 《ゴルフ》フォアサム、4人プレー（する組）
sand trap 《ゴルフ》バンカー＝bunker
putt 【名】《ゴルフ》パット、パットの一打
short game 《ゴルフ》ショート・ゲーム、グリーン周りのプレー
＜本日のイディオム＞
go a long way 大きな役割を果たす
at the turn 《ゴルフ》後半スタート時点で
account for ～を説明する、～を明らかにする
green fee 《ゴルフ》グリーン・フィー、プレー料金
in the form of ～の形で、～の形をして［とって］、～の形式［方式］で、～状の
frowned upon 《be ～》冷やかな目で見られる、ひんしゅくを買う
kill two birds with one stone 一石二鳥
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
知らずに
「ナイスオン！」
「OH！ニアピン！」と言って
「What did you just say?」
なんて言われないように
正しく覚えて使いたい表現ばかりでしたね。
ゴルフが一層楽しくなること
間違い無し！の表現集
是非internalizeしてご利用ください。
事務局・山口