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R.I.P. dormie: The 2019 rules revisions changed match play terminology too

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March 28, 2019

The changes to the Rules of Golf have been the biggest story of 2019 thus far, but did you know that golf terms were included in the recent rules revisions as well?

As you might have noticed this week, the Golf Channel telecast has been using the new terminology during the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Texas, which started on Wednesday. The changes have caught more than a few viewers off guard, but, just like putting with the pin in, opinions vary.

These changes were made to align the rules with more commonly used language.

Kevin Kisner and Ian Poulter shake hands after their match on Wednesday at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
Kevin Kisner and Ian Poulter shake hands after their match on Wednesday at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
Getty Images

Here’s a quick rundown of the new preferred terms, so you know exactly what to say the next time you are deep into your Saturday match.

– “Tying” on a hole has replaced “halving” a hole
– “Score” of a match has replaced “status” of a match
– “Asking/requesting a ruling” has replaced “making a claim”
– “Telling an opponent about penalty” and “telling an opponent about number of strokes taken” has replaced “wrong information”
– “Dormie,” the match play term long used to represent leading or trailing a match by the same number of holes remaining, has been removed from the Rules of Golf.

The above revisions are in the new rules, but Golf Channel host Cara Banks also shared a similar version of the changes on Twitter on Wednesday.

So, if Golf Channel plans to stick with the new changes, you might want to get on board, too.