I really didnt think I would have to post this again .
Only this month, in a once respected British greenkeeping journal (and no slip of the pen either, since the error was repeated several times), reference was made to greens staff and greens committees. Of all people, it's hard to believe a professional organization would perpetuate such a gaff, but perhaps ignorance is bliss!
Golf course managers, committee members, club secretaries and, of course, all golfers should be aware of the meaning and origins of words exclusive to the game. Frequent misuse of golf terms is to be found in all manner of so-called official histories of the game and in various articles published by accepted experts, such misuse continuing in print and common language to the present day. The belief that such bastardization becomes acceptable through frequent use is one that finds no favor in these more enlightened times.
Let us start with the playing area—or as we commonly refer to it today, the course. In the earliest phase the game was played on seaside links; common wasteland twixt land and sea used also for archery practice, football, bleaching clothes, breeding rabbits etc. — to say nothing of courting couples and the like.
When the game spread inland the term 'links' was in many instances mistakenly used to describe the land on which the game was played.
Linksland, by proper definition, is "undulating sandy land close to the shoreline beside coastal towns and villages. Often close to the lowest point of rivers before they reach the sea, the glacial alluvium deposited by rivers joined the sand of the bay to form broad fertile deposits. The prevailing off-shore wind and storms constantly blew sand inland, creating the uneven grassy land immediately behind the beach, know as the links." *
More frequently, however, the word 'green' was favored over 'links'. After all, cricket—the national game of England with similar rustic origins—was played on the village green. So the golf 'green' was the accepted terminology for inland courses around the period 1880—1914 when the original golf boom was in full swing.
There are many terms derived from the word 'green'—some familiar to our ears—which have persisted to the present day in common usage
GREENKEEPER-— Self explanatory. NEVER greenskeeper!
GREEN STAFF — Always two words: staff who work on the green.
GREEN COMMITTEE — Never greens committee please. Course committee not an acceptable alternative.
GREEN CHAIRMAN — Boss of the green committee. A greens chairman, if such a person were to exist, might be ridiculed as overseeing the cabbages and sprouts!
RUB OF THE GREEN — Becomes intelligible when the meaning of green is understood.
GREEN FEE — Course fee is altogether too coarse !
THROUGH THE GREEN - Applies to the whole area (except tee and putting green , and all hazards ) of the course being played .
PUTTING GREEN - Where the 4.25' diameter hole is found.
PRACTICE GREEN - The practice area, NOT a putting green.
PRACTICE PUTTING GREEN - Yes, you've got it !