Teeing areaWhere each hole begins. The first shot is played from here, often off a small peg. It is also called the tee box.
FairwayThe strip of short-cut grass between the tee and the green. The best place to play from.
RoughThe longer, coarser grass either side of the fairway. Harder to play from.
Putting greenThe area of very short grass round the hole. The ball is putted here.
FlagstickThe pole with a flag that stands in the hole. It shows where the hole is. It is also called the pin.
HoleThe hole in the green, also called the cup. It is 108 mm (4.25 in) across and at least 10 cm (4 in) deep, and is usually moved to a new place each day.
Edges and hazards: 4 4
FringeThe slightly longer grass round the green. It slows balls rolling off the green. It is also called the apron or collar.
BunkersHollows filled with sand. One is at the outside of the bend of the fairway and one beside the green. They are also called sand traps.
Penalty areaA hazard such as a pond, stream or lake. Also called a water hazard. A ball that cannot be played from it usually costs a penalty stroke.
Out of boundsThe area beyond the course's boundary, marked here by stakes. A ball that goes there cannot be played from where it lies.
How this list was compiled: Read 2026-09-27. Wikipedia, Golf course, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf_course : each hole has a tee box (teeing area), a fairway, hazards such as the rough, and a green with a cylindrical hole, the cup, holding a flagstick or pin; its labelled course figure names the teeing area, penalty area, rough, out of bounds, fairway bunker, fairway, putting green, flagstick and hole; the fringe of longer grass round the green slows balls; the rough is cut higher and coarser; the hole must be 108 mm across and at least 10 cm deep, its position usually changed daily; doglegs. Wikipedia, Golf bunkers and penalty areas: bunkers (sand traps) and penalty areas (water hazards: rivers, streams, lakes and ponds); a ball that cannot be played from a hazard is generally played from elsewhere with a penalty of one stroke. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-05 by script. Own geometry, nothing traced: one made-up dogleg hole from above, with trees, stakes and the flag drawn upright as a picture map draws them, and the hole cut through from the side. The labelled course figure in Wikipedia's Golf course article (Golf field.svg, Toto-tarou and others, CC BY-SA 3.0) was looked at for the kinds of thing a hole shows, not copied. Not to scale, no real course. Licence: own work
How it works
These are the parts of a golf course on one hole seen from above, played from the bottom up, with the hole itself drawn close up below. Start with the 6 main parts.
Read the full guide
From tee to green
Every hole starts at the teeing area. The fairway of short grass leads to the putting green, with the longer rough either side. This hole bends left, a shape golfers call a dogleg.
On and round the green
The green is ringed by a fringe of slightly longer grass. The flagstick stands in the hole, 108 mm (4.25 in) across. Bunkers, water and out-of-bounds stakes make the hole harder.
A standard round is 18 holes, and each one has these same parts in a different shape.
Questions and answers
What are the main parts of a golf course?
Each hole has a teeing area, a fairway, the rough, hazards such as bunkers and water, and a putting green with the hole and flagstick.
What is the difference between the fairway and the rough?
The fairway is the strip of short-cut grass between tee and green. The rough is the longer, coarser grass either side, which is harder to play from.
How big is the hole on a golf course?
The hole, or cup, is 108 mm (4.25 in) across and at least 10 cm (4 in) deep. Its place on the green is usually changed every day.