Before you get onto a golf course for the first time, there are several things you should have a basic understanding of. One of which is the terminology and location to several terms that make up the anatomy of a golf course.

Clubhouse
This is the first place you will go after arriving at the course. It will be the main building where you will check in and pay for your green fees. Clubhouses vary in size and services. It may house a pro shop stocked with golf clubs, logoed apparel such as hats and shirts, golf balls, gloves, tees, etc. Most clubhouses also have some food and drinks available. It might simply be a snack bar or refrigerator stocked with various beverages. The clubhouse at a large private club or resort may even have a bar, grill room or a full-scale restaurant.

Driving Range
Also known as a practice range, this will be an area for you to warm up and practice before starting your round of golf. Sometimes the facility will let you hit balls for free (or as part of the greens fee), while others will charge you additionally. Because a driving range must be able to contain the shots to avoid accidentally having a stray ball hit a fellow golfer or their car, there must be a place large enough to hit from. Therefore, not all golf courses will have the luxury of hosting a driving range. Driving ranges are also great places to inquire about custom made golf clubs.

Teeing Ground
Also called the tee box, this is the area where the golfer will hit their first shot on each hole. These will be relatively flat with a nicely mowed area to start you out with a perfect lie. The player may elect to hit off the bare ground, but more commonly with the ball played upon a wooden or plastic tee (where the name originated from). The teeing ground has markers from which they player must hit the ball between. Most golf courses have several sets of tees, each of which may be color coded to denote the skill level of player who should be playing at each area. Whatever set of tees you start on off the first tee, you are supposed to hit from for the remainder of the round.

Each set of tees will be color coded to denote the skill level of player who should be playing at each area. The furthest back teeing area often called the back or championship tees. Teeing from these will be the most challenging as this creates the longest distance that the course can be played. Therefore, this should be reserved for more proficient golfer who can hit the ball a long way. For beginners or those that do not hit the ball very far, playing from this set of tees can be quite humbling to the point that the round is not enjoyable. These may be marked as the blue or black tees.

There is usually a Men's set of tees (typically the white tees) for the average male golfer to play from that will be shorter in length than the back tees. Ladies will have a forward set of tees that creates normally the shortest distance to each hole. These are typically the red tees. These are the three basic sets of tees (back, middle, forward) but many courses will add others such as a senior teeing ground positioned between the Men's and Ladies set of tees. Some junior-friendly courses will have a dedicated set of tees that are much closer to the green for those less formidable. The different teeing grounds are made so that it levels the playing field for the different skill levels of golfers.

Fairway
On par 4's and par 5's, the fairway is the ideal area to land the ball after teeing off toward the hole. The fairway constitutes a nicely moved area where the grass is short and even. The fairway may start out straight or it may be designed to bend one way or another. If the fairway bends right it is referred to as a "dogleg right" and if it bend left it is called a "dogleg left". On some holes that are long, the fairway may bend one way then back the other. In this instance it is called a "double dogleg"

Rough
The rough is the area that surrounds the fairway and identified by the high grass. This is a place to avoid hitting the ball from as it is more difficult to hit the ball cleanly and advance the ball as far as if it were hit from the fairway. In some cases the rough may be so deep and thick (coined "hitting from spinach") that advancement of the ball may be nearly impossibly. There are usually two levels of rough. There is the first cut of rough, which is adjacent to the fairway and the grass is slightly higher and not too difficult to hit the ball from. Then there is the primary cut, which is the deepest grass and further from the fairway. Sometimes courses will have a second or intermediate cut of rough, in which the grass height and position is between the first and primary cut of rough.

Putting Green
This area is where the hole and flagstick (or pin) is located. The grass on the putting green or surface is the shortest on the course to allow the ball to be putted so that it rolls efficiently. While the grass is well kept, it does not mean that it is flat. Many greens have undulations to make it more difficult to putt as the ball can curve left or right and require the golfer to "read the putt" or identify the direction the ball may go prior to putting the ball.

Just like there is rough around the fairway, there is an area right around the green that has grass slightly higher than the green. This is either called the apron, fringe, collar and my personal favorite "frog hair" - which is indeed a real term! Although you can putt from this area, technically you are still not on the green so it would not be considered as a putt.

While you are in the fairway, rough or on the teeing ground on a par 3, notice the position of the flag before hitting your ball. From day to day, the course superintendent will change the location of the holes to prevent golfers from wearing out a particular area on the green. Certain golf courses will have identification as to the position of the flag, such as forward, middle or back. Often times the flags may be color coded or the flag itself or an object on the flagstick may be marked to denote the hole's position.

Most courses will have a practice putting green near the clubhouse. This allows the golfers a place to practice putting before their round to get a feel for the speed or how fast the greens will be that day. It is a good habit to use this practice area before heading to the first tee, even if you only attempt a half a dozen putts.

Hazards
As the name applies, hazards are places on the course to avoid as they are either natural or man-made and implemented to add an element of challenge or simply part of the geography the course was built around. There are potentially two basic hazards that may exist on a single course. One is a water hazard, is defined as a sea, lake, pond, river, ditch, surface draining ditch or another open water course (whether or not it contains water or not). These are normally marked by yellow stakes on the course. There are lateral water hazards, which are actually part of a water hazard or may be part of an environmentally sensitive area such as a wetland marsh, and marked by red stakes on the course. In many cases, the ball may be lost, unplayable or actually prohibited from hitting the ball in a water hazard or lateral water hazard. This will often mean a penalty stroke it issued and you will potentially play the next shot from a dedicated "drop zone".

A man-made hazard is a bunker, or an area where the turf or soil have been removed and replaced with sand. You can play a ball that is in a bunker, but there are specific rules regarding how to hit the ball from this hazard. One you play a ball from the bunker, you will need to rake it in the condition you found for the next person who might play from the same spot. A rake will usually be present in or around each bunker or group of bunkers.

Another area your ball may go into is called "ground under repair" which will be clearly marked by stakes, ropes, etc. Although this is not a hazard, you cannot play the ball from this area but you will drop the ball within a certain distance of the ground under repair without a penalty stroke.

Out of Bounds
This is the area beyond the golf course itself or any part that may be deemed out of bounds by the committee. These will also be clearly marked by stakes in the ground, a wall, fence, etc. There are penalty strokes and specific rules that apply to where you can play the ball from if your ball happens to go out of bounds or OB for short.

19th Hole (See Clubhouse)
This is place to unwind and relax after your round with your fellow golfers as well as talk, share stories and maybe embellish a few things about your latest round.