[Kim Maengnyeong's Golf English Conversation] "Difference Between IP and Landing Area"

Landing area is the correct term, not IP.

"IP, and the landing area."

When watching golf broadcasts on TV, one often hears inappropriate remarks from commentators. When players take their tee shots, they also explain that "the fairway IP is wide or narrow." IP (intersection point) is a civil surveying term used in golf course design, meaning the intersection point. In golf, it is Konglish. When playing on an actual golf course, caddies incorrectly say, "Aim for the red flag IP in the middle of the fairway."

IP is not the straight-line distance measured from the teeing area to the center of the putting green when determining the course rating of a hole. Instead, the central intersection point (IP) is established by connecting the two sides of the fairway at the expected tee shot landing area (usually 250 yards). Then, the total hole length is calculated by adding the distance from the tee to the IP and from the IP to the green. This IP is the ideal landing area (landing area or landing zone) for the second shot toward the green.

When taking a tee shot on a dogleg hole, I asked a friend who is a member of the United States Golf Association (USGA), "Where is the IP?" He said, "I've never heard the term IP," and told me it is called the "landing zone." When I asked a caddie or member at a golf course I was visiting for the first time, "Where should I aim?" they replied, "Aim toward the right of the yellow flag."

A: This is a long par 4 with a dogleg to the left.

B: Which direction should I shoot?

A: You should shoot to the center of the fairway. That is the ideal landing zone; otherwise, the ball will land out of bounds.

B: But I want to take the shortcut to the green.

A: OK. Good luck then.

Text & photo by Kim Maengnyeong, Golf Columnist