Nineteenth hole

In golf, the nineteenth hole is a slang term for a pub, bar, or restaurant on or near the golf course, very often the clubhouse itself.^[1] A standard round of golf has only eighteen holes of play.^[2] An alternate term for a bar is a "watering hole;" thus, by extension, continuing the day after 18 holes of golf at a watering hole makes the bar a "nineteenth hole." The concept is similar to Après-ski in skiing.^[3]

The 19th hole on miniature golf courses is often a hole in which if a hole-in-one is scored, one receives a free game.^[4]

References in media

• The golf stories of author P. G. Wodehouse, which are narrated by his character, the Oldest Member, discuss the nineteenth hole.^[5]
• At the beginning and again towards the end of the Lars von Trier movie Melancholia,^[6] the main character Claire is shown passing the nineteenth hole, which in reality did not exist, on the golf course belonging to the mansion where the movie takes place. Lars von Trier said this was a reference to Limbo ^[7]
• In a 1985 episode of Knight Rider entitled "The Nineteenth Hole" (Season 3, Episode 16), the term is used as slang, meaning the place where "they bury people who get in the way."^[8]
• In the first episode of The Night Manager, Richard Roper's subordinate Corky says that the only golf he plays is the 19th hole.^[9]

References