Abbreviations Used in Golf Tournaments

If you have been watching or reading about professional golf events then you may have noticed a number of abbreviations used in the results. It may not be obvious to you what they mean so here is a list of the most common ones used on the PGA and DP World Tours and their explanation.

a

In professional events, if a player has the letter ‘a’ after their name this would signify that the player is still an amateur and therefore ineligible for any prize money.

DNS

Did not start. Originally entered in the competition but for some reason never started.

DQ

Disqualified. The player performs some form of rules infraction leading to them being disqualified from the competition by the organizing committee.

E

Even. Used to show those players currently at level par for the round/competition.

MDF

Made cut did not finish. PGA Tour events usually have a cut after the second round to reduce the field to the top 70 players and those tied for 70th. If more than 78 players make the second-round cut due to a large number of players tying then a third-round cut would be applied to again reduce the field to 70+ ties. Players who made the second round cut but failed to make the third round cut would be listed as MDF-made cut did not finish.

NC

No card. A player failed to return their scorecard at the end of the round.

RETD

Retired. A player who has failed to complete their round – same as WD.

T

Tied. Where a number of players have finished on the same score they will be tied for the same position.

WD

Withdrawn. Either before or during a competition round a player may need to stop playing because of illness, injury or some other reason. They should inform the organizers of this fact and their result would then be listed as WD.

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