⛳ A bent fairway ↩️ A sharp bend

dogleg

3 8.1

A part of a golf hole where the fairway bends sharply, making the green harder to reach

noun
/ˈdɔɡˌlɛɡ/

Jargon

: curva

No. 10 is a double dogleg that tests golfers with a premium on their tee shots.
dogleg-left
dogleg-right
leave the dogleg

Examples

You can't clear that dogleg with a 3-wood, man.

Tin Cup (1996)
The sixth hole at Crowfield features a challenging dogleg that bends right towards the green.
The hole was a dogleg left to a green up a hill.

Fiction book (1992)
- Dogleg right up here on the par three.

Starsky & Hutch (2004)
Around the eleventh hole—a dogleg.

Fiction book (1990)
By the time Park caught up, the others were already on the fifteenth tee, a long par-four, according to the carved wooden marker that featured a colorful relief map of the dogleg ahead.

Fiction book (2001)
With several doglegs, sloping fairways, and well-protected, tiered greens, accuracy and ball placement are critical.

Blog text (8)
On the first hole, a short dogleg forces players to navigate carefully around a bunker.

Antonyms

straight

∞ 1.0

In a direct line without turning

How Curved

hairpin bend

1 3.7

dogleg

Jargon

3 8.1

Surface Forms

dogleg singular

doglegs plural

Morphology

dogleg = dog + leg (transparent) = dog + leg

The golfing sense names a fairway bend that resembles a dog's leg; although specialized, the metaphor is clear and derivable from the components.

Etymology

The golf use of dogleg comes from the same image of a dog's bent leg. It means a fairway that 'bends sharply', so you cannot hit straight to the green and must plan your shot.