Lip

In golf, the lip is the rim or edge of the hole on the putting green, or the raised edge of turf and sod around a bunker. The same word covers both because each is a border where a ball can catch, hang, or be turned away.

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What is a lip in golf?

“Lip” has two homes in golf vocabulary. On the green, it means the top edge of the hole, the thin ring of turf right where the cup meets the putting surface. Around a bunker, it means the raised border of grass or sod that separates the sand from the surrounding ground. Both are physical edges, and both can change what happens to a moving ball.

Most golfers hear the word in a putting context first. That is where it shows up on broadcasts (“the putt caught the lip”), in scorecards through related terms like “lip out,” and in the Rules of Golf through the famous 10-second timer for a ball that stops on the edge of the cup. The bunker use is older and less talked about in the modern game, but it still matters when a player is staring at a tall wall of sod between their ball and the green.

A handful of slang terms grow out of “lip” too. Lip out, lipped in, liprosy, hanging on the lip, burning the edge. These are covered further down.

The lip of the hole

The lip of the hole is the inside edge of the cut cup on the putting green. Every regulation hole is 4.25 inches (108 mm) in diameter and at least 4 inches (101.6 mm) deep, dimensions set by the USGA and the R&A and unchanged since 1891. The standard traces back even further, to 1829 at Royal Musselburgh Golf Club in Scotland, where the first known hole-cutter was made from a piece of drainpipe that happened to be 4.25 inches across.

Inside the hole sits a plastic or metal liner, and the rules require it to be sunk at least 1 inch below the putting surface. That gap matters: it is what lets a properly rolled ball drop fully out of sight instead of bouncing back out.

What the ball does when it reaches the lip depends almost entirely on speed and entry angle. A putt rolling at “capture speed,” gentle enough to die in the cup, can drop from almost any angle on the front half of the rim. A fast ball, in contrast, can hit the lip, ride the rim, and come back out on the other side. According to a November 2025 study from the University of Bristol published in Royal Society Open Science, there are two distinct types of failed putt at this stage: a rim lip out, where the ball never drops below the level of the green, and a hole lip out, where it briefly dips into the cup and then climbs back up the wall before escaping. The researchers describe the second type as a kind of “wall of death” trajectory.

The lip of a bunker

Around a bunker, the lip is the raised edge of turf, sod, or built-up sand that separates the sand from the surrounding general area. It can be anything from a soft, barely-there fringe on a flat fairway bunker to a vertical stack of revetted sod several feet tall, like the pot bunkers on classic links courses in Scotland and Ireland.

Lip height usually scales with how close the bunker sits to the green. Fairway bunkers tend to have shallow lips. That keeps the line of escape open for longer clubs trying to launch a ball back into play. Greenside bunkers are different. Many are built with steeper, taller lips that demand a lofted wedge to clear, and a few are aggressive enough to overhang the sand, leaving a ball tucked underneath with no realistic shot.

The lip also has a small but important role under the Rules of Golf. Rule 12 treats anything touching the sand as being “in the bunker.” If a ball plugs into the grass face above the bunker and no part of it is touching sand, the player can take free relief for an embedded ball under Rule 16.3. If any part is touching sand, the ball is in the bunker, and embedded-ball relief is off the table.

Related lip terminology

Several common phrases borrow from the word “lip” and turn it into something more specific.

Lip out. A putt that catches the edge of the hole and rolls around the rim without falling in. The University of Bristol study mentioned above identified two physical patterns: the rim lip out, where the ball orbits the top of the cup, and the hole lip out, where it dips inside the cup and climbs back out.

Lipped in. The opposite outcome. The ball catches the lip, spins, and drops in anyway. Often described in commentary as a putt that “found a way.”

Hanging on the lip (or sitting on the lip). The ball stops with part of it overhanging the rim, but does not fall. That is the situation Rule 13.3a was written for, which is covered in the next section.

Liprosy. Slang for a stretch of putts that keep grazing the lip and refusing to drop. The word is a portmanteau of “lip” and the disease “leprosy.” Tiger Woods used it publicly in 1997 at the Phoenix Open and again after the 2001 Mercedes Championships, which helped popularise the term. According to Golf Compendium, the earliest known print use is a 1983 column by sportswriter Greg Larson in the Florida Times-Union.

Burning the edge. A near miss where the ball rolls past, just clipping the lip on its way by.

The 10-second rule on the lip

When a putt finishes with part of the ball hanging over the edge of the cup, the Rules of Golf give the player a finite window. Under Rule 13.3a, the player is allowed a reasonable amount of time to walk to the hole and an additional 10 seconds to see whether the ball drops on its own. If it falls in before the timer runs out, the putt is holed and counts as the last stroke. If it falls after, the putt still counts as holed, but the player adds one penalty stroke.

The rule has caught out high-profile players. At the 2018 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, Zach Johnson left an 18-foot birdie putt hanging on the lip on the third hole. The ball dropped while he was walking up, but PGA Tour rules officials timed the wait at 16 to 18 seconds, past the threshold, and he was given a par (NBC Sports). At the 2021 CJ Cup @ Summit in Las Vegas, Seonghyeon Kim watched a putt on the par-5 18th drop after the window had expired, costing him a stroke (GolfPass).

This is the moment when even casual viewers hear commentators say “it’s still on the lip,” and it is one of the most concrete reasons the term comes up in everyday golf.

Related Golf Terms

• Lie angle — The angle between the club shaft and the ground at address.
• Links course — A coastal course built on sandy, windswept terrain with few trees.
• Links — A type of coastal golf course built on sandy terrain, originating in Scotland.
• Lie — The position of the ball on the ground or the angle of the club relative to the ground.
• Line — The intended path of a putt or shot.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does “the lip” mean in golf?

The lip is the rim or edge of the hole on a putting green, or the raised edge around a bunker. Both are points where a ball can catch, stop, or be turned away.

What is the difference between a lip and a cup?

The cup is the full cylinder cut into the green, including the plastic or metal liner inside it. The lip is the top edge of that cup, where it meets the putting surface.

What is a lip out in golf?

A lip out is a putt that catches the edge of the hole and rolls around the rim without falling in. It can be a partial arc or a full 360-degree spin around the cup.

How high can the lip of a bunker be?

Bunker lips range from nearly flush with the sand to several feet tall. Greenside bunkers usually have higher, steeper lips than fairway bunkers, and some traditional pot bunkers overhang the sand below.

How long can a ball stay on the lip before counting?

Rule 13.3a gives the player a reasonable walk-up time plus 10 seconds for the ball to drop on its own. After that, if the ball still falls in, the putt is holed with a one-stroke penalty.

Sources

• United States Golf Association. “Rule 13.3a, Ball Overhanging Hole.” Rules of Golf. Accessed May 2026.
• United States Golf Association and The R&A. Standard golf hole dimensions, 4.25 inches diameter and minimum 4 inches deep.
• Golf Compendium. “What Is ‘the Lip’? (Golf Definitions).” Published February 2026.
• Golf Compendium. “Liprosy: A Golf Affliction You Don’t Want.” Published February 2026.
• University of Bristol. “The physics behind the ‘lip out’ phenomenon in golf.” Published November 2025. Original research in Royal Society Open Science, “Mechanics of the golf lip out” by S. John Hogan and M. Antali.
• NBC Sports. “10-second rule costs Zach Johnson a stroke.” Published June 2018.
• GolfPass. “A painful lesson: Waiting for the putt to drop.” Published October 2021.
• Golf Digest. “Rules of Golf Review: My ball plugged in the sand. Can I take an unplayable and drop outside the bunker?” Published August 2024.