Definition of "sclaff" [sclaff]

• To scrape or strike the ground with a golf club behind the ball before hitting it. (verb-intransitive)
• To strike (the ground) with a golf club before hitting the ball. (verb-transitive)
• To hit (a ball) in this manner. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "When, as often happens, this is done too suddenly, a sclaff is the result."
• "All I remember of the night was that it was flipping cold and Gifton Noel-Williams scored with the flukiest sclaff I have ever seen."
• "In making his correction the man is very likely to overdo it and strike the sand before the ball, causing a sclaff, or, on the other hand, not to correct sufficiently when the only possible result would be a topped ball and probably a hopeless position in the hazard."