The term “bogey” was initially used in golf to describe a specific score that golfers would use as their benchmark for success. For example, if the player’s goal is to shoot an even 100, shooting a bogey would mean they achieved their goal.
Is it bad to get a bogey in golf?
Scoring a bogey is common among the average golfer, and it is not the worst thing that can happen. For scratch or low handicap golfers, and especially pro golfers, they are used to scoring under par, so a bogey is actually considered bad for them.
How did bogey get its name in golf?
Tracing the Origins of Bogey as a Golf Term
- Yes, Golf's Bogey Is Related to 'the Bogey Man' According to the USGA Museum, the "Bogey Man" was a character in a British dancehall song of the late 19th Century, ...
- Hello, Colonel Bogey. ...
- When the Meanings of Bogey and Par Diverged. ...
What does the term Boggie mean in golf?
- Double eagle: On a par-4, means you finished the hole in 1 stroke — a hole-in-one (very, very rare on par-4 holes)
- Eagle: You finished the hole in 2 strokes
- Birdie: You finished the hole in 3 strokes
- Par: You finished the hole in 4 strokes
- Bogey: You finished the hole in 5 strokes
- Double bogey: You finished the hole in 6 strokes
Is a bogey good in golf?
For the beginner golfer, bogey golf is good. Overtime, the golfer can continue to build his or her skill and improve, eventually striving to make more pars or even birdies. For the more advanced golfer, a bogey is often a disappointing score on a hole. The best golfers might only make 1-2 bogeys per round.
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Did par used to be called bogey?
Par and bogey were not necessarily interchangeable terms, but a golf hole's par rating and bogey rating were often the same. We must go back to British golf in the late 1800s to see how bogey emerged as a golf term.
When was the term bogey first used?
1890Bogey (+1) The term actually originated around 1890, when, according to Robert Browning's History of Golf in 1955, Mr. CA Wellman said to Dr. Browne: "This player of yours is a regular Bogey man". That term itself came from a popular song at the time: 'Hush!
Where did birdie and bogey come from?
Birdie comes from the American slang 'bird' which meant something wonderful. The term birdie, to describe a score that is one under par for the hole, became widespread in the 1910s. Whereas bogey is a British contribution to the language of golf, birdie is pure American.
What is bogey called?
So at Yarmouth and elsewhere the ground score became known as the bogey score. A 'bogle' was a Scottish goblin as far back as the 16th Century and a Bogey-man was a widely used term for a goblin or devil. Golfers of the time considered they were playing a Mister Bogey when measuring themselves against the bogey score.
What does Bogie mean in golf?
A player makes a “birdie” when he uses one fewer strokes than the par of the hole. If a player needs one stroke more than par to finish a hole, he makes a “bogey.” So, if you finish a par 4 with only 3 strokes, you make a “birdie”, but if you take 5 strokes to complete a par 4, you make a “bogey”.
What is a turkey in golf?
Its origin is almost certainly American in nature. In ten-pin bowling, a trio of consecutive strikes is called a turkey, while six in a row is known as a wild, or golden, turkey. It wouldn't be the first time golf has borrowed from another sport to expand its lexicon.
Why is it called a mulligan?
The first is that one day Mulligan hit a poor drive off the first tee, then simply re-teed and hit another ball, telling his amused playing partners that he had taken a "correction shot." That "correction shot" soon became known as "taking a mulligan."
Why does golf have 18 holes?
Andrews formalized the rules and stated, “One round of the Links, or 18 holes is reckoned a match, unless otherwise stipulated.” Legend has it that the reason for 18 holes is that a bottle of whiskey contained the same number of shots as holes on a course, thus providing just enough drink for a shot on each hole.
What does bogies mean in British?
Definition of bogie (Entry 1 of 2) 1 : a low strongly built cart. 2a chiefly British : a swiveling railway truck. b : the driving-wheel assembly consisting of the rear four wheels of a 6-wheel automotive truck. 3 : a small supporting or aligning wheel (as on the inside perimeter of a tank tread)
How do you pronounce bogey in golf?
0:051:01How To Say Bogey - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipCoke vogue por qué vogue volví vogue.MoreCoke vogue por qué vogue volví vogue.
What does golf mean in slang?
A common misconception is that the word GOLF is an acronym for Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden. This is a 20th century joke and definitely not true. It is now generally accepted that the 'golf' is derived from an old word meaning 'club', though this in turn may have older cognate roots dating back to ancient times.
What is 4 birdies in a row called?
1 = Strike. 2 = Double. 3 = Turkey or Gobbler. 4 = Hambone. 5 = Recently heard referred to as yatzee or five bagger.
What is a ostrich in golf?
Supposedly, this is the name assigned to completing a hole having struck the ball five fewer times than par. In other words, this is what happens when you hole-out a Par 7 with two strokes or shoot a Hole-In-One on a Par Six.
Why is it called a mulligan?
Theory: 'Mulligan' Is Named After a Golfer Mulligan probably originated when the golf do-over was christened mulligan after the name of a golfer who kept replaying shots. That's the most likely explanation, and according to Occam's Razor the simplest explanation is more likely to be the true one.
Where did the term scratch golfer come from?
A runner starting from scratch was not given a head start; applying the same idea to other sports, a scratch golfer or scratch bowler is one good enough to play without having their score adjusted with a handicap.
What is the bird in golf?
An American magazine frequently used the word bird to refer to something good in the early 20th century and in 1911, Maclean Magazine described a golf shot as: “Bird, straight down the course, about two hundred and fifteen yards .” ( ScottishGolfHistory)
What does par mean in golf?
Par (0) Par. Average for a top class golfer. This Latin term for equality dates back to the 16th century ( OxfordDictionaries) and is still used today to describe something ordinary. It was first used by golfers in the 1890’s when originally it was the standard for professionals whilst amateurs aimed for a bogey.
When did the term "one over par" come into use?
The term actually originated around 1890, when, according to Robert Browning’s History of Golf in 1955, Mr. CA Wellman said to Dr. Browne: "This player of yours is a regular Bogey man".
What is the bogey score?
Here Comes the Bogey Man", which was popular at that time. So at Yarmouth and elsewhere the ground score became known as the bogey score. A 'bogle' was a Scottish goblin as far back as the 16th Century and a Bogey-man was a widely used term for a goblin or devil.
Who worked out the Bogey?
In 1892, Colonel Seely-Vidal, the Hon Secretary of the United Servic es Club at Gosport, also worked out the 'bogey' for his course. The United Club was a services club and all the members had a military rank.
What is par in golf?
Par is derived from the stock exchange term that a stock may be above or below its normal or 'par' figure. In 1870, Mr AH Doleman, a golf writer, asked the golf professionals David Strath and James Anderson, what score would win 'The Belt', then the winning trophy for 'The Open', at Prestwick, where it was first held annually from 1861 to 1870. Strath and Anderson said that perfect play should produce a score of 49 for Prestwick's twelve holes. Mr Doleman called this 'par' for Prestwick and subsequently Young Tom Morris won with a score of two strokes 'over par' for the three rounds of 36 holes.
What are the three terms used in golf?
There is quite a history behind the golfing terms bogey, par, birdie, eagle and albatross. Bogey and par were central to the development of handicapping, pioneered by the LGU. The modern meaning of three of the terms - bogey, birdie and eagle - comes from their use in USA. Bogey Par Birdie Eagle Albatross.
What is the meaning of the eagle in golf?
Eagle. "Eagle", a score of two under par for a given hole, was clearly the extension of the theme of birds for good scores from a " birdie " . It would be natural for American golfers to think of the eagle, which is their national symbol and the term seems to have developed only shortly after the 'birdie'.
When was the first birdie hole?
The Atlantic City Club date the event to 1903. The First Birdie Hole, Courtesy of Atlantic City County Club. By 1913, the term had crossed the Atlantic and Bernard Darwin writing in the September 1913 issue of Country Life of a visit to the USA said.
What does "birdie" mean in golf?
Birdie. "Birdie", meaning a score of one stroke under Par, comes from the early 20th century American slang term "bird", meaning anything excellent. The September 1911 edition of Maclean Magazine described a golf shot as - '"bird" straight down the course, about two hundred and fifteen yards.'.
What Does Par Mean in Golf?
When it comes to golf, a par can refer to the number of strokes a golfer should make to get the ball inside the hole.
Origins of Bogey in Golf
Several different stories or versions can be attributed to the origin of bogey or its use in golf. You can go through some of these below:
Impact on Score
A bogey can certainly impact your overall score in a golf tournament, which can then also affect your ranking.
Is a Bogey Considered to Be Good?
Since a bogey is one stroke more than the par, it is not exactly good since it can reduce your overall score. However, bogeys are also unavoidable, even by professional players.
How Does a Bogey Golfer Rank in Terms of Handicap?
The United States Golf Association has a handicap system in place to rate professional golfers based on their scores and abilities. Generally, bogey golfers tend to score a bogey quite often while golfing.
Final Remarks
To sum up, a bogey in the sport of golf relates to the number of strokes required to complete a hole, plus one additional stroke.
What is a bogey competition?
What a bogey competition does is take that central element – winning and losing holes – and mould it into a strokeplay competition. You are rewarded based on how you do against the course, rather than an individual player.
What is Colonel Bogey?
Golfers began to equate the idea of matching or beating a hole’s ground score with chasing the bogey man and, soon after, Colonel Bogey came into being – the imaginary character that would personify that score. It was now the staple term to describe golf’s scoring system.
Who invented the ground score?
This became known as the ground score. The idea was proposed to Dr Thomas Browne, who founded Yarmouth, at the club’s autumn gathering ...
When did the USGA start using par?
In 1911 , the USGA began using par as the standard to rate courses and holes and they defined the term as the score an expert player could achieve. As time passed, the bogey score started to be listed as being a stroke higher than par. And that’s exactly how it stands today. Video Player is loading.
Where did the term "bogey" come from?
But the origins of "bogey" include the fact that it was originally used by golfers similar to the way that we use "par" today. Par and bogey were not necessarily interchangeable terms, but a golf hole's par rating and bogey rating were often the same. We must go back to British golf in the late 1800s to see how bogey emerged as a golf term.
What is a bogey man?
At least, that's what the golf scoring term "bogey" means today: the definition of bogey is a stroke total on a single gole that is one stroke higher than that hole's par rating.
What is the meaning of "par" in golf?
The USGA thus defined "par" as the score an expert golfer, playing the hole well, should be expected to achieve. So in the first years in which par and bogey were both in use in the United States, their meanings began to diverge.
When was the Colonel Bogey March published?
That character appeared in song in the Colonel Bogey March, published in 1913, and, as the photo on this page shows, appeared on golf products. (The Colonel Bogey March, by the way, was later made instantly recognizable as the famous music in the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai .)
When did the meaning of "bogey" and "par" diverge?
When the Meanings of Bogey and Par Diverged. While that was happening in British golf in the late 1800s and early 1900s, in American golf the term "par" was just entering the golf lexicon in the early 1900s.
When was the ground score first called par?
British golfers by at least the 1880s developed a way of rating golf holes: how many strokes should it take to play the hole? This is what we call "par" today, but at that time, when scores were much higher throughout golf than they are today, the number was originally called the "ground score.".
Who said the ground score was a Bogey Man?
Around 1890, according to The Historical Dictionary of Golfing Terms, a certain Charles Wellman, playing golf at Great Yarmouth in England, exclaimed one day on the links that the ground score was "a regular Bogey Man," referring to the song.
Are there any other types of bogeys?
There are a couple of other bogeys you can get when it comes to scoring in golf.
Is scoring a bogey good or bad?
Scoring a bogey is common among the average golfer, and it is not the worst thing that can happen.
How often do beginner golfers score bogey?
This is a tough question to answer because you have so many different levels of beginner golfers.
How often do average golfers score bogey?
If someone is not as gifted or experienced in the game, they will score bogeys more often than professionals do, whether they’re having an on or off day.
How often do pro golfers score bogey?
Pro golfers score bogeys, on average, 2-4 times per round depending on the conditions, their skillset, and how much they are playing.
Final thoughts
Hopefully, this article helped you better understand what a bogey is in golf.