What is a Bogey in Golf?

The term bogeyman comes from Scotland, although the actual stories of the specific type vary. According to some, Major Charles Wellman commented:

One player was “a regular bogeyman”, while others credited the Scottish language to goblins or devils. The people of Scotland could claim this idea.

According to some, “bogey” is a golf scoring term that means a golfer has scored a stroke of par on a particular hole.

Is Scoring a Bogey Bad?

Is Boogie really bad?

It depends on how big a golfer you are.

Professional golfers, low handicappers, and scratchers are not happy every time they get a bogey. They try to score par or better every time on the hole.

However, it is worth noting that what is a golf wag? When reading an article on the subject, your hope is at a skill level where you can only manage to par a single stroke.

Assuming you get a bogey on every hole in your round, you would have a score of 90 on a par-72 golf course. For the average golfer new to the game, reaching/breaking a score of 90 is a significant achievement.

“Double Bogey,” “Triple Bogey,” “Quadruple Bogey”

Even worse scores than bogey are not so creatively named.

A “double bogey” is one in which an individual score of 2 strokes is par on the hole.

A “triple bogey” is called an individual score of 32 strokes over par on the hole.

A “quadruple bogey” is called an individual score of 4 strokes par on the hole.

As such, 5 strokes on a par-3 would be a double bogey, and 9 strokes on a par-5 would be a quadruple bogey.

Every Golfer Makes Bogeys and Worse, Even the Pros

Even the world’s best golfers score bogeys or worse. In 2019, PGA golfers averaged 2.62 bogeys at the Tour Championship.

That same year, Rory McIlroy had the fewest bogeys per round. but still, A player of his caliber can put in a massive effort on a bad day. In the opening round of the Open Championship, Rory McIlroy started the first hole with a quadruple bogey, 4-putted the par-3 16th hole for a double bogey, and ended his round with a triple bogey on the 18th hole.

Conclusion

If you are reading this article for the first time when you learned what a bogey is, you may be new to golf. Scoring bogeys can be frustrating, even for new golfers aspiring to “bogey golf.” Feel free to get excited the next time you score a bogey on a hole. When you average just one over par in the first round, that is also a very important milestone.