A bogey is a score of one stroke over par on a single hole: a 4 on a par 3, a 5 on a par 4 or a 6 on a par 5. It's the most common over-par score for recreational golfers and nothing to be embarrassed about.
Double, triple and bogey golf
- Double bogey: 2 over par on a hole
- Triple bogey: 3 over par
- Bogey golf: averaging one over par per hole, about 90 on a par 72 course. A "bogey golfer" is roughly an 18 to 20 handicap, and breaking 90 is one of the big milestones in golf.
Where the word bogey comes from
Bogey started in England in the early 1890s and originally meant the opposite of what it means today. In 1890, Hugh Rotherham of Coventry Golf Club came up with a "ground score," the score a good player should make on each hole. The idea spread to Great Yarmouth, where a player named Major Charles Wellman reportedly complained that this imaginary opponent was a real "bogey man." The line came from a popular music hall song of the day, "Hush! Hush! Hush! Here Comes the Bogey Man." Chasing an invisible, perfect opponent you could never quite catch felt just like chasing the bogey man.
The name stuck, and "Colonel Bogey" became the imaginary player you competed against. At the time, bogey meant the target score for a hole. Once par took over that role, especially in America in the early 1900s, bogey slid to mean one stroke over par, which is how it's used everywhere today.
Common questions
Is a bogey bad?
Not for most golfers. Even tour players make several bogeys a round. For a beginner, a bogey is a good hole.
What is a bogey rating?
The course's expected score for a bogey golfer, used alongside course rating to calculate slope and handicaps.
Turning bogeys into pars usually happens inside 100 yards. See wedge bounce explained and browse used wedges. More terms in our golf terms glossary.
