What is a bogey in golf?

The name is older than most golfers assume — it comes from a 19th-century British song about an elusive "Bogey Man", adopted by golfers as the standard a hole ought to be played to, before par took over as the more common term. The scoring itself is straightforward: one stroke over par is a bogey, two over is a double bogey, three over a triple, and the ladder keeps climbing by name only as far as most scorecards bother printing. It sits directly opposite a birdie, one under par, on the same scale. Bogeys are the honest bulk of most amateur rounds — even good club golfers make several in an average eighteen — so the term carries none of the sting it might suggest; it's simply one over, nothing more dramatic. Whatever the card reads at the end, our golf gift ideas mark the round.

Written by Craig Fearn, The Golf Gift Co.