How did the terms ‘birdie’ and ‘eagle’ come into golf?
Ever wonder where some of the words in golf come from? H.B. Martin’s “Fifty Years of American Golf” contains an account of a foursomes match played where one of the players says: “my ball came to rest within six inches of the cup. That was a bird of a shot… I suggest that when one of us plays a hole in one under par he receives double compensation.” The others agreed and it became known as a birdie.

The term bogey comes from a song that was popular in the British Isles in the early 1890s, called “The Bogey Man”. The character of the song was an elusive figure who hid in the shadows: “I’m the Bogey Man, catch me if you can.” Golfers in Scotland and England equated the quest for the elusive Bogey Man with the quest for the elusive perfect score. By the mid to late 1890s, the term ‘bogey score’ referred to the ideal score a good player could be expected to make on a hole under perfect conditions.

It was only in the late 1900s/early 1910s that the concept of ‘Par’ started to emerge - this being the designated number of strokes a scratch player could be expected to take on a hole in ideal conditions. In this way par was distinguished from bogey.

For more information on these terms and many others visit the USGA website.

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