Why is it called a bogey? The surprising origin of golf's most common score

Ever stood on the 18th green, tapped in your putt for one over par, and thought, "Great, another bogey?" It’s the score we all know. It’s the score that keeps us humble. But have you ever stopped to wonder why a single bad hole is named after a creepy character from Victorian literature?

It doesn’t make immediate sense. A "bogey" isn’t a monster hiding under your bed; it’s just a number on a scorecard. Yet, this specific word has stuck in the game of golf for more than a century. To understand why, we have to look back at the foggy links of Scotland in the late 19th century, where language, music, and sport collided in a way that changed how we talk about failure forever.

The Ghost of Golf Past: Where the Word Came From

To get to the bottom of the "bogey" mystery, we first need to separate two very different things that share the same name. In modern English, a "bogeyman" (or boogeyman) is a mythical figure used by parents to frighten children into behaving. That definition has nothing to do with golf.

In the world of 19th-century Britain, however, "The Bogey Man" meant something completely different. It was the title of a wildly popular comic song written by Harold Thurston in 1894. The song featured a character named "Mr. Bogey," who was described as a fast-moving, elusive, and tricky fellow. The lyrics went something like this: "I am the bogey man... I run away with every woman."

The song became an obsession across the British Empire. People sang it in pubs, quoted it in newspapers, and used the phrase "like the bogey man" to describe anything that moved quickly or was difficult to catch. If a train left the station faster than expected, it was "going like the bogey man." If a rumor spread through town instantly, it was moving like the bogey man.

Golfers in the 1890s were looking for a new way to describe their scores. Before this time, golfers mostly played "match play," where they competed hole-by-hole against another person. You won holes, lost holes, or halved them. There wasn't really a standardized system for tracking total strokes against a fixed standard until "stroke play" began to gain popularity.

As stroke play grew, players needed a benchmark. They started using the score of a good amateur golfer as the baseline. This ideal score became known as "par." But what did you call the score of an average club player? Or the score that seemed to chase you down the fairway, always just out of reach?

They borrowed the slang of the day. Since the "Bogey Man" from the song was fast and hard to catch, golfers decided that the score of an average player was also something you struggled to keep up with. It was elusive. It was tricky. So, the "bogey" score was born-not as a monster, but as a musical reference.

From Song Lyrics to Scorecards: The Evolution of Scoring

It’s fascinating how quickly language shifts when a culture adopts a new concept. By the early 1900s, the connection between the song and the golf score was so strong that older golfers often had to explain it to younger ones who only knew the nursery rhyme version of the bogeyman.

Here is how the terminology settled into the structure we use today:

• Par: The expected score for a skilled player on a given hole. This represents the ideal standard.
• Bogey: One stroke over par. Originally, this represented the score of a competent amateur.
• Double Bogey: Two strokes over par.
• Treble Bogey: Three strokes over par.

Notice that the term "bogey" anchors the entire system of "over-par" scoring. We don’t say "one over" as often as we say "a bogey." We don’t say "two over" as naturally as "double bogey." The linguistic root holds the weight of the penalty.

This shift happened largely in Scotland and England, where the song was most popular. As golf spread to America, Australia, and beyond, the term traveled with the rules. Even though Americans might not have been humming Harold Thurston’s tune in 1895, they adopted the terminology because it was already embedded in the official rules of the game established by the R&A and later the USGA.

Is It Related to the Nursery Rhyme Monster?

This is the question everyone asks. Is the golf term related to the scary monster kids fear?

Technically, no. But practically, yes-because language merges over time.

The original "bogey" in golf referred to the song. However, the word "bogey" itself has older roots. It likely comes from the Spanish word "bubón" (meaning bubonic plague) or the Latin "peste" (plague), which evolved into "boogie" or "bogey" to represent sickness or death. This is where the "monster" connection comes from. The idea of a disease or a ghost taking you away became the "bogeyman" of folklore.

So, while the golfers of the 1890s were definitely referencing the catchy song, they were unconsciously tapping into a deeper cultural fear. Getting a bogey feels bad. It’s a small defeat. It’s a little bit of a "ghost" haunting your round. Over the last 100 years, the distinction between the "song bogey" and the "monster bogey" has blurred. Now, when we hear the word, we think of both the musical rhythm and the slight dread of a bad score.

How Bogey Fits Into Modern Golf Psychology

Today, the term serves a practical purpose beyond its historical curiosity. It helps categorize performance in a way that numbers alone cannot. Saying "I shot a 78" tells you the total, but saying "I had four bogeys and three pars" tells you the story of the round.

For the average recreational golfer, the bogey is the target. Par is for professionals. Birdies are for lucky days. Bogey golf is the realistic goal for most of us. This has led to the rise of "Bogey Courses"-golf courses designed specifically for slower, less accurate players. These courses feature wider fairways, fewer water hazards, and shorter distances, allowing the average player to achieve their bogey limit without frustration.

Understanding the origin of the word can actually help your mental game. When you hit a bunker and know you’re likely facing a bogey, remember that you aren’t being haunted by a monster. You’re just dealing with a term coined by a guy named Harold Thurston who wrote a funny song about running away with women. It takes some of the sting out of the miss.

Other Golf Terms with Musical or Slang Origins

If you think "bogey" is weird, wait until you hear about "birdie." The term "birdie" emerged around 1903 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. A group of friends were playing golf, and one of them made a score of one under par on the second hole. He exclaimed that it was a "bird of a shot," using the contemporary slang term "bird" to mean something excellent or cool.

His friend joked that he should call it a "birdie." The next day, they put up a flagstick labeled "Birdie" on the second hole, and the term stuck. Just like "bogey," it wasn’t a planned technical term. It was casual slang that got formalized.

Then there’s "albatross" (or double eagle). This term appeared later, likely in the UK, following the pattern of birds. If a birdie is one under and an eagle is two under, an albatross-a massive, rare bird-became the term for three under. It’s a logical progression, even if you never see it happen in real life.

These terms show that golf, despite its stiff reputation and strict dress codes, was built on the loose, playful language of everyday people. It wasn’t invented in a boardroom; it was invented on the links, by guys trying to describe their good and bad days with the words they knew.

Why the Term Stuck While Others Faded

You might wonder why we didn’t just use numbers. Why not say "plus one" instead of "bogey"? Numbers are clear. They are universal. But they lack flavor.

Golf is a game of tradition. Part of the appeal is the shared vocabulary that connects a player in Melbourne in 2026 to a player in St Andrews in 1920. Using the word "bogey" creates a sense of community. It acknowledges the history of the game.

Furthermore, the word has a rhythmic quality. "Bogey" is short, punchy, and easy to say. It fits well in conversation. "I bogeyed the fifth" flows better than "I scored one over par on the fifth." Language evolves for efficiency, and "bogey" is efficient.

There is also a psychological benefit. Calling a bad score a "bogey" softens the blow slightly compared to calling it a "failure" or a "mistake." It frames the error as a standard part of the game, rather than a personal shortcoming. It normalizes imperfection.

Modern Usage and Variations

In modern golf instruction, you’ll often hear coaches talk about "bogey avoidance." This strategy focuses on minimizing big numbers rather than chasing birdies. The logic is simple: avoiding a triple bogey is more valuable than making a birdie. This mindset shift has helped many high-handicap players lower their scores significantly.

Technology has also influenced how we view the bogey. With GPS rangefinders and swing analyzers, we know exactly where our shots go. We can calculate the probability of making par versus bogey based on our lie and distance. This data-driven approach hasn’t killed the term; it has just added precision to it.

Even in professional golf, the bogey remains a significant event. On TV broadcasts, commentators will highlight every bogey made by a leader. It’s treated as a setback, a moment where the "bogey man" caught up to them. The narrative power of the word remains strong.