The Bogey Definition — Hole by Hole
Par is the number of strokes an expert golfer is expected to need on a hole. A bogey is exactly one stroke more than that par — no matter how long the hole is. So the bogey number just tracks each hole’s par, plus one:
Because a typical course is a par 72 built from par-3s, 4s and 5s, a bogey feels different on each hole but always means the same thing relative to par: plus one. On a scorecard, a bogey is traditionally marked with a single square drawn around the score.
Bogey vs. “over par” — what’s the difference?
“Bogey” describes your score on one hole (one over par). “Over par” usually describes a whole round — finishing a par-72 round in 85 strokes is “13 over par.” A round made up entirely of bogeys finishes exactly 18 over par, or 90.
Bogey, Double Bogey & Triple Bogey
Once you go past one over par, the names keep climbing. Every extra stroke over par adds another “bogey” level:
| Score name | Strokes vs par | On a par-4 | On a par-5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bogey | +1 | 5 | 6 |
| Double bogey | +2 | 6 | 7 |
| Triple bogey | +3 | 7 | 8 |
| Quadruple bogey | +4 | 8 | 9 |
Beyond a quadruple bogey most golfers stop using names and simply write the number. There is also a practical ceiling for handicap purposes, explained next.
Net Double Bogey — the handicap ceiling
Under the World Handicap System, the maximum score you record on any hole for handicap purposes is a Net Double Bogey: par + 2 strokes + any handicap strokes you receive on that hole. It stops one blow-up hole from wrecking your Handicap Index, which is why a “10” on your card might only count as a 7 when your index is calculated.
The Full Golf Scoring Ladder
A bogey sits on the over-par side of golf’s scoring ladder. Here is the whole scale, from the once-in-a-lifetime albatross down to the everyday bogey and beyond:
| Term | Strokes vs par | On a par-4 |
|---|---|---|
| Albatross (double eagle) | −3 | 1 |
| Eagle | −2 | 2 |
| Birdie | −1 | 3 |
| Par | E | 4 |
| Bogey | +1 | 5 |
| Double bogey | +2 | 6 |
| Triple bogey | +3 | 7 |
Notice the pattern: the good scores are named after birds — birdie, eagle, albatross — while the tough ones are counted in bogeys. The direct opposite of a bogey is a birdie, one stroke under par.
What Is “Bogey Golf”?
“Bogey golf” is the phrase for averaging one bogey per hole. Add 18 bogeys to a par of 72 and you get 90 — so a bogey golfer is someone who shoots right around 90 for a full round.
Breaking 90 for the first time is one of the most satisfying milestones in recreational golf — it means you have moved from double-bogey territory into genuine bogey golf. The USGA even builds this player into course rating: alongside the scratch rating, every course carries a Bogey Rating based on a bogey golfer, defined as roughly a 20 Course Handicap for men and 24 for women.
Where Does the Word “Bogey” Come From?
The word predates par. In 1890s Britain, a popular music-hall song told of the “Bogey Man,” an elusive figure who was hard to catch. Golfers borrowed the idea for an imaginary steady opponent, and “the bogey” became the ground score a good player was expected to make on each hole — essentially what we call par today.
As equipment improved and clubs standardized a stricter expert benchmark, that stricter number took the name par, and the older, more forgiving standard slid down to mean one stroke higher — a bogey. The famous 1914 military march Colonel Bogey is named after this same golfing bogey. So the term you now use for a dropped shot began life as the number a solid player was supposed to hit.
Is a Bogey a Good Score?
It depends entirely on who is making it. For a 20-handicap golfer, a bogey on a hard par-4 is right on plan. For a scratch player, the same bogey is a dropped shot. The honest answer for most recreational golfers: a bogey is a perfectly good result on the harder holes, and the real score-killer is the double bogey.
That is the single most useful insight in this whole guide: lowering your scores is rarely about making more birdies. It is about turning your double and triple bogeys into simple bogeys. Eliminate the blow-up holes and your handicap falls fast.
How to Turn Bogeys Into Pars
Once you are a steady bogey golfer, a handful of habits convert bogeys into pars and keep the big numbers off your card: