Birdie, Bogey, Eagle: Golf Score Names Explained

Golf names its scores rather than numbering them. Here is the full ladder, from albatross to double bogey, and what each is worth.

Golf is unusual in naming its scores. A child who has understood that a hole has a par will still be lost when a playing partner announces a birdie, and lost again when someone groans about a double. The names are not difficult - they are simply a set of labels for scoring relative to par on a single hole.

The ladder, from best to worst

• Hole-in-one (ace): the ball goes in from the tee. On a par three that is also an eagle; on a par four it is an albatross
• Albatross (double eagle): three strokes under par on a hole. Almost always a holed second shot on a par five
• Eagle: two under par - most commonly a three on a par five, or a holed second shot on a par four
• Birdie: one under par. The most celebrated ordinary achievement in golf
• Par: the score the hole is designed to yield for a scratch golfer
• Bogey: one over par
• Double bogey: two over par. 'Triple' and 'quadruple' continue the pattern

Above that, players usually stop naming and start counting. Beyond a certain point most social competitions ask players to pick up rather than keep playing, both for pace of play and for handicap purposes.

Why bogey is not a disaster

Par is calibrated for a very good adult golfer. For a junior, a bogey is often an excellent score, and a round of bogeys would represent a handicap most club golfers would be delighted with. It is worth saying this out loud to a child who has absorbed the idea that anything above par is a failure.

Par itself deserves its own explanation - see what does par mean for how the number for each hole is set.

Where the names come from

'Birdie' comes from American slang around the turn of the twentieth century, where a 'bird' meant something excellent. Eagle and albatross extended the bird theme upwards. 'Bogey' is older and originally meant something closer to what we now call par - the score a notional steady player should make - before par was standardised and bogey slid one stroke worse.

How the names translate into points

In stroke play the names are just commentary; the total is what counts. In Stableford - the format most Australian club competitions use - each result relative to your net par converts into points, so the names map directly onto a score that rewards good holes rather than punishing bad ones.

That conversion is set out in Stableford scoring explained for junior golfers.

For the wider vocabulary of the game, our junior golf glossary collects the terms that come up around scoring, equipment and competition.