No tags yet.
Scoring in golf can sound like a foreign language. None of the words have anything to do with the standard points systems people know of in sports. People know how goals and runs are scored in hockey, soccer, and baseball, and football touchdowns, field goals, and the seldom seen safety all are reflected in numbers people understand clearly, but what is a birdie and why isn’t it as good as an eagle? What’s a par and why is being under par considered good when in general terms being above par is considered a good thing?
The baseline score of golf is known as par. Par is the number of shots a golfer is supposed to hit to be able to complete the whole. A par 3 hole is a whole where the golfer is expected to be able to drive the ball to the green in a single shot and then putt twice to complete the whole. Par 4’s require two shots to make the green and a par 5 would require three. In modern golf with technology and fitness becoming so advanced more and more par 5’s are becoming easier to make it to the green in two shots setting up chances for birdies and even eagles, which we’ll explain in the next couple of paragraphs.
A birdie is a completing a whole one shot under par. Its name comes from the slang ‘bird’ which meant ‘excellent’ back before birdie was used as a system of scoring it was a term for any well hit shot. A well driven tee shot that landed perfectly on the fairway to give the golfer an easy second shot was called a birdie. It is claimed by the Atlantic City Country Club that the term birdie was invented on a hole on their course in 1903. If you’re watching a gold tournament and hear the commentary team talking about a birdie putt it means the golfer has put themselves in position to make a good score on a hole.
An eagle expands off the bird motif of the birdie and is the excellent score of completing a whole two shots under par. On a par 3 this would require a hole in one. On professional par 4’s it’s generally only possible to eagle them by sinking an iron shot that would be forty or more yards away from the hole. The par 5 is where the eagles are found in the modern game as a par 5 hole with a length of 500 yards is something today’s golfers can reach the green on in two shots. Making a putt for eagle is a huge moment for a golfer.
Finally the dreaded bogey means that a golfer has taken a stroke more than par to complete the hole. You’ll often hear someone talk about a golfer saving par on a hole and that means they avoided taking a bogey. If a golfer does make a bogey they can at least be happy they didn’t make a double or triple bogey which could ruin their round of golf.
The 19th Green 112 Woody Jones Blvd. Florence, Sc 29501 (843) 407-7444