‘Bogey’ - The history of a golfer’s least favorite term

May 22nd 2008

During some recent traveling i picked up the book “Words we use” by Diarmaid O Muirithe, and came across a entry regarding the word ‘bogey’. I found it quite interesting, so thought it’d be worth sharing.

He makes reference to an article from Oxford, written in 1908:

‘One popular song at least has left its permanent effect on the game of golf. That song is The Bogey Man. In 1890 Dr Thomas Browne, RN, the honorary secretary of the Great Yarmouth Club, was playing against a Major Wellman, the match being against “the ground score”, which was the name given to the scratch value of the hole. The system of playing was new to Major Wellman, and he exclaimed, thinking of the song of the moment, that his mysterious and well-nigh invincible opponent was a regular “bogey-man”. The name “caught on” at Great Yarmouth, and today bogey is one of the most feared opponents on all the courses that acknowledge him.’

According to O’Muirithe, it was here in the US that bogey started being used for one over par in 1898. S.B. Flexner, in his Listening to American (1982), wrote that ‘after the rubber golf ball was invented in 1898, the bogey established for the guttapercha ball became too easy and the British lowered their bogies by about one strike per hole, and kept the term, but the Americans began to use the word par instead, keeping the old British word bogey to mean the old, easier expected score of a good player, usually one stroke more than the new par.’

It’s not known when it was changed back over in the UK and Ireland but even in the 1950s the signs on Tee-boxes stated ‘bogey four‘, meaning par four.

So there’s a little fun fact you can share with your foursome next weekend. If anyone knows any more on the subject, or other golf terms, please drop us a comment and share your knowledge.

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