Golfing Language: What the Words Mean and Why They Matter

If you watch or play golf, you’ll hear words like birdie, eagle, bogey and par. Knowing what they mean makes the game easier to follow and more fun. Below we break down the most common terms, tell you where they came from, and give quick tips on using them.

Birdie, Eagle, Bogey and Other Scores

A birdie is one stroke under par on a hole. The word popped up in the late 1800s when “bird” was slang for something excellent. An eagle is two strokes under par; it was chosen because an eagle is even rarer than a birdie.

A bogey means one over par. Early golfers called a bad score a “bogey man,” a mythical creature they hoped to avoid. When you finish a hole exactly at par, you simply call it “par.” The term comes from a score that was considered ordinary or fair.

When a player scores three over par, it’s called a double bogey. If they get four over, it’s a triple bogey. These prefixes mirror the way you’d describe a golf club, like “double‑iron.”

Other Bits of Golf Lingo

“Fore!” isn’t a score, but it’s a safety shout. You yell it when a ball is heading toward other people. The word is a shortened form of “before” — you’re warning them to get out of the way.

“Mulligan” is a casual term for a do‑over, usually used in friendly rounds. It isn’t part of official rules, but many clubs allow one free retry on a bad shot.

“The 19th hole” simply means the club‑house bar where players relax after the round. Saying you’re “heading to the 19th” is a cue that the game is over.

Understanding this language helps you follow commentary, talk with other golfers and avoid confusion on the course. When you hear a commentator say, “He’s lying three shots behind the leaders after a double bogey,” you’ll instantly picture the situation.

Try using at least two new terms the next time you play. Call a great shot a “birdie” even if it’s just a good approach, and shout “fore!” when you hit a stray drive. The more you practice, the more natural the words become.

Golf’s vocabulary grew over a century of tradition, but the core ideas stay simple: lower scores are good, higher scores are not. Knowing the words lets you focus on the swing instead of guessing what’s being said.