This article was adapted from original content first published in Golf Journal, the quarterly print magazine available exclusively to USGA members.
Golf is a sport full of contradictions, starting with the fact that golfers don’t ‘play golf’: they play golf. Yet in casual conversation you still hear, “I’m playing golf today,” a phrase that makes traditionalists cringe. It reminds us that mastering the game requires not only a solid ball touch, but also mastering a vocabulary that has evolved over centuries.
The language of golf is a colorful patchwork: technical expressions like fade, carry and moment of inertia coexist with jargon like banana ball, breakfast ball and fried egg. Even clichés – cart wave, army wave, blind squirrel – have a life of their own. But beneath all that playful jargon lie a handful of fundamental words that shape the way the game is understood.Some of those words have changed dramatically over time. Bogey once meant what par means today. Par himself came from the financial world. Meanwhile, terms like curlew and whaup – yes, both birds – were once suggested as an alternative to hole-in-one. None stuck, of course, but they underscore how fluid golf’s vocabulary once was.
That evolution accelerated in the late 19th century, when the growth of print media helped spread consistent terminology. “The widespread use of golf language coincided with the rise of the printed word,” says Elizabeth Beeck, curator of exhibitions at the USGA Golf Museum. “Many of the common terms emerged in the 1880s and 1890s as travel and communication improved.”
Here’s a closer look at where golf’s essential words came from, and how they’ve become etched into the game’s identity.
Par
The concept of par entered golf thanks to a Scottish journalist named AH Doleman. Before the 1870 Open Championship at Prestwick, Doleman asked two professional golfers to estimate a “perfect score” for the 12-hole layout. Their answer – 49 – led Doleman to compare a golfer’s performance to stocks trading above or below average, or “par,” a term whose Latin origins mean “equal.”
It took decades for the idea to solidify. A standardized course grading system was established in the 1890s, but the USGA did not officially adopt parity until 1911, defining it as “perfect play without chance.” The R&A followed in 1925.
Bogey
Long before it meant one over par, bogey was the target score on every hole – essentially our modern version of par. The term was introduced in 1890 at Coventry Golf Club, where secretary Hugh Rotherman created a standard called the ‘ground score’.
The word ‘bogey’ itself has darker origins. Since the 16th century it referred to a mischievous spirit or goblin, which inspired the later ‘ogre’. Golfers adopted the idea of ”catching” Mr. Bogey, and strong players were praised as “bogey men.”
As equipment and course quality improved, professionals routinely beat Mr. Bogey. That shift paved the way for par to become the benchmark – and eventually bogey took on its current meaning: one stroke worse than par.
Birdie
America can claim this one. In the early 20th century, a ‘bird’ meant something excellent. At Atlantic City Country Club, golfer AB Smith used the phrase “a bird of a shot” after hitting a three on a par 4. He and his playing partners began calling such a score a “birdie,” and the term quickly spread. A plaque at the club dates the moment to 1903.
The bird theme expanded. The eagle emerged shortly afterwards, representing two underlings, which makes sense in a country where the eagle is a national symbol. The double eagle appeared first, but the rarer, more poetic albatross ultimately won out for describing three under.
Caddy
Many believe that caddy comes from the French word cadet, meaning “boy.” The story goes that Mary, Queen of Scots, came across the term in France and brought it home with her, where it eventually came to describe those who wore golfers’ equipment.
Whether the French actually played a form of golf at the time is debated, but the linguistic link is solid: French terms often found their way into Scottish usage. By the 17th century, caddying was established, and by the 19th century it was firmly associated with golf.
For
Despite sounding like an abbreviated ‘foreword’, its true origins are murkier – and more interesting.
One theory traces this to military exercises, where gunners warned the forerunners with shouts such as ‘Beware preface!’ If the warning were repeated on Scottish golf courses near military sites, it could easily have been changed to ‘for’.
Another idea involves the forecaddie, who would stand in the landing zone to spot balls in the age of fragile springs. Golfers shouted “forecaddie!” before you hit. Over time, the warning was shortened to the single syllable we shout today.
Golf
The word golf has many contenders due to its linguistic origins: colf, kolf, chole, kolbe, kolfs. They all relate to early stick-and-ball games, some played on frozen Dutch canals and others dating back to Roman times.
The Scots adopted the game and experimented with spellings – gawf, gowf, gouff, goiff – before settling on the now familiar ‘golf’. Whatever its true origins, the word stuck and the game grew into the modern sport we know.
And just to be clear, even though the Scots once “played golf,” its proper use today – as any purist will remind you – is simply golf.
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