Time for a little Understanding The Game, courtesy of TGW. Because if you are going to be spending time with a golfer it really helps to understand at least the basics. If he comes home all excited because he got an Eagle, and you give him a blank stare because you have no idea what he's talking about, you just dropped down a notch in his eyes. And, as previously noted, this is not good around gift giving time.
So. Let's start with scoring. The point of the game is to hit the ball into the hole with as few strokes as possible. Each 'round' consists of playing 18 holes. Each hole has a 'par'. Par is the number of strokes the person who designed the golf course thinks it should take to hit the ball in the hole. The entire 18 holes has a par (Okay, you do know there are 18 holes on a golf course, right? I don't have to get quite that remedial do I? I mean even total non-golfers know there are 18 holes on a golf course.). Which is where the expression 'Par for the course' comes from. 80 percent of the time par for a course is 72. Some courses have a par of 71 and there are some courses with a par of 70.
Each hole on the course has a par of 3, 4 or 5. The 18 holes are split into 'the front nine' ( usually moving out away from the club house ) and 'the back nine' ( usually moving back towards the club house. So when you finish the drinks are close by). On a course with a par of 72 each nine will have 2 par 5 holes, 2 par 3 holes, and 5 par 4 holes. If the course has a par other than 72 there will be a different number of par 5 and 3 holes. The number of par 4 holes stays the same.
An Eagle means you hit the ball in the hole 2 strokes under par. A Birdie means you hit the ball into the hole 1 stroke under par. A bogey is when you take 1 stroke over par to get the ball in the hole. A double bogey is 2 strokes over par, a triple bogey is 3 strokes over par, and a quadruple bogey is never talked about and the other golfers in the group avert their eyes rather than watch it happen. Because it might rub off.
So for instance on a par 4 hole:
Eagle - 2 strokes
Birdie - 3 strokes
Par - 4 strokes
Bogey - 5 strokes
Double Bogey - 6 strokes
Triple Bogey - 7 strokes
Quadru......uh, let's just not go there.
A 'hole in one' means, well, in the hole in 1 stroke. These only happen on par 3's. It really is pretty much impossible to get a hole in one on a par 4 or 5. And in another example of just how perverse this game can be, if you happen to get a hole in one YOU buy the drinks. And not just for the people you are playing with, but for everyone who happens to be in the clubhouse at the time. Hole in one's can be very expensive. Which doesn't stop every golfer from dreaming about getting one some day.
At the end of the round you add up the number of strokes for all 18 holes, and low score wins.
Now for tournaments, and this goes for the PGA as well as for those at the local course, each player keeps both his own score, and the score of the other players in his group. When the round is over all the players compare cards and check their score against the score the other players have for them. Discrepancies are 'discussed'. Hopefully very civilly. Sometimes not so civilly. Once the scores have been agreed to be correct, the player signs his own card, and one of the other players in his group also signs his card 'attesting' to the fact that the players score is correct. So on occasion when a group starts out you will hear one player ask another to be his 'attester'. This is what he is talking about.
All the scores for every round you play are used to determine your handicap. Which is an entire post, or two or three, by itself.
So now you know what a Birdie is, and that, in spite of the title of this post, there are no bees in golf.
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