Explain Series: How to score a round of Golf
In almost every sport on the planet, more is better, except golf.
In football, baseball, basketball, tennis, soccer, hockey, water polo, rugby, etc., the object is to score more points than your opponent. In golf, the way to win is to score less. Let me explain.
The game of golf consists of hitting a golf ball with a golf club and trying to get the ball to go in the hole. The player that can do that with the fewest amount of strokes, or swings, will win the round.
The game is broken up into 18 holes. Each hole is marked by a par, such as a par three, par four or a par five. Par means the amount of strokes that it should take to reach the hole. So if you are playing a par five, and it takes you five strokes to get it in the hole, you made par for that hole.
If you score one stroke more than par you got a bogey, which is not as good as a par. If, however, you score one stroke less than par, for example, a three on a par four, then you score a birdie. Making birdies on a regular basis is what has made Tiger Woods a multi-millionaire.
Those are the three basic scores you get in golf. But, there are more. If you have two more strokes than par, you receive a double-bogey, worse than a bogey, but better than a triple-bogey.
If you somehow find a stroke of luck and finish a hole two strokes under par, then you receive an eagle. When you see a hole in one on the PGA tour, about 99.9 percent of the time it is an eagle, meaning the player’s first shot went in on a par 3. In today’s world of long, big hitters, most eagles will be found on par fives.
When you watch a golf match, many times they will refer to the players score as five under, or three over. This refers to the amount of strokes over or under par they are for their round.
Below is Tiger Wood’s score card from the 2005 PGA Championship. Notice at the top is the hole number. Below that is the par for that hole, and below that is the actual score he got. The final line keeps track of how many strokes over par he was for the round.
Now that you have had this lesson on keeping score in golf, hopefully you will have learned a little about what it is like to play golf. There might not be as many points, there might not be as much action, but if you ask anyone who plays golf, they will tell you it is every bit as hard as any other sport, and often harder. As my dad often says, “Golf is the worst dang fun I’ve ever had.” So enjoy the world of fast-paced, action-filled sports, but remember, in the world of golf, less is more.