On a par-4 hole, five strokes make a bogey. The equivalent scores are four on a par 3 and six on a par 5. Two over par is a double bogey: six strokes on that same par-4 hole.1
The word once described a score to aim for. The USGA's history of handicapping explains that late nineteenth-century British golfers used bogey as a benchmark for a good round. Individual clubs set those standards, so their meaning could vary from course to course.2
The same account connects the name with the elusive Bogey Man of a popular song. Golfers imagined pursuing that figure through the score they hoped to match. As American usage developed, par became the expert standard and bogey acquired its one-over-par meaning.2
Bogey also survives in the name of a competition. Under Rule 21.3, Par/Bogey is a form of stroke play in which each hole is won, tied or lost against a fixed target. The winner has the best balance of holes won and lost. That format is distinct from the score called a bogey.3