Par/Bogey

The committee sets the target for each hole. A Par competition normally uses par; a Bogey competition normally uses one over par. On a par 4, those targets are normally 4 and 5.²

The highest total of holes won minus holes lost wins. Five wins and three losses leave a player two up. That counts holes, not strokes.¹

With par as the target and no handicap strokes, scores of 3, 4 and 6 on three par-4 holes produce a win, a tie and a loss. The result is level.¹

In a handicap competition, strokes are applied before comparing scores. A 5 becomes a net 4 when one stroke is received, tying a target of 4.¹

Players are encouraged to pick up once a hole is lost. An unfinished hole is a loss; several strokes above the target also lose only one hole.¹

Although the scoring resembles match play, the stroke-play Rules apply with specific exceptions. The comparison is with the committee's target, not an opponent's score.²³

The name preserves an older meaning of bogey. The USGA describes late nineteenth-century British golfers measuring themselves against club-set bogey standards. Par later became the accepted expert benchmark in American golf, while bogey came to mean one stroke over par.⁴