Where did the golf terms birdie, eagle, par, and bogey come from?
The origin of the words BIRDIE and EAGLE: The term ‘birdie’ originated in the United States in 1899. In H.B. Martin’s “Fifty Years of American Golf” there is an account of a foursomes match played at the Atlantic City CC, in which one of the players, Ab Smith relates, “My ball came to rest within six inches of the cup. I said, ‘That was a bird of a shot. I suggest that when one of us plays a hole in one under par he receives double compensation.’ The other two players agreed and we began right away, just as soon as the next one came, to call it a birdie” In 19th centruy American slang, ‘bird’ referred to anyone or anything excellent or wonderful. Once the term ‘birdie’ became common, people started referring to a core one better than a ‘birdie’ as an ‘eagle’. One better than an “eagle”, was an ‘albatross’ – an even bigger eagle! The origin of the word BOGEY: The term ‘bogey’ comes froma song that was popular in Britain in the early 1890s called “The Bogey Man” (later known as “The Colo