Golf Tips: A Bird Name for Every Score you could Imagine

The Birds you are likely to get

Okay, so not all of these are named after birds. Obviously, a birdie is… well, a birdie. That one makes sense. Back in the early 20th century, a bird was a slang term for something cool, neat, or excellent. The term made it’s way to golf, where if someone finished the hole one-under, it was “cool” which lead to “birdie”, and the term has stuck.

Par comes from even further back, stemming from the stock market. Something that was at it’s normal was considered “par”. I wish there were some little, totally nondescript bird that was quite bland called a “par”, but there is not. You can also go with “scratch”, the term associated similarly to “par” on the stock market of being at the normal or standard line.

The term “bogey” was one of the first golf terms and in no means related to what it does today. It was the name of the first scoring system in golf, adopted in the late 19th century. It also derives from the Scottish goblin, the “bogle”. You can read about it more here, which should help you further understand the term a bit better.

I just wanted to talk about birds and ended up turning this into a little history lesson. Okay… let’s get back on track.

A Hawk is a score of two-over-par. This is one that is likely to show up on most people’s cards every time they play, and I would hazard to say that at least 75% of rounds that are played every day have at least one “Hawk” on them. Even PGA Tour professionals get them sometimes, as do scratch golfers. I know a fair amount of people that would be happy if they only got one “Hawk” per round.

We move to a couple of brush birds next, with Grouse and Turkey. A “Grouse” would be three over, and a “Turkey” would be four over. Again, I would feel fairly comfortable wagering that around half the players you see on a course at any given time are going to end up with a “Grouse on their scorecards.

Almost that same amount is likely going to end up with a Turkey as well, whether it be from a true four over, or from playing “double par”, and just giving up on a hole and writing down an eight.

This is the last one I would expect to see on someone’s card, as I don’t know many people who would play through this long on a bad hole, unless there is something big on the line, or it’s tournament play. That would be a “Goose”, which is five over. Hopefully, you don’t get one anytime soon.

For those who play their ball into the hole no matter what, pride be darned, I truly hope you don’t end up having to announce any of these birds on the next slide.