‘Bogey’ - The history of a golfer’s least favorite term

During some recent traveling i picked up the book “Words we use” by Diarmaid O Muirithe, and came across a entry regarding the word ‘bogey’. I found it quite interesting, so thought it’d be worth sharing.

He makes reference to an article from Oxford, written in 1908:

‘One popular song at least has left its permanent effect on the game of golf. That song is The Bogey Man. In 1890 Dr Thomas Browne, RN, the honorary secretary of the Great Yarmouth Club, was playing against a Major Wellman, the match being against “the ground score”, which was the name given to the scratch value of the hole. The system of playing was new to Major Wellman, and he exclaimed, thinking of the song of the moment, that his mysterious and well-nigh invincible opponent was a regular “bogey-man”. The name “caught on” at Great Yarmouth, and today bogey is one of the most feared opponents on all the courses that acknowledge him.’

According to O’Muirithe, it was here in the US that bogey started being used for one over par in 1898. S.B. Flexner, in his Listening to American (1982), wrote that ‘after the rubber golf ball was invented in 1898, the bogey established for the guttapercha ball became too easy and the British lowered their bogies by about one strike per hole, and kept the term, but the Americans began to use the word par instead, keeping the old British word bogey to mean the old, easier expected score of a good player, usually one stroke more than the new par.’

It’s not known when it was changed back over in the UK and Ireland but even in the 1950s the signs on Tee-boxes stated ‘bogey four‘, meaning par four.

So there’s a little fun fact you can share with your foursome next weekend. If anyone knows any more on the subject, or other golf terms, please drop us a comment and share your knowledge.

Day 2 at Augusta - Caption Contest

We’ve been thinking about running a caption contest for a while here at DemoDayFinder, and i’m delighted to announce that we’ve finally got round to it. Not only that, but if we get a good response, it’ll become part of a recurring section to the DemoDayFinder site. With any good caption contest, it’s the photo that really is the key. Luckily, we found a great starter from today at the Masters in Augusta. Featured in the Orlando Sentinel, it’s a photo of Todd Hamilton hitting out of the rough on the 1st Hole during today’s second round. So you may be thinking, what’s so funny about that? Well, take a look at the guy in the yellow hard hat.

Is he some sort of paranoid spectator that reckons he needs a construction hard hat in order to be safe at the Masters? But if that’s the case, he looks like he must be in deep meditation and be “taking on his fear” as he hasn’t even flinched as the ball zooms by his head.

Perhaps the caption should be “Find a happy place. Find a happy place.”

Your thoughts?

Welcome Simpac Golf

On our continuing quest to bring more demo days and help connect golfers with club makers, we’d like to welcome Simpac Golf as the newest golf manufacturer to begin sending in their golf demo day events. If you’re down near San Diego this weekend, they are holding a demo day at Carlton Oaks Golf Course. April 12 / Simpac @ Carlton Oaks GC (Santee, CA)

We had a chance to meet with Simpac during the PGA show demo day in January, and was impressed by their S-Cube D1 driver (pictured below). Featuring a 460cc head and TWS (two weight-spot structure), the club offers a combination of distance and accuracy. Will it work for you? Only one way to find out…head out to a Simpac demo day!

Breaking News: Woods to take rest of the season off

European golf media is this morning claiming that world number one, Tiger Woods, has decided to end his season prematurely. Some reports are citing his recent frustrations with photographers, as well his sudden loss of form may have pushed the superstar to the shocking announcement. Others close to Wood’s agent Mark Steinburg, suggested that now that his winning streak is over, he is going to focus on his family. Perhaps for the first season in a long time, the other players will actually have a chance!

Update: As many of you may have guessed, this was DemoDayFinder’s little April Fool’s Post. Still though, i think it’s still an interesting proposition for the rest of the tour. Anyone else think it might make it more exciting?

Welcome Nicklaus Golf and Wilson Golf

The PGA Merchandise show allowed us a great deal of time with representatives of pretty much every golf manufacturer in attendance. This one on one time allowed us to establish some relationships and help bring you even more golf demo days to choose from and find near you. In this vain, we’d like to welcome Nicklaus Golf and Wilson Golf to the growing list of golf manufacturers now sending in their demo days direct, allowing us to input them with unprecedented speed.

From the team at DemoDayFinder.com and golfers everwhere, we say thank you!