Golf Scoring

Series Summary

Though Musselburgh, Scotland is home to The Old Links, oldest golf course in the world, golf is rumored to have begun in the Netherlands in 1297. After seven hundred years it still follows the same basic premise: hit a ball into a hole using a stick; the person who gets it in the least number of hits, wins. Today, a golfer may have any number of sticks, called clubs, made up of wood, graphite, or titanium. Each club has a specific use depending on the type, whether it’s the driver for an opening long ball, the wedge for shots out of the sand trap, the putter for the last short shot into the hole, or a variety of irons for anything in between.

In this free video series a professional golf instructor, Hill Marks, will explain several terms that are used to describe the game of golf. Coach Hill will begin by explaining the scoring method used in golf. You'll then learn several golfing terms such as: par, dogleg, shanking and even skulling. These terms will help you understand and better describe your own golf game. In the end you'll understand many terms used by golfers to describe all aspects of the game.

Video Transcript

"Ok, scoring is, it's how you account for what you've done on the course. So, one way to find out where you're at in the game of Golf is to count your score. And, so they've done a study that only 5% of people actually break 100. So, if you break 100 you're in the top 5% already. So, how do you score? Well this is a scorecard, and most golf holes are Par 4, which means they're usually ranging from 300-450 yards. It's expected that it will take you two shots of hitting the big club to get onto the green, and then they allot you two putts. But, that also means if it's a short Par 4, you might get on the green in one, if you're a big hitter then maybe you can get an eagle or birdie. So these terms, what an eagle means is that's two under the alloted par for a hole. A birdie means one under par for the hole, an ace would mean a hole in one. And then a bogie means you're one stroke over expected par, and a Double Bogie is two strokes over expected par, and a triple bogie is three strokes over expected par. So, par just means what the course has determined that a good player should be able to get to that hole in three, use three strokes for that hole, that would be a par 3, four strokes par 4, or five strokes is a par 5. So usually, most courses the total score that is par is 70-72. So that's all that you do, you count each hole and so if you got a par on a par 4 hole, you'd mark down 4. If you got a birdie you'd mark down 3, if you marked a bogie you get 5, and then you add up your score. So if you're breaking 100, you're in the top 5%. Congratulations. Now you want to move up into that top 1%."