Monday, June 27, 2016

A Brief Overview of the Scoring System in Golf



Michael Conville, president of North Palm Beach, Florida’s Beacon Construction Group, is an avid golfer. In his free time from overseeing company operations and managing live job sites, Michael Conville maintains membership with The Breakers Palm Beach, a resort with two championship golf courses.

Understanding the golf scoring system can be difficult for new players. While there are a number of variations on how a round of golf can be played and scored, winning a hole or a round is generally based on golfing under par. Every golf course assigns a par score to each hole. A relatively easy hole might be listed as a par three, while a more difficult hole would be labeled a par four. It is the mission of every golfer to make par or to get the ball in the hole in fewer strokes than the par suggests.

For example, a golfer who puts the ball in the hole in two strokes on a par three is said to have finished the hole at one stroke under par. This event is also referred to as a birdie, and it gives a player a score of -1. An eagle refers to finishing a hole at two strokes under par, with a hole score of -2, while the rare double eagle involves finishing a hole at three strokes fewer than suggested.

Conversely, a bogey or double bogey means a golfer has completed a hole at one or two strokes over par, respectively. Such an instance would be scored as a +1 or +2. At the conclusion of a round of golf, players tally their scores and compare their total stroke number. A player with a score of -9 finished the round at nine strokes under par, while a player with a score of +1 has finished the round at one stroke over the course par.