Author note: “Oy” is an interjection jused to express dismay, frustration, pain or concern, originating primarily from Yiddish (Merriam Webster)
August’s traditional vacation period is nearing its end end pro golf’s competitive season is closing with it. As a matter of fact, my senior league’s final team competition occurs next week. So, it seems appropriate to wrap up the season with some final thoughts on golf etymology, the avian jargon that pervades the sport, and a curated list of books centered on it.
GOLF ETYMOLOGY: ORIGIN OF THE DISCUSSION
What prompted this discussion resulted from a unique occurrence in my golf game. I scored an eagle during our league’s mid-summer scramble. For those who don’t know or are disinclined to subscribe and read about it in my FREE monthly newsletter, an eagle is the term applied to sinking the ball into the cup in two strokes rather the prescribed four or three for a par-five hole.
Of course, this announcement fostered an explication on what constitutes par, the terminology assigned to those scores one, two, and even three strokes less than par, and a brief history of how “birdie,” “eagle,” and “albatross” came to be. Unsurprisingly, the terms originated out of American slang popular during the late 19th and early 20th century.
GOLF ETYMOLOGY: NOTICEABLE BY ITS ABSENCE
Almost as soon as I completed the piece, it occurred to me that I had omitted discussing the terminology for scores that many players are more likely to encounter: scores one, two and more above par. Perhaps due to the shame and, more likely, the frustration and the ignominy attached to such scores, they are not honored with individual epithets. They are simply called bogey, double bogey, triple bogey, etc.
According to the website, Scottish Golf History, the origin of the term “bogey” is truly spooky. During the course of one match play competion at Yarmouth, one player said of his competitor’s ability that he must be “a regular Bogey man, a reference to the Edwardian music hall song “Hush! Hush! Hush! Here Comes the Bogey Man.” Regardless of the source’s veracity, the term had been in general Soottish use since the 16th century and widely used for a goblin or devil.
However, some horrendous feats do engender special renown. A score of four above par on a par 4 hole (the most common on a course) is referred to as a “snowman.” This slang term derives from appearance on a standard scorecard, an “eight” written basically as two circles on top of one another.
GOLF ETYMOLOGY: FICTIONAL CONTEXTS
Those of you who have come to expect some relationship between the blog topic at hand and fiction-writing (e.g. my post on Shelley’s poem), rest easy. Here are four iconic novels to tide you through the dark nights of winter until spring comes again and golfers haunt and curse the links once more:
- The Legend of Bagger Vance (Steven Pressfield)–set during the Great Depression, this retelling of the Bhagavad Gita uses a high-stakes golf match as a canvas for a traumatized war hero to find his authentic swing and his soul.
- The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)–Exposing the casual dishonesty and moral laxity of the elite, Jordan Baker is a professional golfer whose cheating scandal on the links mirrors the hidden corruption underlying the Jazz Age.
- Golf in the Kingdom (Michael Murphy)–A mystical round of golf in Scotland provides the setting for eastern philosophy, human consciousness, and the spiritual nature of the swing.
- Dead Solid Perfect (Dan Jenkins)–gritty, humorous look at the grueling, unglamorous life of a journeyman pro trying to make it on the PGA Tour.
GOLF ETYMOLOGY: THE 19TH HOLE
Not surprisingly, we end this discussion with another American slang expression. Neither an avian nor bogeyman reference, the term does originate from Scotland, however. Golf being played over 18th holes, Golf Dictionary states the 19th hole refers to “a pub, bar, or restaurant on or near the golf course, very often the clubhouse itself.”ound of golf has only eighteen (18) holes of play. An alternate term is a “watering hole.”
Concluding on a literary note, the English writer and humorist, P.G. Wodehouse, discusses the 19th hole in his collection of golfing stories. You may groan at the pun in the title, but my efforts at levity, literature, and etymology, it seems, share some good company.
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