Bogey or Bogie?

[joepro23]

How do you spell the nickname for one over par (+1), "bogey" or "bogie"?

I go with bogey myself, but have seen it spelled both ways.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bogey
http://golf.about.com/cs/historyofgo..._wordbogey.htm

[Shanks A Million]

Ey, pretty much always.

The term pretty much comes from the avian convention of naming scores in golf. Bogey is a term used for an unfriendly thing, like the Bogeyman. The term later got used to mean an unfriendly flying thing. It's not totally clear exactly how the term came to be, but it was put into use around WW-I, and "Bogey" was already being used for an enemy aircraft, so likely the military/golf connection melded the two.

The "Colonel Bogey March" was also a popular song in 1914, about a golfer who whistled a particular two notes instead of yelling "Fore." This song is maybe better known from its use in "The Bridge over the River Kwai" or as the song "Hitler has only got one Ball."

[DaSportsGuy]

I've always used Bogey.

I have never seen it spelled i-e.

[DocWu1948]

In his book, "The Greatest Game Ever Played". author Mark Frost wrote that bogey originally meant par! Ah, but that was over 100 years ago.

[joepro23]

I've always used Bogey.

Really? It is spelled with i-e all the time on this forum. I did a search for "bogie" in the boards and found it a lot before posting this poll. Threads (just to show a few):

http://thesandtrap.com/forum/threads...ighlight=bogie and http://thesandtrap.com/forum/threads...ighlight=bogie (Use Ctrl+F to find it) Since the poll is 18-0 at the moment though, either those people are changing their mind or just haven't voted.

[iacas]

-ey always from me.

[Shanks A Million]

In his book, "The Greatest Game Ever Played". author Mark Frost wrote that bogey originally meant par! Ah, but that was over 100 years ago.

That's true. "Going around in Bogey" meant shooting even. "Par" is the latin word for "equal." I'd be willing to bet when the term "Bogey" started to be used as an aviation term for an enemy aircraft, golfers adapted it. Most golf terms are military based.

[Shorty]

Really? It is spelled with i-e all the time on this forum. I did a search for "bogie" in the boards and found it a lot before posting this poll. Threads (just to show a few):

Would you use this site if you wanted to find out how to spend the words "definitely" or "consistent" or the term "a lot"? Do a search for those and see what you come up with

[sean_miller]

Would you use this site if you wanted to find out how to spend the words "definitely" or "consistent" or the term "a lot"? Do a search for those and see what you come up with

LOL

http://www.d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y.com/ I assumed "bogie" and "boogie" were typos (regardless of how many times they show up in the same post).

[Fourputt]

Really?

Not by anyone who knows how to use a spell-checker.

-ey is the correct spelling.

[Alex B]

I go for "bogey."

----- On a side note, I'm enclosing the full OED entry for "bogey," with definitions, etymology, citations, and various spellings:

Golf.

The most interesting citation is the last one under definition (c), as it explains how bogey went from being the expect score on a hole to one over the expected score. Obviously, we'd need to verify this explanation (which I've never seen before) with other sources if we are to accept it.

As an addendum, the entry for "bogey" as a verb:

Golf (orig. U.S.).

[Shanks A Million]

The most interesting citation is the last one under definition (c), as it explains how bogey went from being the expect score on a hole to one over the expected score. Obviously, we'd need to verify this explanation (which I've never seen before) with other sources if we are to accept it.

Interesting. The question of how one came to be the other still lingers. I assume that either the term "Colonel Bogey" or the aviation term "Bogey" changed that. Both are cases of negatives. Colonel Bogey was a song about a dreadful golfer, and a "Bogey" was an enemy in the sky. In either case, the term "Bogey" coming to mean one over par seems to have started right around 1916, which would make sense for either theory.

Here's another theory:

In 1911, the United States Golf Association (Men) of the day laid down the following very modern distances for determining Par: Up to 225 yards Par 3 225 to 425 yards Par 4 426 to 600 yards Par 5 Over 601 yards Par 6 As golf developed, scores were coming down, but many old British courses did not adjust their courses or their Bogey scores, which meant good golfers and all the professionals were achieving lower than a Bogey score. This meant the US had an up-to-date national standard of distances for holes, while the British Bogey ratings were determined by each club and were no longer appropriate for professionals. The Americans began referring to one over Par as a Bogey, much to the British chagrin.

Golf's history already is littered with military terms though. "Fairway" comes from the naval term for a navigable waterway. Bunker, Caddie, and Fore are all military terms as well. I guess no one really knows.

[B Keller]

I had never seen anything but "bogey" until a couple of days ago when I saw "bogie" and "boogie" the same day.