Golf may appear to be one of the simpler athletic competitions in the world, but the scoring system for golf is full of terms that may be unfamiliar to many of the sports followers and is certain to be confusing at first to the games newcomers. Regardless of the form of play, the objective in golf is to achieve the fewest strokes possible over the course of the match.

No matter the course players are on, terminology for scoring remains the same. For each hole on a course there is a set number that is the ideal number of strokes needed to get from the tee box to the green. That ideal number of strokes is referred to as par and achieving par has no affect on your score, earning a zero for the hole. Each number of strokes above or below par will increase or decrease a player’s score from the zero mark. Below is a simple, generic, table to introduce terms and scoring:

Condor: -4 or four under par
Albatross: -3 or three under par
Eagle: -2 or two under par
Birdie: -1 or one under par
Even/Par: number of strokes equal to par
Bogey: +1 or one over par
Double Bogey: +2 or two over par
Triple Bogey: +3 or three over par
Quadruple: +4 or four over par

The number of strokes determined to be par on each hole varies with shorter holes usually designated par three while longer holes are considered par fives. When players tee off on their first hole of the day, their score is at zero with the result from each hole moving their score either up or down from there. Using the table above, getting from the tee box to the hole in four strokes on a par five hole would be a birdie and result in a players score going -1. If on that same hole a player instead shot a seven, their score for the hole would be considered a double bogey and would result in a +2 on their score sheet. The goal in golf is to get the lowest score possible to achieve victory, with a -11 (for example) being superior to a -7.

There are different forms of play in golf, namely stroke play, match play, and a skins game. Stroke play is simply done by counting the number of strokes during a nine or 18 hole competition while match play scores each hole individually to determine a winner on each hole with the player winning the most holes deemed the winner in the end. A skins game is similar to match play with each hole contested individually, except the match continues until all skins (usually prize money for each hole) are handed out. Regardless of the style of play, scoring remains constant across the game.