The Quintuple Bogey Explained

Have you ever made a "quintuple bogey" on the golf course? Our condolences. Actually, don't feel bad about it, especially if you are a beginner or just a casual golfer: Even the greatest golfers in the world have made quintuple bogeys. But it is a bad score in golf.

A quintuple bogey is a score of 5-over par on a single hole of golf. The score is sometimes abbreviated as "quint." "What did you make?" "I had a quint."

Let's explain the terms par and bogey before continuing. "Par" refers to the score an expert golfer is expected to make on a hole. If a hole is called a par-4, then the very best golfers are expected to need four strokes to complete that hole. "Bogey" is the term golfers apply to a score of one more than par, or 1-over par in golf parlance. If a hole is called a par-4 but a golfer needs five strokes to play it, that golfer made a bogey.

So the term quintuple bogey is used to mean that a golfer has played a hole in 5-over par, or, to put it another way, needed five strokes more than par to complete play of the hole.

So what are the specific scores that make a quintuple bogey? These:

• On a par-3 hole, a score of 8 is a quintuple bogey.
• On a par-4 hole, a score of 9 is a quintuple bogey.
• On a par-5 hole, a score of 10 is a quintuple bogey.

And if you ever play a par-6 hole, then a score of 11 is a quintuple bogey. (Related: What are the names of the scores that come after quintuple bogey?)

As we've already noted, quintuple bogey is a terrible score on the pro tours and they are not common, but they do happen. And quints happen to every golfer at some point in their career, most often when just starting out. But even Tiger Woods has made a quintuple bogey on the PGA Tour. Woods made a 9 on the par-4 No. 3 hole at Muirfield Village Golf Club during the 1997 Memorial Tournament.

See also:

• What is the 'high side' or 'pro side' of a golf hole?
• The meaning of 'leader in the clubhouse'
• Explaining the meaning of dormie in golf