Tracking your score in the game of golf is relatively easy. To put it in the most basic of terms, you just count the number of strokes it took to get the ball into the hole and that’s your score! Then, you add together each of the scores for each hole, and that is your overall game score. Pretty simple, huh?

There are some terms you will need to know as you track your progress… the first is ‘par’. Par is the number of strokes (aka shots) a professional golfer would be expected to take to play each hole. So, for example, if a hole is a ‘par 4′, it’s believed that you should be able to get your ball into the hole in 4 strokes. A course will also be referred to in terms of par; most 18-hole courses have four par-three, ten par-four, and four par-five holes. The total par of a regulation course is 72.

So, if you make par, it’s pretty easy to understand. But if you do better or worse than par, there are some other terms for you to know…

Albatross: Three shots less than par
Eagle: Two shots less than par
Birdie: One shot less than par
Bogey: One shot more than par
Double bogey: Two shots more than par
Triple bogey: Three shots more than par

A word of caution! Golf is a self-scoring game, so if you want to remain friends with your golfing buddies, be honest about your score!