A bogey in golf is a score of one stroke over par on a single hole, such as taking 4 strokes on a par-3 hole or 6 strokes on a par-5 hole.
Par is the number of strokes a proficient, scratch golfer is expected to need on a hole, and most holes are rated par 3, 4 or 5 based mainly on their length. Two strokes over par is a double bogey, three over is a triple bogey, and so on, though higher scores are usually just described by the number of strokes. Oddly, bogey once meant the opposite of a bad score. Around 1890 at the Great Yarmouth Golf Club in England, bogey was the number of strokes a good golfer should take on each hole, named after the popular music hall song “Here Comes the Bogey Man.” Players competed against an imaginary opponent called Colonel Bogey. As par scores in the United States were tightened, everyday golfers found themselves finishing over par, and bogey shifted to mean one over par. Playing a whole round without one is called a bogey-free round.
Source: Wikipedia, Par (score)
Image: Golf flag on a putting green, PattayaPatrol, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.