OED's "bogey" and "par"

[Joel S. Berson]

>I wonder if the definitions of "bogey" (etc.) and "par" need revision.

Bogey:
a.  The number of strokes a good player may be
reckoned to need for the course or for a hole.
...
c. A score of one stroke over par for a hole. U.S.

Par (June 2005):
4.a. Golf. The number of strokes which a scratch
player should need for a hole or for a course
(freq. with that number as postmodifier). Also:
(as a count noun) a score of this number of stokes at a hole.

And now for the final term needed to understand "bogey" and "par":

Scratch player:
s.v. scratch, n., 1.: -- no definition!

So I go up to "scratch" -- the most relevant definition(s) seem(s) to be:
5.a.  a. Sport. A line or mark drawn as an
indication of a boundary or starting-point; †in
Cricket, a ‘crease’ (obs.); in Pugilism, the line
drawn across the ring, to which boxers are brought for an encounter.
b.  The starting-point in a handicap of a
competitor who receives no odds; sometimes
colloq. used ellipt. for such a competitor. Also
fig.; esp. in phr. from scratch, from a position
of no advantage, knowledge, influence, etc., from nothing.

But surely there's no scratch line in golf!

Joel

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