OED's "bogey" and "par"

[Dan Goncharoff]

What is wrong with any of this?

5b does not refer to a "scratch-line".

DanG

On Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 11:28 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
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> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â  Â  Â  "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject: Â  Â  Â OED's "bogey" and "par"
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>
>>I wonder if the definitions of "bogey" (etc.) and "par" need revision.
>
> Bogey:
> a. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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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