What Is the Golf Score Called a 'Double Buzzard'?

There is an old scoring term in golf, a type of score called a "double buzzard." Even if you don't know what it means (yet), you can probably guess from the name that it's a score no golfer wants to make.

The golf score called a buzzard is 2-over-par on a hole, a double bogey. So what is a double buzzard? Four-over-par on a hole, or a quadruple bogey. You score a double buzzard when you:

• Score 7 on a par-3 hole;
• Score 8 on a par-4 hole;
• Score 9 on a par-5 hole.

In addition to the standard golf nomenclature of quadruple bogey, a double buzzard — four strokes over par on a given hole — can also be called a turkey. Another bird-themed name, and another name that implies a score you don't want to make. (And the score that comes in-between a buzzard and double buzzard is the triple bogey, sometimes also called a grouse.)

The term "double buzzard" appears to have once been in much wider circulation in America. Newspaper articles from the late 1920s into the 1930s that use the term "double buzzard" — usually without feeling the need to define it — are not exactly common, but they definitely aren't rare. For example, a 1932 Minneapolis Star Tribune article mentions a golfer playing 36 holes whose morning round was excellent, but whose afternoon round was spoiled by "... two double buzzards on the first nine holes."

However, the newspaper database we searched did not include any uses of "double buzzard" later than 1985. And in the case of that latest entry, the writer did feel the need to define the term, but provided an incorrect definition!

Related articles:

• What are the names of the scores that come after quadruple bogey?
• 4-under par is a 'condor'
• The 'Dolly Parton' golf score explained

Sources:
(Book titles are affiliate links; commissions earned)
Davies, Peter. Davies' Dictionary of Golfing Terms, 1980, Simon and Schuster.
Forman, Chandler. "Bolstad, Labatt and Blair Lead State Open With 148s," The Minneapolis (Minn.) Star Tribune, June 14, 1932.
Hoover, Tom. "The Field is Set for 1985 Ozark," The (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) Daily American, April 15, 1985.
Marzoni, Pettersen. "Sam Perry New Dixie Golf Champ," The Birmingham (Ala.) News, June 23, 1929.
Pedroli, Hubert, and Tiegreen, Mary. Let the Big Dog Eat!, William Morrow Publisher, 2000.