Bogey Avoidance
Bogey avoidance is the percentage of holes on which a golfer scores a bogey or worse. A lower number is better, since it means the player rarely drops shots to par.
What is bogey avoidance?
The name points at a skill, but the stat measures results. Bogey avoidance tracks how often a player fails to hold par, counting every hole that ends in a bogey (one over par) or something higher. Because it measures mistakes instead of good scores, the stat works in reverse: the closer the figure gets to zero, the more consistent the player.
It helps to separate the stat from the score it is named after. A bogey is a single result, one stroke over par on one hole. Bogey avoidance zooms out across a full round or a full season and asks what share of holes slipped into bogey territory. On the PGA Tour, it appears in the scoring category next to numbers like birdie average and scoring average, and broadcasters often bring it up when explaining why a steady player keeps contending without many spectacular birdies.
The reason it exists is simple. Golf is scored by total strokes, and a dropped shot costs exactly as much as a gained one. Tracking how rarely a player leaks strokes turns out to say more about week-to-week results than tracking how often they attack. That is why the figure has become a favorite of analysts and tour coaches.
How bogey avoidance is calculated
The math is straightforward. Take the number of holes where a player made bogey or worse, divide by the total holes played, and turn the result into a percentage.
A player who makes 15 bogeys over 100 holes has a bogey avoidance of 15 percent. Someone who cards 9 bogeys across the same 100 holes sits at 9 percent, which is far stronger. The stat rolls up every hole in the sample, so a single tournament or a full season can be measured the same way.
One wording point is worth clearing up. Most analysts define the number as bogey or worse, which means a double or triple bogey counts the same as a single bogey: each is simply one bogey-or-worse hole. The PGA Tour’s own stat page phrases it more plainly as the percentage of time a player makes a bogey. Tour figures line up with the bogey-or-worse reading, and that is how the term is generally used.
What counts as a good bogey avoidance percentage
Context makes the number meaningful. On the PGA Tour in 2024, the average bogey avoidance was 15.44 percent, according to golf analyst Max Meltzer. That works out to between two and three bogeys per round for the typical tour professional.
The leaders sit far lower. Scottie Scheffler topped the 2024 tour rankings at 8.26 percent, dropping a shot on fewer than one hole in twelve (Meltzer, The Free Drop). He led again in 2025 at 10.76 percent (Great Gorge Golf Club). The best mark on record, once course difficulty is accounted for, belongs to Tiger Woods in 2000, who made bogey or worse on roughly 8 percent of his holes that season against a tour average near 19 percent, according to statistician Mark Broadie writing for Golf.com.
| Level | Approximate bogey avoidance |
| Elite tour season leader | 8 to 11 percent |
| PGA Tour average | Around 15 percent |
| Tiger Woods, 2000 (difficulty-adjusted) | About 8 percent |
Recreational players will land well above the tour range, and that is expected. For an amateur, the figure simply runs higher, and it drifts down as rounds get cleaner.
Bogey avoidance vs scrambling
These two stats get mixed up because both deal with dropped shots, yet they measure different things. Scrambling only looks at holes where the player missed the green in regulation, and it counts how often they still made par or better. Bogey avoidance ignores how a hole was played and asks a blunter question: was the score par or better, or was it bogey and up?
| Feature | Bogey avoidance | Scrambling |
| What it measures | Share of all holes scored bogey or worse | Share of missed-green holes saved for par or better |
| Holes counted | Every hole played | Only holes with a missed green in regulation |
| Better direction | Lower is better | Higher is better |
| Tour benchmark | Around 15 percent | Around 60 percent |
A player can post good numbers in both, or lean on one to cover the other. Someone who hits few greens might still avoid bogeys through excellent scrambling, while a sharp ball-striker can keep bogeys off the card without needing many up-and-downs at all.
Why bogey avoidance matters
Birdies get the highlights, but they explain less about results than most fans assume. Tour pros average under four birdies a round (3.86, per Meltzer), and that figure barely moves between a great week and an ordinary one. What separates the top of the leaderboard is usually the absence of mistakes.
The pattern shows up early in a golfer’s development. In an analysis of Norwegian junior-tour scoring data, avoiding bogeys and worse accounted for about 74 percent of how the best boys separated from the field, and 86 percent for the best girls (Mikkel Golf). Coaches who lean on strategy models tend to build their advice around the same idea: protect par first.
This is why a broadcaster points to bogey avoidance when a player without a hot putter still sits near the lead. The stat captures the quiet, repeatable side of scoring that keeps a round from falling apart.
Related Golf Terms
- Back nine score — The total strokes taken on holes ten through eighteen.
- Sand save percentage — The rate of making par or better after a greenside bunker shot.
- Front nine score — The total strokes taken on holes one through nine.
- Carding — The act of recording a score on the scorecard.
- Up-and-down percentage — The rate of getting the ball in the hole in two from around the green.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a high or low bogey avoidance better?
Lower is better. The number represents the share of holes that ended in bogey or worse, so a smaller percentage means fewer dropped shots.
Is bogey avoidance the same as a bogey?
No. A bogey is a score of one over par on a single hole. Bogey avoidance is a percentage that tracks how often a player makes bogey or worse across many holes.
What is a good bogey avoidance on the PGA Tour?
The tour average sits around 15 percent. Season leaders usually fall between roughly 8 and 11 percent, a level only the most consistent players reach.
Does a double bogey count in bogey avoidance?
Yes. Any score worse than par counts as a bogey-or-worse hole, so doubles and triples are included in the percentage.
Sources
- PGA Tour. “Bogey Avoidance.” Official statistics, scoring category. Accessed August 2026.
https://www.pgatour.com/stats/scoring - Meltzer, Max. “The Hidden Stat All PGA Tour Players Care About More Than You Think.” The Free Drop, April 2024.
https://maxmeltzer.substack.com/p/the-hidden-stat-all-pga-tour-players - Great Gorge Golf Club. “PGA Tour Stats of 2025: What They Mean for Everyday Golfers.” 2026.
https://greatgorgegolfclub.com/pga-tour-statistics/ - Broadie, Mark. “Scoring Volatility Ranking.” Golf.com, 2019.
https://golf.com/instruction/driving/mark-broadie-scoring-volatility-ranking-stat/ - Mikkel Golf. “How Elite Juniors Separate Themselves From the Field.” Substack.
https://mikkelgolf.substack.com/p/75-of-the-strokes-elite-juniors-gain
