What Is a Quadruple Bogey in Golf?

A quadruple bogey is one of those scores in golf that can sink a scorecard and your confidence. The truth is, these high numbers don’t just happen to beginners, every golfer has faced a blow-up hole at some point. This guide will show you exactly what a quadruple bogey is, the common ways these score-wreckers happen, and a practical game plan to keep them off your card for good.

What Exactly Is a Quadruple Bogey?

In the simplest terms, a quadruple bogey is a score of four strokes over par on a single hole. It’s often referred to unofficially as a "quad." Par is the expected number of strokes an expert golfer would need to complete a hole. So, when your score goes four strokes higher than that number, you've made a quadruple bogey.

Since the score is relative to par, the actual number of strokes for a quadruple bogey changes depending on the hole you're playing. Let's break it down:

• On a Par 3: A quadruple bogey is a score of 7 (3 + 4).
• On a Par 4: A quadruple bogey is a score of 8 (4 + 4).
• On a Par 5: A quadruple bogey is a score of 9 (5 + 4).

You may also have heard the term "snowman" on the course. This is a common slang term specifically for making an 8 on a hole. Since most holes on a standard course are par 4s, a snowman almost always means you've made a quadruple bogey.

The Anatomy of a Quad Bogey: How Do They Happen?

A quadruple bogey rarely comes from one single terrible shot. Instead, it’s usually a chain reaction of a few bad decisions, a few poor swings, and a dose of bad luck all cascading on one another. As a coach, I see the same patterns over and over again. Understanding these patterns is the first step to breaking the chain.

1. The Bad Tee Shot That Snowballs

The hole often starts to fall apart right from the tee. A wild tee shot that sails out of bounds (O.B.) or into a water hazard immediately puts you behind the eight ball. Let's look at the math:

• Out of Bounds/Lost Ball: You hit your tee shot, it goes O.B. That’s your first stroke. You must add a penalty stroke (stroke two) and re-tee (stroke three). You're now hitting your third shot from the exact same spot you started. Before your new ball has even landed, you're already on track for, at best, a double bogey.
• Water Hazard: You hit your tee shot into the water. That’s one stroke. You add a one-stroke penalty, find a place to drop outside the hazard, and are now hitting your third shot.

In either case, one single swing has made it almost impossible to score well, and the pressure is instantly mounted for every shot that follows.

2. The "Hero Shot" Compounding an Earlier Mistake

This is arguably the biggest contributor to turning a simple bogey into a quad. You’ve hit a mediocre drive into the trees. You’re 180 yards out, and you see a tiny window between two large oaks. Your mind screams, "I can thread this!" You pull a 5-iron, hit the shot of your life… and it clips a branch, dropping straight down only ten feet in front of you. Now you’re still in jail, but you've wasted another shot.

This moment of over-ambition - the "hero shot" - comes from an emotional desire to instantly erase the last bad shot. A smarter player would accept the situation, take a wedge, and punch the ball sideways back into the fairway. It might feel like a defeat, but that one smart, conservative play turns a potential 8 into a 5 or 6 every time.

3. The Short Game Catastrophe

You’ve navigated the tee shot and approach reasonably well, leaving your ball just off the green. "Easy up-and-down," you think. Then it happens.

• The Duff: You attempt a delicate chip, but you hit the ground behind the ball, and it moves about three feet.
• The Skull: To avoid another duff, you compensate and catch the ball with the leading edge. It screams across the green, into the bunker on the other side.
• The Bunker Blade: It takes you two tries to get out of the sand because the first attempt stays in the bunker.
• Death by Three-Putt (or Four-Putt): Finally on the green, you’re rattled. Your first putt is way too aggressive, going 10 feet past the hole. You miss the comeback putt. You yip the tap-in. You’ve just taken five shots from 10 yards off the putting surface. Ouch.

The short game falls apart under pressure, and when one bad chip is followed by another, a hole can unravel with shocking speed.

4. A Lack of Course Management

Sometimes, the quadruple bogey was set up before you even swung the club. Course management is about thinking your way around the course, not just blasting your way through it. Blindly pulling driver on every hole, not being aware of where the major hazards lie, or picking the wrong target are all strategic failures that lead to high scores.

For example, on a short par 4 with water protecting the front of the green, the play might be to hit an iron off the tee to leave a full wedge shot in, rather than blasting a driver and having a tricky, half-swing pitch over the water.

When you don't have a plan, you put yourself in situations where one slightly mishit shot can lead to disaster. Golf is a game of managing misses, and good strategy helps make your misses less punishing.

Your Action Plan to Avoid the Quadruple Bogey

Okay, enough about what goes wrong. Let’s talk about how to make it right. Here are four practical, actionable steps you can work on to get those big numbers off your scorecard.

1. Adopt a "Damage Control" Mindset

This is the most important change you can make. When you find yourself in serious trouble - in the woods, in a hazard, in a terrible lie - your original goal of making par is gone. Forget it immediately. Your new objective is simple: damage control. The goal is no longer to make par, the goal is to get out of trouble with the next shot and make bogey at worst. A bogey is just one over. An aggressive hero shot that fails leads to a quad. By mentally resetting your a target score for the hole, you remove the pressure to hit a miracle shot and instead focus on the smart play.

2. Master the Simple Punch Out

The "hero shot" antidote is the punch out. Every golfer needs this shot in their bag. It's a low-risk, high-reward option when you're in trouble. Here’s how to do it:

1. Choose a more lofted club than you think, like an 8-iron or 9-iron. The loft helps get the ball up quickly to clear any ground-level obstacles you're escaping from.
2. Play the ball back in your stance, near your back foot.
3. Press your hands forward, toward the target. This de-lofts the club and keeps the ball flight low.
4. Make a short, compact swing - think of it as swinging from one hip to the other.
5. Focus on one thing: hitting the ball solidly and getting it back to the short grass. Do not aim for a target downrange. Aim for a wide opening back to safety.

Hitting a good punch shot feels like a victory because it’s a sign of maturity as a golfer. You just saved yourself two or three strokes.

3. Create One "Go-To" Chip Shot

Chipping becomes overwhelming when you're trying to decide between a flop shot, a bump-and-run, or a standard pitch. To eliminate the disastrous short anme shots, develop a single, reliable "go-to" chip that you can trust under pressure.

I recommend a simple shot using a putting-style motion:

• Take a 9-iron or 8-iron.
• Set up with a narrow stance, with most of your weight on your front foot.
• Hold the club lower down the grip for more control.
• Use a stroke that feels very similar to your putting stroke - rocking your shoulders back and forth with very little wrist action.

By using the bigger muscles and taking your wrists out of the shot, you dramatically reduce the chances of a duff or a skull. It might not look as fancy as a checked-up wedge, but this shot will get the ball on the green and rolling toward the hole with incredible consistency.

4. Focus on "Lag Putting"

Three-putts are silent killers of a scorecard. When you’re facing a putt from over 30 feet away, your primary goal is not to make the putt. It is to lag it close. Your goal should be to get the ball to stop inside an imaginary three-foot circle around the hole. This two-putt strategy removes immense pressure and almost single-handedly eliminates the dreaded three-putt, and certainly the soul-crushing four-putt. A great lag putt feels just as satisfying as sinking a 15-footer, because it shows you’re playing smart.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, a quadruple bogey is a four-stroke penalty born from strategic missteps more than from a poor golf swing. By understanding how a hole unravels and embracing a "damage control" mindset, you can start making smarter decisions that prevent a single mistake from turning into a disaster on your scorecard.

When you're facing those tough situations on the course where blow-up holes are born - like a bad lie in the rough or a tricky approach shot - it's hard to make the right call under pressure. This is where a tool like Caddie AI can be a game-changer. I find you can get instant, expert advice on the smart play, helping you turn a potential quadruple bogey into a manageable bogey by taking the guesswork out of your most challenging decisions.