Why Is It Called a Birdie in Golf? 🤔 Everyone chases birdies in golf. But almost nobody knows why they’re actually called that. And strangely… it has basically nothing to do with birds. The story behind the word “birdie” goes all the way back to the early 1900s — and starts with one golfer, one slang phrase, and one great shot. Before Birdies Existed When golf was first played in Scotland during the 1400s, scoring terms like birdie, eagle, and albatross didn’t exist at all. Golfers simply described the score itself: “Four on the hole” “One under par” “Level par” That was it. In fact, the concept of par itself wasn’t even fully standardised until the late 1800s, as golf courses became more organised and competitive. So for hundreds of years, golfers played without any of the scoring language we use today. The term “birdie” is believed to have originated in 1903 at Atlantic City Country Club in New Jersey. During a round, a golfer named Ab Smith hit an incredible approach shot that fini...