Adjusting Pars?

[Mikie4]

Do ball golfers stop because, as beginners, they are 30 or 40 over par?

Ball golfers also have a lot more put into ball golf. If I got interested in ball golf and went out and spent the money for clubs, balls, maybe a course membership, I wouldn't give up as easy either. Plus its a more out there sport that people are more willing to try. I have friends that I can't even talk into playing disc golf because they've never heard of it before and think it sounds stupid (yes, they're dumb. I don't know why I'm friends with them, lol).

The nice thing about golf is that all they need to do to make the course harder is to not mow the fringes/2nd cut and 3rd cut for a week or two, and place the cups in harder spots and their done. Longer tees can be used too. To make a Gold course in DG is a lot harder (and our budgets are much smaller).

Indeed. I don't keep up with ball golf (or any sport really), so I hadn't put any thought into how ball golf makes the courses harder for appropriate events.

 

[DavidSauls]

I don't really get the mystique of calling everything par 3, unless maybe you're bad at math.

It's scorekeeping shorthand.

You don't finish a hole and try to remember what the par was. You don't need to carry a scorecard to check it.

And, if your score is in the 46-62 range, there's generally less math because you're only counting the deviations from "3".

*

Others have referenced tourneys using "course par" or "pro par". I've only played in 60 or so, but every one used total throws, except the match play events.

 

[magictenor1]

I play the course par and sometimes that is easy and sometimes not so easy just like different Ball golf courses. All par three is not the answer.

 

[JesusShoes]

I play the course par and sometimes that is easy and sometimes not so easy just like different Ball golf courses. All par three is not the answer.

Been out to Morton lately?

 

[DavidSauls]

I play the course par and sometimes that is easy and sometimes not so easy just like different Ball golf courses. All par three is not the answer.

This varies by course, though.

My local course is short, but the "course par" (on the signs) totals 68. Beginners, after a very short time, are shooting either 15 under (course par) or 3 over (all-par-3). Advanced players are shooting -20 on the course par and top players, -24 or -26. Believe me, at that point it's easier to call everything par-3 and keep score by the holes you don't get a 3 on.

On the other hand, we had another course (since softened) where I averaged 72. The all-par-3 method wasn't so easy, there.

I own a private course on which there are 4 holes that are Pro-Par-4 (on one, the Pros averaged 4.6 in a recent tournament). Still, it's easier scorekeeping for me to count scores from "3", recognizing that on those 4 holes I'm likely to get a 4 or 5.

A lot depends on (1) how difficult the course you're playing is and (2) what rationale someone used to establish the "course par". At least in terms of how well "all-par-3" works in casual scorekeeping.

In the end, if you shoot a 60 on my local course, you can call it 6-over (all-par-3) or 12-under (course par), and it's still a 60.

 

[Dave242]

I do not pay attention to pars. It only matters in competition and is only of slight value there.

What I go by is my fun factor (and my score at the end of the round).

If I expect to always get a 2, it might as well be a par-2 hole (not that what I choose to call it makes any difference since it is still the same hole). An ace is a birdie.

If I expect to make a 2 less than half the time I may as well call it a par 3.....and birdie 2's feel good.

If it is 40-150' longer than my max drive (without any doglegs/obstacles making it interesting) it is a par 3, but I hate the hole since there is no excitement available and there is only downside acheived by my screw-ups.

If it takes two really good drives to get into putting range or if I expect never to get a birdie 2, I may as well call it a par-4.

etc...

It is about over-achieving my expectations/norms that makes golf fun for me. You can call par whatever you want and it does not change that.

I do not at all get the comments above where guys are saying, if I want a fun round I make everything a par 4, but if I want to improve my game or give myself a challenge I call everything a 3. Can someone explain the mentality?

 

[TalbotTrojan]

The PDGA does have a very confusing document on when you should call a hole more or less than a par 3. I agree that calling everything a par 3 is not smart. I am not sure that you can have a hard and fast line on what is and is not greater than a par 3. In ball golf there is a general range of what is a par 4 and what is a 5 and sometimes that 480 yard hole is one and sometimes it is the other.

 

[mashnut]

For me, par and score keeping are two different things. I'll keep track of my score using the all 3s method, but that's just an easy way to know the total number of strokes it took me to finish my round. You can still compare that number to a par number after the round rather than adjusting the par just to make simple addition a little easier.

 

[magictenor1]

Been out to Morton lately?

Not since May. We should meet up there sometime.