Par 3 isnt viable for some holes

[ICONoclasmINactiON]

I do not think that every "long" hole/basket should be par 4+, but I do think that people should think about what par should be. When people say "Play everything as par 3" doesn't work on some courses. A 400 foot heavy wooded hole should be a par 4. Course designers need to think about the question: How do I intend this hole to be played? If it is intended for you to hit a landing zone and then throw up, par 4 every time. Are you expecting most people to go straight to the basket, par 3. Yes, if someone tries to go for the basket on the intended par 4, there should be a risk associated with it. Maybe the green isn't as big and he'll land in a blush or forest if not right, it is next to water, etc.

This whole thing about pro par and rec par is stupid. One par and rec will play above it, while pros will play under it. That is how normal golf works right? Now, if an entire course is between 200-350 light wooded course (like most I find) then no problem with everything being a par three. But to say "everything in the world is par 3" stunts the growth of disc golf because there are no standards of how difficult the hole should be.

Agreed. People who insist that everything should be par 3 either haven't played 700+ft holes, or they're paid, competitive professional players with an answer to every DG situation in their arsenal.

The local course where I grew up has rec & pro tee-boxes on 14 of 18 holes. All the pro's are marked as par 3, with every hole between 200ft and 400 ft. The rec's go from 180ft to ~370ft and vary from par 3 to (mostly) par 4 and one par 5. If I play the rec tees as marked I finish like -12, but if I play the pro's as marked I usually finish positive.

I don't know if this is how the designers intended the course to be played, but I don't think there should be THAT big of a discrepancy between my rec/pro scores.

With that in mind, I'm not a pro and I don't compete very often - mostly because of scheduling conflicts - but my friends and I like to play roughly as follows:

If open to lightly wooded:
<449 ft ---> par 3
450 ft - 649 ft ---> par 4
>650 ft ---> par 5

If moderately to heavily wooded or with a genuinely dangerous water or elevation hazard:
<349 ft ---> par 3
350 ft - 549 ft ---> par 4
>550 ft ---> par 5

We don't follow these verbatim, but these guidelines are just challenging enough for us at our skill level. Depending on how the course is set up or designed, you just have to play it by ear - either by your own handicap like we do as per our guidelines above or as the course is designed. We usually play as the course is marked and leave the aforementioned guidelines for challenging courses without proper signage, or when we play a course like the one I mentioned straight away where the rec/pro pars are so different.

 

[Kenny53691]

If open to lightly wooded:
<449 ft ---> par 3
450 ft - 649 ft ---> par 4
>650 ft ---> par 5

If moderately to heavily wooded or with a genuinely dangerous water or elevation hazard:
<349 ft ---> par 3
350 ft - 549 ft ---> par 4
>550 ft ---> par 5

I really like this break down. It make a lot of sense for all skill levels.

 

[DavidSauls]

Agreed. People who insist that everything should be par 3 either haven't played 700+ft holes, or they're paid, competitive professional players with an answer to every DG situation in their arsenal.

OR....they're using a scorekeeping shorthand and erroneously applying the word "par" to it.

 

[Grinder12000]

The definition of par is "average" not "expert".

Actually not for golf. Par is the number of strokes a scratch player would need to complete the hole . . . . just sayin.



OH dang - sorry Steve West said that already!! my bad carry on.

 

[Olorin]

Agreed. People who insist that everything should be par 3 either haven't played 700+ft holes,

...but my friends and I like to play roughly as follows:

If open to lightly wooded:
<449 ft ---> par 3
450 ft - 649 ft ---> par 4
>650 ft ---> par 5

If moderately to heavily wooded or with a genuinely dangerous water or elevation hazard:
<349 ft ---> par 3
350 ft - 549 ft ---> par 4
>550 ft ---> par 5

Have you ever read the Close Range Par guidelines? It is a more nuanced version of your guidelines, but you might find it helpful.

 

[Smigles]

par in disc golf does not matter at all. It's just a made up number.

par in golf is actually the professional average rating, and they actually collect data to make that par believable. Par in disc golf ist just whatever the course designer thinks is ok.

Let's just count throws and forget about par till we need a handicap system.