Shooting Under Par

[runnaman]

So a couple weeks ago, I shot my first round under par. (That I know of.)

How long did it take you to get your first round under par?

I've been playing for about a year and a half, but only about 9-12 months actually intensely. Did it take me too long for me to get a round under par?

 

[Trev_Masta]

my first time under par was about 3 weeks ago actually at bear creek park. came out -2 overall, but it is a pretty easy course to come out under par.

-trev

 

[EclipticOne]

i still havent even though riverfront park is easy to play. got even par

 

[TalbotTrojan]

Haven't been playing a year yet and I have not been under par. Close once at El Dorado but I think I got a bogey on the last hole to go back to even. I did shoot a plus one recently and a plus three today. So, I am working on it. I think a lot has to do with the courses you play as well. I am pretty sure after playing La Mirada as much as I do that I could go somewhere else and shoot under par.

 

[runnaman]

Yeah, the course I play has 8 par 3 <400 feet and 1 par 4 >400, but they're all pretty technical shots, so I feel good about my two -1s.

 

[tamahawk]

Congratulations on the -1's!

I've been playing 2.5yrs, still looking for my under par round. I just started tracking my scores as pro par this year, and the best I've shot is +1. I've shot under by the signs, as low as -8, but I don't count that. The +1's came at Radcliff City Park, which isn't the most difficult course, but there is quite a bit of trees and a lot of OB. I'm hoping to get some negative scores there this year. My home course, Freeman Lake, now that's a different story. If I get under par there, you bet I'll be posting about it!......

It's a par55 course that is pretty challenging to shot under for an Intermediate Player. I got down to +4 a couple weeks ago.

 

[DavidSauls]

All this is subject to what people mean by "par" and "pro par".

And the courses you play.

The course I play most often, you should shoot under the posted par almost immediately....and, if you call everything par-3, most people will find themselves shooting under par within weeks or months of starting.

On the other hand, on my own course, many people will never shoot under par, no matter how defined.

 

[DiscChainBasket18]

I've got a few under par rounds. But only during a casual round. I'd like to shoot under par at a tournament!

 

[magictenor1]

I agree with Davidsauls, the course you play and the par there are a big part of shooting under par. It feels good to do it but -1 at some courses would be an awesome score and only a so-so score at another.

 

[Midnightbiker]

It took me about a year or so to shoot under par. I did it at a pretty easy course. My home course is quite hard and I still have not even shot par there yet. I usually shoot 60 at my home course. The best I ever did at my home course was +4. The best I have ever shot was -6 at Bear Branch in The Woodlands,TX

 

[gfellerjm]

I just shot under par for the first time last night, but it was on a really easy course (Centenial in Kearney, NE). I usually shoot 8 or so over on harder courses.

 

[Lewis]

It sounds like a year or two is a pretty common time frame, depending on where you play.

It took me at least a year before I could shoot under par on relatively "easy" courses. On the tough ones I'm still scoring over par. For example, I can score at or under par on the back 9 of East Roswell Park, but the front 9 always kicks my butt, so it's going to be a while before I'm under par there.

 

[brentwood_17]

I think I was right around there a year to a year and a half. Funny story though first tournament I played entered Intermediate Division and shot an even par for the round. Thinking that tourney golfers would be that much better than par I was figuring back of the pack. Much to my surprise I was in 8th out of 40 players. I then had the awakening that my round I thought was bad was good and it took me 3 long years to shoot under par in a tournament. The mind is a funny thing.

 

[jace]

All this is subject to what people mean by "par" and "pro par".

And the courses you play.

The course I play most often, you should shoot under the posted par almost immediately....and, if you call everything par-3, most people will find themselves shooting under par within weeks or months of starting.

On the other hand, on my own course, many people will never shoot under par, no matter how defined.

CAN OF WORMS -

As most of you know there are several threads on par covering this. I think we all can evaluate our level of skill and know that at some point the whole "pro-par" concept of 3 shots is what it is for holes under 500'. If you are shooting "course par" as posted on a tee sign and you have been playing for a year, it might be time to step up the game and go for 2 & 3 on every hole. You are not going to improve your game if you don't challenge yourself Great Job on getting in your first round under par regardless of what par you used!!!

 

[DavidSauls]

When a person first breaks par, in comparison to others, is meaningless unless playing the same course, and same definition of par.

On the other hand....individually, it means that person has improved, and just shot the best round of his or her life. In that regard, it's a milestone. So congrats, everyone!

 

[drkstr]

I've been at it since July last year and have not yet shot an under par round. Most of my rounds are played at Lake Stevens, WA where you have to learn to putt into some weird baskets ~ http://www.dgcoursereview.com/view_image.php?p=course_pics/642/45a05158.jpg ~ I add about 5 or more strokes each round because I hit one of the bars on an usually easy putt. My best round there is +3.
But I have shot a +1 at Twin Rivers in Arlington, WA with real chain baskets ~ http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=1938

Heading out to Twin Rivers today ~ maybe I can come home and report an under par round.

 

[Trev_Masta]

All this is subject to what people mean by "par" and "pro par".

And the courses you play.

The course I play most often, you should shoot under the posted par almost immediately....and, if you call everything par-3, most people will find themselves shooting under par within weeks or months of starting.

On the other hand, on my own course, many people will never shoot under par, no matter how defined.

same here. my home course is pretty nasty and i usually end up coming out +5 or 6 on a good day.

-trev

 

[runnaman]

Most of my rounds are played at Lake Stevens, WA where you have to learn to putt into some weird baskets ~ http://www.dgcoursereview.com/view_image.php?p=course_pics/642/45a05158.jpg

Drkstr isn't joking, those are some strange baskets, just look at the picture.

 

[Dave242]

When a person first breaks par, in comparison to others, is meaningless unless playing the same course, and same definition of par.

On the other hand....individually, it means that person has improved, and just shot the best round of his or her life. In that regard, it's a milestone. So congrats, everyone!

This is a little more mathematical than some might prefer as well as taking a lot of mouse clicks, but I suggest a better way to set a goal. That would be to acheive a certain PDGA Player Rating level.

I set a goal for myself to shoot a 53 (1 under par) at Kilborne (long pins, original course) before 1 year of playing. To calculate the rating of that I go to http://www.pdga.com/course-ratings-by-course (this link is hard to get to as I can find nowhere on pdga.com where it is listed).

Find the course you are looking for and then find a tournament that was played on the same layout. Then find someone in that tournament who shot your target score. When you hit the "Show Round Ratings" link it will show you how that round was rated. Better yet, find several instances in several rounds of several tournaments and average them out.

This number pretty accurately describes a skill level that equates to your goal. And it is "portable" to other courses. Obviously this method to determine an approximate rating only works for courses/layouts on which a PDGA tournament was played, and you have to then know what layout was used.

For Kilborne my goal of just for once shooting a 53 roughly equated to a 960 rated round. I think it took me 1 year and 2-3 months to acheive that.

 

[EclipticOne]

for me i would just like to throw an even par at whistlers bend, or. the best i have ever done was +3 and that was exceptional. most of the time its like a 7-8