54 or course par?

[zj1002]

everyone around here counts by 54 because every Houck/Olse course is about 60-63 par.

Other than that I really don't care what the course par is. I play each shot of each hole individually. I look at my best routes to get the lowest score on the hole. At the end of the round I can look back and see that I 3'd all the par 4s. If I start focusing on the fact that I need to birdie a par 4/5 it can cloud my head.

 

[asjzn6]

I believe that everything is a par 3 is an old school thought. There are par 4's and 5's that exist. In the end total score is what matters. But everything always has a plus or mius of par tagged next to it, so i guess that does mean something. Our sport has adopted most traditions and procedures from ball golf. ball golf doesnt just call everything par 4s, why? Because having a par to a hole is fundamental to that hole. Having a diversity of pars also makes the game more of a game.

 

[T.Hizzle]

But if the course is difficult, isn´t a higher par needed?
It looks a bit odd if 1000-rated players are the only ones that finnish under par. QUOTE]

1000 rated players are considered "scratch" golfers. Therefore making ^ statement true!

 

[nohr]

Everything is a par three when counting up the score card.

When asked "How did you shoot?" Say a number not +/- something.

 

[MrHighlandPark]

I always play course par, except when the course par is ridiculous (the course in Portland ME lists par 5 when it should be par 3, and I want my stats on this site to accurately record only REAL birdies).

Easy to keep track on an iPhone app. And if you don't have an iPhone you can't play Madbombz, so it makes no sense that somebody wouldn't have one.

 

[Jeasy13]

The "easier" part is keeping score in your head, or adding up scores on a scorecard, particularly for courses where you shoot under 64.

"All-par-3" is a scorekeeping shorthand, and probably a misuse of the word "par".

This. When it come down to it, you still shoot lets say a 60, whether its a +6 or a -2. The "54" is for keeping score, not how difficult a course is.

 

[juju]

Par spelled backwards = Rap

Chew on that tidbit....

 

[winterer]

I've always thought if a course designer/builder went through the work of marking a par, I should show some respect and play that par. This goes true even on short par 5s (which there are many in this country). You guys can make fun of me, but a double eagle is FUN! There used to be a course in Dickinson N.D. that I would play and I could throw 18 under. What is more fun to think, "I shot a 54," or "I shot 18 under"?

 

[kenjiac]

When I add the score card it's +1 for 4's and -1 for 2's but I use course par when i'm seeing how i throw on a particular course.

 

[DSmith]

Here's how I approach it when it gets brought up here.
Me--What did you shoot?
Them--8 over
Me---8 over what
Them---over 54
Me--- Oh so a 62
Them---Yea
Me---Well thats pretty good considering the course has several legit par 4s and a par 5
Them---Really? What holes?
Me---holes blah blah blah and hole blah
Them---Oh I didn't realize that! (Light bulb turns on)

At this point they actually start to understand the difference between calling everything a par 3 and start to understand the concept of par 4's and 5's

The other argument I get is the "that hole is stupid because I cant birdie it"
:\

In the end all that matters is the total strokes not +5 or -2 or whatever...your total strokes. In a tournament atmosphere if you cant add up your score right your gonna get penalized. However you do this is up to you as long as its right.

 

[mjoyce]

^ This. But I think course par is valuable when there are legit par 4's and 5's But in the end all that really matters is total score. Although in the Schenley park leage last night I shot a 59. Course par is 55. Not really that great...But if I shot a 59 on Moraine from the gold tees that would be over 1000 rated so it does help a little.

I think we run into this problem because of golf (ball). Most courses are par 72. I haven't been playing long but it seems most older DG courses are par 54 and most newer courses have added par 4's and 5's. So in ball golf if you say you shot a 68 it doesn't really matter where because the person you're talking to know's your a good golfer.

So in summary yeah par doesn't really matter that much in DG. Or in golf (ball) but it's a nice benchmark to compare against. I'd be a lot happier having shot a 55 because it's par (and I haven't achieved that yet).

 

[codyroberts18]

I haven't read this entire thread but this is my take on it. We have a course in my area which has all par 3's except one hole, and when it is in the long position it is about 950 feet. In that instance, we still play it as par 3 just to make it easier for ending score purposes. However, we have 2 courses with multiple par 4's or 5's and we play them for the course par.

I have never been to a course that just had one or two par 4's. There is usually a good mixture of par 3's and 4's if there are any, generally.

There are also courses I have played that have a "rec" par, which makes some 300 foot holes par 5's ha. We just play par 3 in that case too.

 

[joegraham]

From Caddyshack:
"How did you shoot today Ty?"
"I don't keep score."
"Well, then how do you measure yourself to other golfers?"
"By height."

 

[Cworld]

Overall course par vs your total score is a good way to judge how you did overall, but looking at pars hole- by- hole as you play is helpful too, especially in a competitive situation.

On hypothetical course x:
Hole 1 is a 270 ft tight tunnel shot. The woods around the tunnel are dense, so an errant shot often leads to the thrower needing to pitch out to the fairway for a bogie or worse.
The hole is par 3 with an average score of 3.45

Hole 2 is a more open 600ft hole, but there is a severe dogleg right 300ft off the tee, with another 300 ft to the green after.
Hole is par 4 with an average score of 3.8

The average score on hole 2 is higher, but which hole is actually more "difficult". You can "score" on hole 1 by playing it in 2 strokes, and "score" on hole 2 with 3 strokes. By "score" I esentially mean birdie - short of an ace on 1 or a ridiculous 2 on hole 2 from another player, you can be sure that you have scored the best potential stroke number on these 2 holes, and the rest of the field can only be equal or worse.

If you get down on yourself for a 3 (or even a 4) on the par 4 2nd hole you not evaluating your round well and might make mistakes later on thinking you need to push on other holes because you are behind.

 

[MNcyclone]

I shot a 60 at Lakewood DGC, shot like crap, 6 over par. Oh wait, two of those are par 4, so I only shot 4 over par. Never mind, that wasn't so bad, I suddenly feel better about myself.

I shot a 3 under course par of 63 somewhere else. What a great round!! Oh wait, you play that as all par threes? That means I got a 6 over, not 3 under. I'm gonna go lie down under a bridge and die somewhere.

 

[CaptainAnhyzer]

Par is my best score on a given course layout.
The closer i get to that score, the better i feel.
When I beat that score i feel really good.

 

[bradharris]

I've always thought if a course designer/builder went through the work of marking a par, I should show some respect and play that par. This goes true even on short par 5s (which there are many in this country). You guys can make fun of me, but a double eagle is FUN! There used to be a course in Dickinson N.D. that I would play and I could throw 18 under. What is more fun to think, "I shot a 54," or "I shot 18 under"?

Hitting a two on a hole is fun. I don't see how calling it a par five makes it more fun than calling it a par 3. In fact, if a true par 3 is marked as a 5, I feel like I'd have to add an asterisk to that double eagle.

 

[ReinZ_96]

I just set my own par using the PDGA par guidelines for a white level player (900 rated). The courses i ussually play have a pretty rediculous par, and like Marksen said, it makes it easier to compare scores.

 

[the_pwnerator]

I know we're not ball golf, but something to consider is that a 1000 rated player is our version of a scratch golfer. In ball golf, shooting par is an accomplishment, many recreational players never do it.

Most recreational disc golfers never make par either...

 

[ohtobediscing]

As MOST of the courses I and my friends play are 54s, it isn't an issue. But Milo has 5 long holes, #23 is near 1200', and you better believe that's a par 5 in our book.