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**thakitt** · 07-29-2012, 09:27 PM

I agree with this completely. In tournament golf, we need par in order to understand the relative position of dozens of players at any given time. Par is not going away for tournament golf. I have read that The Masters was the first tournament to post the players' current scores relative to par, and it quickly caught on as a way to keep track of things. Maybe The Masters was just the first major tournament to do so.

Anyway, I also agree that you do not make a hole harder or easier just by changing value of par. The first hole at Olympic in the US Open was a prime example. The last time the US Open was there, it played as a par 5, and was considered the "easiest" hole on the course because the average score was 4.6, or 0.4 under par. This year, the same exact hole was declared a par 4, and players actually shot a little lower by averaging around 4.5 on that hole....making it one of the "hardest" holes on the course, even though the players scored lower on it this year than last time.

The real problem is that the pros pay too much attention to par. In tournament golf, par should be for the viewers to be able to keep track. The pros shouldn't pay any attention to it at all. Just shoot as low as you can on every hole and move on.

I always think of Billy Casper in the 1959 US Open at Winged Foot. The Par 3 third hole was long and tough, and Casper thought that trying to reach the green made bogey come into play. He laid up, all four rounds, just short of the green, and got up and down for par all four rounds.

Had the first hole at olympic played as a par 5 it would have played easier then it did the last time out. They changed it to a par based on how easy it was in the past. So it didn't play easier then it did because it was no longer the same hole.
Having hole designation allows officials to trick up the course one way or the other.

07-29-2012, 09:27 PM	#23
thakitt Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 555 Senior Member	I agree with this completely. In tournament golf, we need par in order to understand the relative position of dozens of players at any given time. Par is not going away for tournament golf. I have read that The Masters was the first tournament to post the players' current scores relative to par, and it quickly caught on as a way to keep track of things. Maybe The Masters was just the first major tournament to do so. Anyway, I also agree that you do not make a hole harder or easier just by changing value of par. The first hole at Olympic in the US Open was a prime example. The last time the US Open was there, it played as a par 5, and was considered the "easiest" hole on the course because the average score was 4.6, or 0.4 under par. This year, the same exact hole was declared a par 4, and players actually shot a little lower by averaging around 4.5 on that hole....making it one of the "hardest" holes on the course, even though the players scored lower on it this year than last time. The real problem is that the pros pay too much attention to par. In tournament golf, par should be for the viewers to be able to keep track. The pros shouldn't pay any attention to it at all. Just shoot as low as you can on every hole and move on. I always think of Billy Casper in the 1959 US Open at Winged Foot. The Par 3 third hole was long and tough, and Casper thought that trying to reach the green made bogey come into play. He laid up, all four rounds, just short of the green, and got up and down for par all four rounds. Had the first hole at olympic played as a par 5 it would have played easier then it did the last time out. They changed it to a par based on how easy it was in the past. So it didn't play easier then it did because it was no longer the same hole. Having hole designation allows officials to trick up the course one way or the other.
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