pars?

[lil jon]

I've been playing for about a year in lake county and there is always one question that comes to mind.  How do you know what level of a player you are.  I go to warren and the pars setup there are beyond simplistic compared to fairfield etc.  I'm just curious how many tosses one "should" be throwing depending on the distance of the hole etc.  is there anyone out there that can help?

[DougEDawg]

Pars in tournaments are almost always "3".  At least that's true for the Illinois Open Series as well as most other PDGA sactioned tournaments.  Even the 18th hole at Fairfield is considered a par 3.  To give you some perspective, you would need to average about par per 18 to have won rec and a -4 per 18 to have won intermediate last year at Fairfield.  Every course is different, so you have to look at it on a course-by-course basis.

I suggest going to PDGA.com and look at the tournament results to give you an idea of what is a good score for a particular course.

[Jon Brakel]

I've been playing for about a year in lake county and there is always one question that comes to mind.  How do you know what level of a player you are.  I go to warren and the pars setup there are beyond simplistic compared to fairfield etc.  I'm just curious how many tosses one "should" be throwing depending on the distance of the hole etc.  is there anyone out there that can help?

All the courses in Illinois are par 3 courses except for Edgebrook.

[the_lung]

All the courses in Illinois are par 3 courses except for Edgebrook.

Edgebrook is the only course in the entire state of Illinois that has a pro par four hole?

[stpitner]

it makes it easier for adding up anyway since really it's your total score at the end that matters, it doesn't matter how many par's you get as long as your score is the lowest overall.  Tossing a 54 on an 18-hole course is still equal to tossing a 54 regardless of the listed pars.

But I guess the bottom line is to try to shoot everything in 3 or less.  That would put you in great shape at every tournament.  If you have a really long hole and know that you'll take a 4, try to get a 2 elsewhere to help even it out.

[the_lung]

it makes it easier for adding up anyway since really it's your total score at the end that matters, it doesn't matter how many par's you get as long as your score is the lowest overall.  Tossing a 54 on an 18-hole course is still equal to tossing a 54 regardless of the listed pars.

But I guess the bottom line is to try to shoot everything in 3 or less.  That would put you in great shape at every tournament.  If you have a really long hole and know that you'll take a 4, try to get a 2 elsewhere to help even it out.

Kind of sounds like some Illinois golfers are stuck in the "everything is a par 3" mantra from the 1980s.

Go check out Highbridge Hills or the Tobaggan course to see holes that are true pro par fives and pro par four holes. And they are defined as such by several different criteria; from scoring average (e.g. a par five would average 5.1 for the field) or shots to the green. (because of hole length or a dogleg or both, it takes even elite players three full shots to reach the green on a pro par five) To say that the 1270' long 8th hole at Highbridge Hiils is a par three is just silly.

And I'm sure that there are pro par four holes all over the state of Illinois such as at McNoughton, Big Creek, Northwood, etc. where a score of three is a birdie, not a par, and total par for the course may be 60 or greater.

[CEValkyrie]

This is Par 3 heaven around here.

[Mike S]

it makes it easier for adding up anyway since really it's your total score at the end that matters, it doesn't matter how many par's you get as long as your score is the lowest overall.  Tossing a 54 on an 18-hole course is still equal to tossing a 54 regardless of the listed pars.

But I guess the bottom line is to try to shoot everything in 3 or less.  That would put you in great shape at every tournament.  If you have a really long hole and know that you'll take a 4, try to get a 2 elsewhere to help even it out.

Kind of sounds like some Illinois golfers are stuck in the "everything is a par 3" mantra from the 1980s.

Go check out Highbridge Hills or the Tobaggan course to see holes that are true pro par fives and pro par four holes. And they are defined as such by several different criteria; from scoring average (e.g. a par five would average 5.1 for the field) or shots to the green. (because of hole length or a dogleg or both, it takes even elite players three full shots to reach the green on a pro par five) To say that the 1270' long 8th hole at Highbridge Hiils is a par three is just silly.

And I'm sure that there are pro par four holes all over the state of Illinois such as at McNoughton, Big Creek, Northwood, etc. where a score of three is a birdie, not a par, and total par for the course may be 60 or greater.

add in #18 at Round Lake, and #15 at Streamwood (maybe) and I think youve got them all covered.

[Bruce Brakel]

How about # 18 at both Northwood and McNaughton?  Those are easy to birdie 4s for big gun pros, but there are decent pros not reaching those holes in 2 throws.  Do-doot-do-dooo, do-doot-do-doooo, how about at Rockford?  Anything there tough enough to call it a four?   

[stpitner]

were you trying to do The Price is Right there? lol  I'd say maybe hole 10 on Rockford-West could almost be a 4, isn't that 500'+?  For me I would say that hole 7 on east would be impossible to be a 3, but I don't know about a pro.

[pickax]

I'd agree with the two Bruce mentioned down in the Peoria area. There's only one hole (#10?) on the new course in Rockford that's long enough to call it a four. I saw a Rec player duece #7 on the East course. I would not give it a 4.
#19 and #11 in Lombard might be a four. I've seen no twos, but plenty of threes on #11 during doubles.

It would be nice if there were holes that could be legitmate par 4's, based on difficulty rather than sheer length.

[Bruce Brakel]

I hum that song when I'm thinking, and it does sound like the beginning of the Price is Right song, now that you mention it. 

There are some legit par fours based on difficulty rather than distance in Michigan.  Kelsey and I played league doubles at Hudson Mills today.  The winning team had a pair of fours on their card thet they shrugged off as just as good as any other team might play the hole.