I don't understand Disc Golf Par

[kachtz]

I think you are forgetting a few aspects of disc golf, or you don't know them yet.

How very very wrong you are.

Let's just list a few different variables of a shot:
-Disc selection (HUGE): both necessary knowledge of the discs you have, the distances you can throw each, the lines you can shape them with, and the stabilities. Such as being able to throw your most understable disc on a hyzer line.
-Wind: Dramatically changes disc selection. Wind on a long open shot forces you to throw with tons of spin to keep the disc moving in the direction you sent it, and not where mother nature intended. Also changes the stability in which your disc acts (headwind will make more understable, tailwind more overstable)
-Landing: skip from a hyzer, soft land so you don't go into a hazard.
-Obstacles: There are MANY MANY more obstacles in dg than bg.
-OAT
-Release point
-Reachback amount
-Power
-Snap amount
-Shot type: bh or fh hyzer/anhyzer, thumber, tomahawk, bh or fh roller, + more but those are the most common.
-footing
-grip
-weight distribution
-Disc angle

There's probably more but I don't care to continue.

LOL..you tried to compare ball golf to disc golf for difficulty, it took me 2 years to be able to shoot even par as an athlete in ball golf, and i can still go out and shoot +8 sometimes on a bad day 10 years later.

i was shooting even par the first week i played DGolf with a bag of rented discs at the gym next to the course...and the course i play on only has 5 easy holes, with the rest being challenging, all par 3s except two 680+ par 4s.

if you take someone who has never played either of the sports and take them to a DG course, maybe they will be 15-25 over?
if you take someone to a golf course who has never played you better pack a lunch.

 

[jrawk]

i gotta agree with Kachtz. Ball golf is way more frustrating and difficult. If it wasn't, i would never have taken to disc golf. However, just because disc golf is easier to accel at does not mean it isn't frustrating or difficult.

 

[eegor]

Just play everything like I do, as a par 3. You'll only strive to get better.

This is the way I play... it makes keeping score without a card easier.

Your competition matters... not par. If you're practicing, you'll only get better striving to score 3 or better.

 

[grodney]

Here you go. This works for a large majority of holes and a large majority of players.

If this is too hard, use only the "Average" line.

If this is too easy, adjust the hole length for elevation.

 

[Olorin]

Nice table Rodney! I like the tweener ranges.

It may not be obvious to everyone, but one basic underlying assumption to this and the PDGA table is that the lengths of holes for various pars should vary according to Score averages. (Cue Chuck's intro...) In this table this is represented by the 3 levels of OB and foliage. (BTW, just what is "average" foliage and OB? Does it differ between NC and Texas?) I'm not saying that Rodney is wrong (misguided maybe... just kidding). He and his ilk in the Score Avg (SA) par camp have their own viewpoint that they promote, and it has many heavyweight backers. I just want to point out that not everyone agrees to this assumption. My thoughts on why I disagree with it are spelled out in the Close Range Par explanation.

 

[Olorin]

Here you go. This works for a large majority of holes and a large majority of players.

Oh yeah, and I have a question: what is the intended player skill level for these par lengths?

 

[Scoot_er]

LOL..you tried to compare ball golf to disc golf for difficulty, it took me 2 years to be able to shoot even par as an athlete in ball golf, and i can still go out and shoot +8 sometimes on a bad day 10 years later.

i was shooting even par the first week i played DGolf with a bag of rented discs at the gym next to the course...and the course i play on only has 5 easy holes, with the rest being challenging, all par 3s except two 680+ par 4s.

if you take someone who has never played either of the sports and take them to a DG course, maybe they will be 15-25 over?
if you take someone to a golf course who has never played you better pack a lunch.

How many players have shot a 1000 rated round? To me that is "par" and the same as a scratch score in BG.

Someone can shoot even par and have the round barely rated 900 which would be a 10 handicap in golf.

I don't think the sport in really much easier to pick up as I know MANY players in the 800's who have been playing for years but instead I think it is just easier to shoot "par" for the course in disc golf which is why we have SSAs

With that said I should have stuck to golf.......had a 12 handicap when I was 14 but just got sucked into a lot more DG events.

 

[roadtripstuff]

I met a player at Iron Hill getting ready for a tournament there and he told me he heard how tough it was and he still played everything a 3. He's been playing over 15 years. I just smiled said OK and went back to work. I saw him at the end of the round and he said he actually had to give up on his attitude of par 3 by hole 5.

Even though the par debate is getting old, I thought I would throw my two cents in. The above quote and people that think like this drive me crazy. It seems like if you play all par 3's on a tough course some people think you do it to be a badass or whatever, its just insane. So do you think this guy threw less strokes because he started using higher pars. No matter what par you use, you throw the same score/use the same strokes. The reason most people, at least the hundreds I have met and played with, use all par 3's for several reasons: Easy to remember no matter what course or hole you are playing(esp. for courses that don't have signs marked with par), and its easy to keep score. Like I said, just my two cents.

To the OP, as you travel more you will see that there is no sense in getting wrapped up in par and what not, I have courses in my area with wooded 350 foot holes that are par 3, and ones that are more open that are less than 200 that are par 4. There are no real rules for par.

 

[jimimc]

If you want to know how to get a true par hold tournaments. Keep track of each players level, score on each hole and total score. Get the SSA for the course then take all your data and make adjustments to the holes. I get it, for some this seems like a waste of time, but if done right any player can show up at a course done like this and know if they shot a 1000 rated round. If you don't care that's cool, but for us that do care what's the problem.

 

[Cgkdisc]

At Iron Hill and Carousel, it's better to use "everything is a par 4" to more easily keep track of your score in your head, especially since the listed par is 72 (18x4) anyway at IH. See story on the event there posted today: http://www.pdga.com/delaware-dg-challenge

 

[jimimc]

Thanks Chuck. I think you have to play there to really get it. I don't know if this will really catch on but we love it.

 

[Noill]

It's still all par3 to me... I try to get it in the least shots regardless

If I'm at a doubles or a tournament I leave that decision up to someone else (obviously).. but lowest stroke count still wins regardless of par 3,4 or 5 on any particular hole...

Look at the PDGA scoring for any members history... You see the tournament that they are in and see a long list of other guys scores... who won? the guy with the lowest score. did he get any birdies? maybe, who cares he won $1000.

Play whatever par you want to, but at organized play you don't have to think about that at all, just get the lowest score... no matter how you slice it it's always the same... LOWEST TOTAL THROW COUNT WINS

 

[Rip Van]

At Iron Hill and Carousel, it's better to use "everything is a par 4" to more easily keep track of your score in your head, especially since the listed par is 72 (18x4) anyway at IH. See story on the event there posted today: http://www.pdga.com/delaware-dg-challenge

This also works well with new players and kids. Have 'em play each hole as par 5. Once they're shooting double digits under "par" have them play everything as a par 4. The math stays easy and who doesn't like shooting under par? Of course, this works best if the holes are roughly similar in length (no Flyboy 1600-footers).

 

[grodney]

Olorin, to answer your questions: "This works for a large majority of holes and a large majority of players."

And I don't know what my ilk are, but I'm pretty sure I have nothing to do with Score Avg.

 

[Olorin]

Rodney,

I hope that I didn't offend or insult you with the term "ilk". On reading it over it may have some negative connotations, but I didn't mean to imply anything negative. I didn't mean any disrespect. On the contrary I have great respect for your perspectives.

The reason I mentioned score averages was because that was the only rationale I could see for pars that vary based on factors that increase or decrease the scoring averages.

 

[CwAlbino]

LOL..you tried to compare ball golf to disc golf for difficulty, it took me 2 years to be able to shoot even par as an athlete in ball golf, and i can still go out and shoot +8 sometimes on a bad day 10 years later.

i was shooting even par the first week i played DGolf with a bag of rented discs at the gym next to the course...and the course i play on only has 5 easy holes, with the rest being challenging, all par 3s except two 680+ par 4s.

if you take someone who has never played either of the sports and take them to a DG course, maybe they will be 15-25 over?
if you take someone to a golf course who has never played you better pack a lunch.

LOL.. you tried to compare ball gold par to disc golf par as if they were the same degree of difficulty. Don't be so ignorant. I think scoot_er said it well enough.

 

[shinypickle]

Don't worry about what Par is. Just play and have fun.

 

[kachtz]

LOL.. you tried to compare ball gold par to disc golf par as if they were the same degree of difficulty. Don't be so ignorant. I think scoot_er said it well enough.

if i had to list 10 sports that i have played in my life and rate them from hardest to easiest...DG would be by far the easiest...and Ball golf would easily be the hardest...

keep in mind, i think DG is an awesome game, one of my fav games actually, and i love playing it, and playing new courses, so when i say the way i feel, it is not a negative thing. the fact that is is so easy to learn and play, makes it enjoyable and fun! don't lose sight of reality :doh:

 

[mzuleger]

if i had to list 10 sports that i have played in my life and rate them from hardest to easiest...DG would be by far the easiest...

What are you basing this on? What makes it easy? this thead has already established that "par" can be thrown out for DG since playing par golf in most cases only puts you at a rec level player (maybe less).

I'm not sure what makes DG the easiest sport "by far"... the gap between rec and pro is huge in DG just like every other sport.

 

[PanicKJ]

At my local courses I find that the opposite is true. We have 525 foot par threes. Now maybe since I can not drive 500 feet I think that should be a par 4.