John Theiss
Newbie
Could you clarify who you are defining as beginners? If a beginner is someone you are expecting to take up disc golf competitively and be involved in tournaments or league play then par is important because that is how they will be measured.
I would rather use the term REC than beginner.
Thanks for so many responses. My goal is to build courses that allow all types of players to be successful at their present skill level. And success on a course to me means that there are opportunities from different tees to achieve some pars, have looks at birdies if making great shot` (which is very exciting) and definitely have bogeys and doubles due to poor decision making or poor execution from whatever tee you choose. I want the sign to express REC not beginner. Lots of folks are casual golfers even though they have decades of experience, but they are not a blue level player and their skills align more with Red level play.
I am following several different guides/experience to base appropriate distances off the tee i.e. the PDGA distance guidelines for Red level tees (which i believe provides good distances for beginners/kids/older adults), Close Range Par which uses the average maximum distance folks can drive off the tee, my personal experiences as a physical educator working with thousands of beginners over the last 11 years and learning the distances that kids can achieve with proper instruction. So when designing tees for RED, BLUE, or GOLD play, there is a science to it. RED level tees are very important for me in course design due to my profession-physical educator My job involves skill mastery linked with skill progression and i strongly believe in adapting activities to achieve mastery, hence a short tee. Individuals that master a skill feel success which leads to enjoyment and the likelihood that the beginners will take part in disc golf again and that is how the sport grows.
Thanks for the responses. I would rather not have a thread drift debating par and everything being par 3 since that has been extensively covered on this forum and other forums.