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golfer enjoy the game much more if
there was not an impractical standard
looming in the background? I am an
average golfer and play most of my golf
with other average golfers, and although
we might hit a few really excellent shots,
there are usually enough real stinkers to
ensure that marking my score alongside
the mythical standard of par leads to
frustration and disappointment.
In the middle of a round however,
when I’ve lost track of how far over par
I am and start to simply play the course
without scoring expectations, a truly
remarkable thing happens… I start to
take delight in the golf experience.
For me the game becomes a lot more
enjoyable when the expectation of par
disappears in my mind. This got me
thinking, what if we could truly make
par disappear? Would golf be better,
worse or indifferent if the concept was
no longer part of the game?
What if every course simply listed
total yards for a hole? Or better yet,
simply provided a diagram of the
hole. There would be no expectation
set of what score you should aim for,
and you would simply play the game.
Would this free golfers to experience
an entirely different game?
I remember the first, and only time, I
played Cruden Bay in Scotland. It was
during an ASGCA Annual Meeting,
so our group consisted entirely of
American golfers, with no caddies for
assistance. This aspect alone presented
quite a challenge, but despite these
handicaps we were enjoying the round
and the wonderful golf course. By the
time we reached the eighth hole my
score had become less important to me,
and I was not paying homage to yardage
or par and was simply playing the
course as it was laid out in front of me.
The eighth at Cruden Bay is a short
uphill par four, which I had mistaken
for a long demanding par three. After
finishing with a four I was happy with
what I thought to be bogey. After it
was pointed out the hole is a par four,
I was ecstatic to have made par, yet
disappointed to not have made birdie
on a somewhat short benign hole!
But guess what? A four is a four. It
makes no difference to classify it as
birdie or par; my score at the end of the
round was still the same. It was then
I realized how strongly the concept of
par can influence your experience and
your approach to playing a hole.
I’m certain there are golfers around
the world who love par and feel it is a
sacred part of the game. And I know
there are people who would assert that
any endeavor to remove par would
be impossible. It certainly would be
difficult for the current generation of
golfers to simply erase this concept
from their minds. However, if a
concerted effort began now, eventually
future generations of golfers would not
find themselves competing against the
bogey man, and as a result may take
much enjoyment from the experience.
That might be the best thing that could
happen to the game.
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Ty Butler, ASGCA
A former vice president and senior
project designer with Robert Trent
Jones II Golf Course Architects,
Ty Butler, ASGCA, now runs his own
practice, Brio Golf. Based in Arkansas
City, Kansas, Butler’s designs include
the Kaluhyat course at Turning Stone
Casino Resort in New York, Sunday
River Golf Club in Newry, Maine, and
the newly-opened Sewailo Golf Club
in Tucson, Arizona.
The eighth hole at Cruden Bay, Scotland is a short par four,
but could easily be a long par three. Or just a fun golf hole
Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images