As golfers, we are a little obsessed with par. We use it as a goal and relate our own game to it, every time we play. But par really has nothing to do with shooting a round under / over / at our handicap. Really, par by itself is irrelevant to the game. It’s just a little three-letter word, and a number on a scorecard.
 

The USGA Handicap System determines par, and defines it as: “the score that an expert player would be expected to make for a given hole. Par means expert play under ordinary weather conditions, allowing two strokes on the putting green. Par is not a significant factor in either the USGA Handicap System or USGA Course Rating System.”
 

Par does matter only in establishing a hole-length standard. So, for that reason it needs to be accurate. But if you’re trying to understand your Handicap Index and how it’s calculated, you won’t get any help from par; in fact, you have to just throw it out.
 

Think of the number of golf courses with sets of tees that are par 72. Just looking at the men’s tees in Oregon, their lengths vary between 5300-7600 yards. Course Ratings for these courses range between 65.0 and 76.5. For women, the par 72 tees are 4200-6500 yards and between 64.5 and 77.7 for Course Ratings. These numbers represent a huge difference in degree of difficulty! That magical number 72 doesn’t give us enough information about the physical characteristics of the golf course and doesn’t help us relate that information to a Handicap Index.
 

For a number you actually use in playing the game, which is your Course Handicap, just know that it is based on the Course Rating, Slope Rating, and your Handicap Index. We won’t bore you with the math – in this particular article, anyway – but trust us when we say that nowhere does par enter into any equation.
 

(Please refer to the ‘Target Score’ concept in our previous Back to Basics article called “Playing to Your Handicap” here - http://oga.org/back-basics-handicapping-101-playing-your-handicap)
 

Remember the “expert player” the USGA refers to? That’s the Scratch player who plays at a 0 Course Handicap. For the purposes of par guidelines, the Scratch player sets the standard by how far he hits the ball. So, realistically, it’s not about you, me or us! Par isn’t going to change because most of the golfers playing can’t reach the green in regulation.
 

The Handicap System is going to award you strokes based on your Handicap Index, which is a real, useable number. Just let go of that three letter word called par and have a good time!