Which is better?

[Ring]

Par 4 @ 5 golf is much more challenging in my opinion.. The putt is not the focal point of the game then.. Don't get me wrong it is still important, but your accuracy on your drives, and upshots is equaly important now This will even out the playing field more so, making it so there is not such dominating players as repeat winners in tournaments. It will also help to make accuracy of the average player better..

For example...

Par 3 golf.
A great driver with a mediocure putt is going heads up with a Great putter with a mediocure drive. 90% of the time the better putter will win.

Par 4 & 5 golf.

Now the drive and upshot becomes as equaly important as the putt.. If you can't land in the designated areas in order to bird or par then your great putting skills cancel themselves out. This makes the risk/reward factor of the game much higher in turn evening out the playing field. Not only does this help to polish your skills, it also adds a much higher challenge to the game of Disc Golf as a whole. This will help to make the players more competitive with each other and not having that 1 dominate player who wins every tourny in there town. Which will also draw more people to the sport, and make the sport even bigger world wide

In the long run I think changing the sport will make it a nationally televised sport, with purses ranging in the millions.

[Ruder]

If Disc Golf is to progress further as a sport - it will have to become par 72.

[Schoen-hopper]

This is what I've been saying all along. I might finally have a chance when we get to par 70.

[Friz-Rocker]

In a society increasingly opposed to athletes doing drugs,discgolf cannot flourish.On the downlow it will always remain.

[Ring]

In a society increasingly opposed to athletes doing drugs,discgolf cannot flourish.On the downlow it will always remain.

Guess ya can't argue that

[McCabe]

What about skateboarding?

[superq]

drug use in sports???

baseball
football
x-games
soccer


I am having a hard time thinking of a professional sport that has not had doping issues.

That has nothing to do with the par for disc golf, Personally my belief is that par is a state of mind, the winner will always be determined by adding up the total strokes that it takes to complete all the holes.

Look at the cap city this weekend, Eric shot a 50 on a course that for the average(read par) golfer only had 3 legitimate oppurtunities for a 2( holes 1,6,17) and maybe one or two other holes where 2 was feasable and several holes where 4 was possible and one or two where 4 was good. Overall I would say if we were going to assign a par for the layout it would be 58-60 so erics 50 was phenomanal.

Even in regular golf when you look at the tournaments par is being abused, so what do you want par to be? in disc golf we have done a lot with the player ratings, you know where you should stack up against other members by ratings, when all of the courses are rated, you will know what you should expect to shoot based on your rating and the course rating, so where does par even fit in to that?

[Hammer]

Disc Golf will not live or die by what is considered par. The problem is the "Eric's" have progressed their game and it seems that all holes are a potential bird. If you were going to show Eric McCabe a REAL PAR 5 golf hole, it would have to be over 1470'. The perfect example of a par 4 hole is Jones Park East #2. 3 is a good score, Eric has written a 2 probably 4 or 5 times on it. My opinion is that Disc Golf courses need Pro Tee's and Amateur Tee's. Every hole obviously needs to be longer when comparing a beginner high school player to Eric. Golf courses make holes 1 stroke harder by moving the pro tee back.

Finally, I agree with Q....the winner is determined the same way if you count everything as par 2 or par 7, you add up how many times you throw and lowest score wins. The only problem i have with scores in general is that I've played Golf for about 14 years and have never once came close to par (72) on a Golf course...but in less than 3 years of Disc Golf I've put down a -12 twice in a tournament, and -13 once at Jones West short. That's not right. What's wrong? Well, the holes are too short for better players.

My stand: Everything remains par 3 so it is DIFFERENT than golf, and move holes back. Longer holes = more realistic scores.

[Schoen-hopper]

Par 4 holes are much more diverse. It's hard to make a par 5 that isn't too much advantage to the big drivers. Enough dog legs and controlled shots required and it can be done. Certainly doesn't have to be 1500' or even over 1000'. It's all about what you have to work with.

As to Q's inquisition as to par's relevance... You assign par to a specific skill level. 1000 rated player par is considered the SSA or gold par. 950 is blue, 900 is white, 850 is red. You can use the WCP calculator to figure the gold par and adjust accordingly to a different skill level if necessary. Which division did you have in mind for par 58-60?

[eupher61]

ya wanna see par 4-5 holes? Play the KCWO, or at least hit Blue Valley for the Pro finals sunday morning. It'll be a staggered start with assigned tee times. Check the KCWO website for more info.

What an amazing course. Unfortunately, growing grass around the newly poured teepads has been challenging--too many@#$%&* ATVs using them as Evel Kneivel ramps. The baskets will be back 6/1.

Swope is laid out in the gold version now, too. Check www.kcfdc.org for details, under the Swope forum.

steve

[Anakha]

The only problem i have with scores in general is that I've played Golf for about 14 years and have never once came close to par (72) on a Golf course...but in less than 3 years of Disc Golf I've put down a -12 twice in a tournament, and -13 once at Jones West short. That's not right. What's wrong? Well, the holes are too short for better players.

My stand: Everything remains par 3 so it is DIFFERENT than golf, and move holes back. Longer holes = more realistic scores.

Just because you have played ball golf for 14 years and DG for three and are getting better scores In DG doesn't mean it's easier, it just means your better at one sport than the other, I.E. you could kick my ass in DG, but I got par in ball golf the second time I played a full 18. Hell, I know guys twice my size that have been playing 3 times as long as me, and I can out drive them by 50 yards. But thats not why I can beat them, it's because I'm money with my wedges. Only if I could hit long putts...then the distance would be a big help.

Distance is a key part of par, but not much to do with the difficulty of the hole, Look at ball golf, most holes are just wide open shots, you might have a dogleg, or a couple of trees, but thats about it. the real difficulty comes down to pin placement. If you have a hard green, big breaks, and bunkers in the middle of the fairway (for those that have not played ball, It's not hard to get out of bunkers, but it will take distance and trajectory off the ball) Or say, a friggin pond right off the green that slopes right into it.
But pulling the tees back in DG is not gonna do much, unless we're talkin 200-300+ feet. But, moving that tee back or to the side to get several different flight paths, or having to shoot several short shots, will. Lengthing the holes is great, but for most courses is just not an option, because of limited space and funds for upkeep.

[Hammer]

I don't have the time to keep up on these posts so sorry if I'm slow to respond. Next time you see me, come shake my hand. I've never heard of a single human being that has shot PAR (72) on a real golf course, the second time ever playing 18 holes. It would be an honor!

[Hammer]

I understand that sports are easier to some than others, and that some excell in certain sports rather than others. Disc golf IS easier to learn, play, start, etc...totally my opinion anyway. In a par 54 course, I've seen -14 rounds probably ten to twenty times. If someone shot an -18 under on a par 72 Golf course at a random golf course across the US, ESPN would have them on the show tomorrow! It's not the same accomplishment to shoot under par in disc golf because it IS too easy. I'll have to contemplate on this some more...

[Anakha]

It would be an honor!

Well don't get all worked up buddy, I didn't say I never practiced or went out to the driving range before those 2 rounds( I did, for about 6 months) I just had never played a full course before, and It was from the blues at Topeka public, my fave course and because I know all the ins and outs now, I average about 69-73 out there. Just making a reference as you did.

I love golf.

And keeping up on the posts was pretty funny, I was editing as you were posting.

Don't worry, I'm a cripple and out of practice now,(working on ths presently) so later on when I see ya out Dg'n maybe we can hit the course for some ball. You might be surprised how easy it is.
And, I still shoot over par consistently as I do under in DG, so no, It's not really that easy for me, Ball really was alot easier for me to pick up on, as was baseball compared to ball golf. (for me.)

[Anakha]

I've never heard of a single human being that has shot PAR (72) on a real golf course, the second time ever playing 18 holes.

Tiger did it when he was like 8. Playing against Arnold and Jack.