[ERicJ]

Originally Posted by DPdiscer

The scorecard used for Texas States has the Wilmont at par 60. Par 4 for holes 6,8,9,11 and par 5 for 14. Whoever set up the pars for the scorecard might have referenced the pdga "Par Guidelines". It is a table that takes into consideration the skill level of the tees, the hole length, and density of foliage. They probably used the Gold Tees and light foliage. Amount of OB could also be considered. If you have a lot of OB on a hole then consider it like dense foliage.
Par 3 Par 4 Par 5
Light 275-600 600-900 900+
Heavy 225-450 450-750 750+

Using these guidelines I would reduce Wilmont #6 (555) to par 3; and reduce Wilmont #14(800) to par 4. Wilmont #8 (480) leave at par 4 because of the cautious approach shot.

Lets look at the Tourney
15 (523) and 16 (626) are par 4. Both have a lot of OB that come into play. Leave as is.
#17 (594) and #18 (575) are par 4. I could go either way on those two. They are borderline.

The Powell looks good all the way through.

Use SSA as a guideline? I think not.

I will get with Neal and ERic on this.

Not sure if this tangent belongs under Bass Course Conditions or TxSDGC thread but....

First this could, but shouldn't blow up into a big deal. The only use that par has in sanctioned play is to penalize players who are late to start. They card a score of par+4 for each hole missed.

The PDGA has no hard and fast rules on par. They define it as follows:

Par: As determined by the director, the score an expert disc golfer would be expected to make on a given hole. Par means errorless play under ordinary weather conditions, allowing two close range throws to hole-out.

The subjective area is what is "close range"? For Gold level players 100' is a good value for "close range", i.e. you should be able to hole-out in two throws from within 100'. If you assume that Gold players can accurately throw a golf distance (not raw distance) of 400' off the tee that means over 500' is Par 4.

Wilmont #14 at 800' is sitting on the edge of the par 4/par 5 range. Golf distance for Gold level players in the fairway is more like 330' which puts the over/under par4/5 line at 830'. Consider the OB wetlands and basket on a hill that nudges you toward the par 5 side for Willy #14.

If TxSDGC were an NT we'd probably err on the side of lower par values. But TxSDGC has AMs playing too and you don't want anyone to be able to take advantage of intentionally showing up late in poor playing conditions and carding a par+4 score that is better than the average score by players who actually played the hole(s).

Personally I think pars should be based on actual scoring data from past events. But I don't know anyone in HFDS that has accumulated that level of detailed data with which to scientifically and accurately assign pars.

Lastly, if you consider this year's TxSDGC Southern Star Putting Contest for which automatic qualification is based on number of sub-par holes carded... a couple holes that might be considered easier birdies vs. hard pars is a good thing, right?