What's the point of par in golf?

Question

Why don't they just use the number of strokes as the score instead?

Answer 1

It is the average number of shots a scratch (0 handicap) golfer will take on a hole.

It is therefore a quick way to guage a score in competition, so instead of saying a player shot 287 in the Masters, you can say he shot 1 under par.

Answer 2

Par is the standard that you play against. That is the number of strokes it should take you to get the ball in the cup on each hole.

Answer 3

Par is the standard based mostly on the length of a hole.Yardages from 50 to 250 will be par 3; yardages from 251 to 500 will carry a par of 4; From 501 to 615 yards will be par 5s. There are some exceptions where terrain and hole configuration  may raise or lower the par.

Answer 4

Because each course is different, some are playing to 70, some to 73.

Answer 5

Golf does use the number of strokes as the score.  Par is merely a term used in golf meaning the standard number of strokes to complete a hole or the entire 18 hole round.

Par referenced for a hole means the number of strokes it SHOULD take to complete that hole, expressed in number of strokes.  A Par 3 means it should only take 3 strokes to go from the tee box in to the hole.  The longer the hole, the higher the Par stroke.  Normally holes are either Par 3, 4 or 5 depending on the distance.  The Par stroke number is calculated based on how many strokes it should take to go from the Tee Box on to the green, then add 2 strokes for putting.  So for a Par 4 hole, the distance requires 2 strokes to get on the green + 2 putts.

You hear people reference their performance relative to par, such as "I shot 4 over par today..." instead of I shot 76 today.  This is because each golf course has different Par strokes to complete 18 holes, usually from Par 68 to Par 72 representing the difficulty and length of the course.  Shooting 72 on a Par 68 course is somewhat the SAME performance as shooting 76 on a Par 72 course, so it is more accurate to say 4 over Par regardless of number of strokes.  But that does not represent the SCORE, just how you did on our round.

Answer 6

The number of strokes has been, and always will be, used for a player's score.  A player shoots 72-70-70-68 that totals 280, regardless of what par for the course is. On one course it might be even par, on another it could be 8-under. Displaying a player's score relative to par for the course makes it easier to see how players stand relative to each other during a round where not everybody has yet finished. The idea of displaying relative-to-par numbers was first used on TV during the  Masters sometime in the 1950s or 60s.