Golf Glossary
Par
In short
Par in golf is the number of strokes a very good player is expected to need for a hole or for the whole course. Most holes are par 3, par 4 or par 5, and an 18-hole course is often par 70 to 72. If you match that number exactly, you have played to par or ‘even par’.
What does par mean in golf?
Par is the standard score for a hole. It describes how many strokes a very good player needs with error-free play, always including two putts on the green.
That gives a simple rule of thumb:
- Par 3: one shot to the green, then two putts
- Par 4: two shots to the green, then two putts
- Par 5: three shots to the green, then two putts
Par exists for each hole and for the whole course. Course par is simply the sum of all holes. An 18-hole course with four par 3s, ten par 4s and four par 5s is a par 72, for example. The word ‘par’ comes from Latin and means ‘equal’, so a player who shoots par is level with the course.
How the par of a hole is set
Par depends mainly on the length of a hole. The World Handicap System rules of the R&A and the USGA give guidelines in Appendix F. For men they are roughly:
- Par 3: up to about 240 metres
- Par 4: about 220 to 450 metres
- Par 5: about 410 to 650 metres
The guidelines for women are shorter: par 3 up to about 200 metres, par 4 about 180 to 380 metres and par 5 about 340 to 550 metres. From about 610 metres for men and 520 metres for women, the guidelines suggest a par 6. The ranges overlap because length is not the only factor. Effective playing length matters too: if a hole plays uphill, has a dogleg or many hazards, it plays longer than it measures.
Par is set by the club or the responsible committee, based on these guidelines. Par-6 holes are very rare, while on short courses many or even all holes are par 3s.
Even par, under par and over par
Golfers almost always compare their score with par, using fixed expressions:
- Even par: you need exactly as many strokes as par. Leaderboards show ‘E’ or ‘0’.
- Under par: fewer strokes, for example ‘−3’ for three under par.
- Over par: more strokes, for example ‘+5’ for five over par.
Individual holes have their own names. One under par is a birdie, two under an eagle, three under an albatross. One over par is a bogey, two over a double bogey.
In British English, even par is also called ‘level par’. Either way it means the same thing: your score matches the standard.
Practical example: par on a hole and a round
A par 4 measures 340 metres. Your drive travels 190 metres onto the fairway. With a 6-iron you find the green, eight metres from the flag. The first putt stops half a metre short and the second drops. Four strokes: par.
It works the same way for a whole round. Imagine a 9-hole course with a par of 36. You make three pars, four bogeys, one double bogey and one birdie. The calculation is 0 + 4 + 2 − 1 = 5, so you took 41 strokes and finished five over par.
For beginners a single par is already a success. Many golfers count their pars each round and enjoy seeing the number grow over time.
Par, Course Rating and handicap
Par and Course Rating are often confused. Par is a fixed standard for each hole. The Course Rating, by contrast, shows how many strokes a scratch golfer with a handicap of 0 actually needs on average on that course, taking length, hazards and difficulty into account. It can be above or below par.
Under the World Handicap System the difference between Course Rating and par is part of your Course Handicap, together with your Handicap Index and the Slope Rating.
Your personal net par is the par of a hole plus your handicap strokes. In Stableford a net par earns two points, so a player who plays exactly to their handicap over 18 holes scores 36 points.
Common misunderstandings about par
A few misunderstandings about par are surprisingly persistent.
- Par is not an average: it describes error-free play by a very good player. How difficult a course really is shows in its Course Rating and Slope Rating.
- Par 72 is not the standard: many fine courses are par 70 or 71. A lower par says nothing about the quality of a course.
- One hole can have two pars: because the guidelines for women use different lengths, some scorecards show a different par for the same hole depending on the tee.
- Two putts are not compulsory: they are only part of the calculation. Reach a par-4 green in three and hole one putt, and you have still made par.
- Your benchmark is net par: for beginners with a high handicap, the par of very good players is hard to reach. Compare your score with par plus your handicap strokes instead.
Origin: where does the term par come from?
The word originally comes from finance, where ‘par’ meant the face value of a share, its ‘equal’ value. That is also where the expressions ‘above par’ and ‘below par’ come from.
According to the usual account, the term entered golf in 1870. Before the Open Championship at Prestwick, the Scottish golfer and writer A. H. Doleman asked two professionals what perfect play would be on the 12-hole course of the time. They named 49 strokes per round. Young Tom Morris won with 149 over three rounds, and Doleman wrote that he had finished two over par.
Par only became the general standard later. For a long time, bogey was the usual target score in Britain. Today par is the reference point for every golf score worldwide.
Try it at Golf Lounge
The Golf Lounge’s 9-hole ‘Black’ course is a par 33, made up of six par 4s and three par 3s according to the course guide. It is also a good example of the difference between par and Course Rating: the rating is 31 for men and 31.9 for women, below par. The course is open from April to December for players with the DGV Platzreife, and from May to October there is a 9-hole qualifying competition every Saturday.
Frequently asked questions
What does par mean in golf?
Par is the number of strokes a very good player needs for a hole, always including two putts. So a par 3 is reached in one shot, a par 4 in two and a par 5 in three. The par of the whole course is the sum of all the holes.
What does even par mean?
Even par means your score is exactly the same as par. On a par-72 course you would have taken 72 strokes. Leaderboards show it as ‘E’ or ‘0’, and in British English it is also called ‘level par’. Fewer strokes is ‘under par’, more strokes ‘over par’.
What is par for a golf course?
Most 18-hole courses are par 70, 71 or 72, depending on the mix of par 3s, par 4s and par 5s. Nine-hole courses are usually par 27 to 36 depending on length, and short courses with many par 3s are lower still. The exact par is printed on the course scorecard.
What is the difference between par and Course Rating?
Par is a fixed standard for each hole, set mainly by length. The Course Rating shows how many strokes a scratch golfer with a handicap of 0 actually needs on the course, and it can be above or below par. Under the World Handicap System the difference between the two is part of your Course Handicap.
As of: October 2026