Since we seem to have strayed from the real topic, let me see if I can get us back on the topic here.
Very rarely is a par 3 1/2 par 3 seen, the one at Oakmont is the only one that comes to mind in tournament golf
John,
Sorry, I'm late to this discussion and haven't posted much at all lately.
You refer to 8 at Oakmont, but wasn't 17 a very similar hole? It was a few yards longer and was called a par 4, but there was barely a player in the field who didn't shoot at the green from the tee. Every single one of them felt they needed to make 3 to keep up with the field. For them, 3 became par, not birdie. The real prize was a 2.
On one hand, it proves your point that the USGA called it a par 4, rather than par 3. But on the other, we're no better, because we've bought into it -- got "mixed up with yardages and pars," to use your words. If the exact same hole *was* called a par 3 -- or if they started calling 540-yard holes par 4s -- would it be more likely to change the players' calculation, or ours?
Now, par 2-1/2 or 5-1/2, that really would be revolutionary ... or would it just be an easy par 3 and a hard par 5? OK, now I'm just messing with you.