Is there a difference between "protecting par" and lengthening a course?
NO
Isn’t redesignating a par 5 as a par 4 a simple counterexample?
No, it's just another method of protecting par.
I’m not sure whether asking a question of Mr. Mucci is an auspicious choice for my first post, but I suspect it may be…
-Alan
We are agreed on that- lengthening a course is just one of many methods of protecting par. But to me that implies the answer to Matthew’s question would be “Yes”. There is a difference. Protecting par is an undertaking much broader than simply lengthening the course.
I suppose alternate/related questions might be:
“Is lengthening a course ever done for reasons other than protecting par?” (I think perhaps this was the question you were answering in response to Matthew)
“Does lengthening a course always have the effect of increasing the average score relative to par?” While likely, this is somewhat academic. We don’t get to see what would happen without the changes, as Tom noted.