Of course playing the hole like a par 5 is an option for any player right now, but since it says 4 on the car most do not play it that way. They hit driver, complain about the tight fairway, and then hit fairway wood into the front bunker when they know full well they should be laying up instead.
Matthew
Is this in fact true or just among folks you know of? In any case, I would think there is a significant percentage of golfers who can't even reach the bunker in two. Is this then a par 5 for them?
Ciao
Sean, I'm smart enough to know better, and I even work hard to stop thinking like that, but it's hard as hell.
Just yesterday, I told a couple of people that taking 29 strokes on the middle six holes at my home course is a reasonable score for me, despite the fact that it's 6 over par. The holes are a par three, par five and four par fours that measure 208, 506, 446, 383, 432 and 402 from the tees I play.
Now, a couple of them shouldn't be THAT tough for me at an 11 index, but the 506, 383 and 402 play into the wind, and the last one is a very uphill tee shot. And I am a short hitter for my handicap averaging only 205 or so.
Despite the fact that I know a bogey is a reasonable score on each of them, I tend to overreach on at least one shot, leaving myself open for making a double bogey or worse. The problem, to my mind is partly that I know what par is, and partly that I can par or almost par them every time I play.
I am weak, and so are 99% of the golfers I play with. Heck, I play with a bunch of 20+ handicappers who hit it 160-170 yards off the tee and EVERY one of them is trying to make par on those holes.
Ken