What is "par"

Bogey \Bo"gey\, n.; pl. Bogeys. [Also bogie and bogy, plural bogies.]

1. A goblin; a bugbear.

   Syn: bogeyman.

   I have become a sort of bogey -- a kill-joy.
   --Wm. Black.

2. (Golf) a score one stroke over par for a hole; formerly, the definition of bogey was the same as that now used for par, i.e., an ideal score or number of strokes, for each hole, against which players compete; -- it was said to be so called because assumed to be the score of an imaginary first-rate player called Colonel Bogey. Now the standard score is called par.

3. (Mil.) an unidentified aircraft; in combat situations, such craft not identified as friendly are assumed to be hostile.

1620s, "equality," also "value of one currency in terms of another," from Latin par "equal, equal-sized, well-matched," also as a noun, "that which is equal, equality," of unknown origin. Watkins suggests perhaps from PIE root *pere- (2) "to grant, allot," with suggestion of reciprocality (see part (n.)).\n

\nAnother guess connects it with PIE root *per- "to traffic in, sell" (on notion of "give equal value for"); see pornography. Meaning "average or usual amount" is first attested 1767. Golf usage is first attested 1898. Figurative use of par for the course is from 1928.

"by, for," mid-13c., from Old French par, per, from Latin per (see per).

Etymology 1 abbr. 1 paragraph 2 parallel 3 parenthesis 4 parish Etymology 2

n. 1 Equal value; equality of nominal and actual value; the value expressed on the face or in the words of a certificate of value, as a bond or other commercial paper. 2 Equality of condition or circumstances. 3 (context golf mostly uncountable English) The allotted number of strokes to reach the hole. 4 (context golf countable English) A hole in which a player achieves par. prep. By; with. vb. (context transitive golf English) To reach the hole in the allotted number of strokes. Etymology 3

n. Young salmon. (qualifier: also spelled parr)

1. n. (golf) the standard number of strokes set for each hole on a golf course, or for the entire course; "a par-5 hole"; "par for this course is 72"

2. a state of being essentially equal or equivalent; equally balanced; "on a par with the best" [syn: equality, equivalence, equation]

v. make a score (on a hole) equal to par

Par or PAR may refer to:

The computer program par is a text formatting utility for Unix, written by Adam M. Costello as a replacement for the fmt command.

Par reformats paragraphs of text to fit into a given line length optimally, keeping prefixes and suffixes intact, which is useful for formatting source code comments. It also understands the conventions commonly used for quoting in email replies, and is capable of intelligently reformatting these several levels deep while rewrapping the text they quote.

Par can be invoked from text editors such as Vim or Emacs. To support Unicode par needs to be compiled with a patch that adds multi-byte character support, typically, UTF-8 encoding. Unlike fmt, par also supports text justification.

In golf, par is the predetermined number of strokes that a scratch (or 0 handicap) golfer should require to complete a hole, a round (the sum of the pars of the played holes), or a tournament (the sum of the pars of each round). Pars are the central component of stroke play, the most common kind of play in professional golf tournaments. The term is also used in golf-like sports such as disc golf, with the same meaning.

The length of each hole from the tee placement to the pin mostly determines par values for each hole. Almost invariably, holes are assigned par values between three and five strokes. For a casual player from the middle tees, a par-three hole will be from the tee to the pin. Par-four holes are , but tournament players will often encounter par-four holes or more, as it is common for short par-five holes for normal play to be turned into par-four holes in championship play. Par-five holes are typically , but in the modern game holes of over 600 yards are becoming more common in championship play. Other relevant factors in setting the par for the hole include the terrain and obstacles (such as trees, water hazards, hills, or buildings) that may require a golfer to take more (or fewer) shots. Some golf courses feature par-sixes and, very rarely, par-sevens, but the latter are not recognised by the United States Golf Association.

Typical championship golf courses have par values of 72, comprising four par-threes, ten par-fours, and four par-fives. Championship course par can be as high as 73 to as low as 69. Most 18-hole courses not designed for championships have a par close to 72, but some will be lower. Courses with par above 73 are rare. Courses built on relatively small parcels of land will often be designed as"Par-3 Courses" in which every hole (or almost every hole) is a par-three (for a total par of 54 or slightly higher over 18 holes).

Par is a scoring system used mostly in amateur and club golf. It involves scoring (+, 0, −) based on results at each hole. The objective is to have an end score with more pluses than minuses. The result on each hole is always based on one's handicap-adjusted score.

For ease of explanation, assume a player's handicap gives him/her one stroke per hole (i.e., 9-hole handicap of 9). This player, playing to his/her handicap on a given day, will average a bogey on each hole. Playing 'to' ones handicap is expected and so there is no reward or punishment due when a bogey 5 is recorded on a par 4. Thus, a 0 (zero) is recorded. A double-bogey 6 (one over what's expected from a player on a 9 handicap, would incur a penalty of a minus '−'. A 4 (a genuine, unadjusted par) is one better than a '9-handicapper' would be expected to score and would earn a plus '+'. However, for this golfer, 6s and above still incur just one minus '−'. Likewise, 4s and below earn just one plus '+'. At the end of the round, plusses and minuses are reconciled (a minus cancels out a plus). If a player finishes with two plusses, s/he is 'two up' or 'plus 2' (+2). The opposite applies if s/he finishes with two minuses - 'two down'; 'minus 2'; '−2'.

The Par format's main disadvantage is that there is no reward for a handicap-adjusted eagle (or even better).