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Par for the Course
Par for the Course
THE TERM "par for the course" means what is normal or expected in any given circumstance. I was thinking about this while watching a golf tournament on TV yesterday. The golfer who won finished in 11 under par. He was one shot ahead of Tiger Woods the world's #1 ranked professional golfer.The key word there is "professional." I say that because most regular golfers could never play any course 11 under par! Most would consider a round at par exceptional. Par really doesn't measure what is average in the game; it measures the number of strokes a FIRST-CLASS PLAYER ought to be able to finish in.In golf, then -- ironically -- to be LESS than par (they say UNDER par) is a good thing. To be ABOVE the norm doesn't mean BETTER than, it means WORSE than. If par=average, the everyday golfer is typically above average, as opposed to real life in which "average" people are frightenly BELOW average.What lessons can we take from this? (A) Golf is not life. (B) In golf, "par" is "average" only for the above-average. (C) Golf ought to be at least a misdemeanor.
posted on Aug 26, 2013 10:51 AM ()
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