Sub Par Round?

[Carl3]

I play a lot at a local course that has 8 par 3's and one par 4. 3 years ago I played the white tees and carded a 27 (minus 1), so I have now been playing the blue tees. I also switched to only use a tee on the par 4 and occasionally from the longer 190+ yard par 3's. This is so I don't have trouble when I play at a traditional course hitting off the turf. I have played at least one round at minus 1 each of the past 3 years. The par 4 requires a perfectly placed tee shot to have a chance at a clean shot to the green as it has tree trouble on either side. It is not an easy to par that one. As you can see there are also a couple of long par 3's. Here is my question:

Can I truly take credit for breaking par on what many might consider a cheesy course?  My previous best is a 75 at a difficult Pete Dye course. I have had a couple of 76's, a number of 77's and break 80 maybe between a quarter and a third of my rounds on a traditional course. I have only started to take golf seriously in the past 5 years or so. I was a bogey golfer before that who played a half dozen times a year.

[HJJ003]

5 minutes ago, Carl3 said:

I play a lot at a local course that has 8 par 3's and one par 4. 3 years ago I played the white tees and carded a 27 (minus 1), so I have now been playing the blue tees. I also switched to only use a tee on the par 4 and occasionally from the longer 190+ yard par 3's. This is so I don't have trouble when I play at a traditional course hitting off the turf. I have played at least one round at minus 1 each of the past 3 years. The par 4 requires a perfectly placed tee shot to have a chance at a clean shot to the green as it has tree trouble on either side. It is not an easy to par that one. As you can see there are also a couple of long par 3's. Here is my question:

Can I truly take credit for breaking par on what many might consider a cheesy course?  My previous best is a 75 at a difficult Pete Dye course. I have had a couple of 76's, a number of 77's and break 80 maybe between a quarter and a third of my rounds on a traditional course. I have only started to take golf seriously in the past 5 years or so. I was a bogey golfer before that who played a half dozen times a year.

Of course you can take credit for that. You broke par. Period. It’s not as good a achievement as breaking par on say course with a 72 CR or something,  but it’s still an achievement most will never reach. 

[MarvChamp]

I applaud your humility. And your candor. Yes, it is a legitimate score. If you think it necessary to explain it, that's fine too. All are within the best of golf tradition, IMO. For example, I played the red/white tees yesterday (5600 yards). That is what the "play it forward" program says is appropriate for my drive distances. I shot a high score, but if I had broken 90, I would be proud. You are my kind of guy. Best wishes, -Marv

[Carl3]

13 minutes ago, MarvChamp said:

play it forward

Thanks for mentioning this as I was able to go to the PGA website and get the recommendations. Yesterday I got rained out of an opportunity to play what looks like a super Donald Ross course and I had to ask my host which tees we would play so I could play out what to use off each tee (driver or something else). The black tees play 6,684 and the whites 6,397. Play it forward would want me at the white tees. Now I have some better rationale when we play in a few weeks.

Edited August 18, 2018 by Carl3

[MrGolfguy67]

Frame that bad-boy and hang it on the wall. Just because the course was short doesn't take away from the accomplishment; after all you still have to hit the shots and make the putts. Nobody gave you anything. Congrats on your score.

[Sandy Divot]

That is a sub par half a round.

[billchao]

@Carl3, I'm gonna buck the trend and go with no. Yes it's technically 1-under, but if you go around telling people you've shot a 1-under 9-hole round, everyone is going to assume 34 or 35 on a standard course. There are about 8 more swings you'd have to execute to break par and that makes it much harder to accomplish.

Still great playing, though, so plenty to be proud of.

[criley4way]

Definitely sub-par but not a round.

[iacas]

29 minutes ago, criley4way said:

Definitely sub-par but not a round.

I'm on board with this. A round is 18 holes. Nine is almost as arbitrary as saying you played a two-hole round. Or an 11-hole round, a six-hole round… etc.

You broke par… for nine holes.

[Buckeyebowman]

I voted yes although, technically 9 holes is not a round. But, what would you call it? A session? A semester? And in these days when the governing bodies of golf, who are begging people to take up the game, are promoting "Play 9" for those who don't have time for an entire round, can such things be taken lightly?

If you were playing a regulation course, and scored a 2 on a par 3, you made birdie. So, congrats on your sub-par whatever it was!

[Carl3]

OK, thanks for the input. Even though it is only a 9 hole course I would need to make another lap and have that be even par or better. But even then I would probably discount the effort due to the nature of the course.