Pitch And Puttering
Golf Magazine|May 2018

Statistically, how would the average PGA Tour pro do on a par-3 course? Absolutely crush it, right? Not so much.

Mark Broadie
Pitch And Puttering

HOW MANY STROKES under par would a PGA Tour pro average if he played a 2,700-yard, 18-hole course consisting only of par-3 holes averaging 150 yards in length? What do you think? Three under? Six under? Eight under? The startling answer is one under par.

Since tournament data doesn’t exist for our hypothetical course, I get this result—based on 2017 Tour stats—by looking at the average strokes to hole out on all shots from the fairway, first cut or tee, starting between 125 and 175 yards from the pin. The number: 2.94 strokes, or 0.06 strokes under par per hole. Across 18 holes, that yields a score of 1.08 strokes under par.

This story is from the May 2018 edition of Golf Magazine.

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This story is from the May 2018 edition of Golf Magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.