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Par for the Course
A very misleading and inaccurate phrase
The Oxford dictionary says “Par for the Course” is “what is normal or expected in any given circumstances” and has an example “looking gorgeous is par for the course for her”.
The Collins dictionary states when saying this you mean “that you are not pleased with it but it is what you expected to happen”. An example given is “He said long hours are par for the course”.
The Cambridge English dictionary gives a similar definition — “it is not good but it is normal or as you would expect”. Another example given- “I didn’t finish the last three exam questions but that’s par for the course.”
Scoring par on a golf course for the vast majority of players is certainly not what they would expect and it would be better than “good” — it would be like the most amazing and the most sensational thing that’s ever happened to you!
In a club like mine of say 800 members, there might be 4–5 players who could par the course. 1–5 of these would be the teaching professionals and the guys working in the proshop and training for a professional career.
The rest of us are very pleased when we score par plus our handicap. The handicap is allowed to be deducted from the gross score (strokes played) and in A grade it would be 1–12 for men and…
