What Do Par and Stroke Mean in Golf?

Hearing golfers throw around terms like ‘strokes,’ ‘pars,’ and ‘birdies’ can feel like trying to follow a conversation in a foreign language. But once you understand them, these are the simple, foundational concepts that unlock the entire game. This article will break down exactly what a stroke is and what par represents, giving you the clarity you need to track your score and understand your performance on the course.

What Exactly is a "Stroke" in Golf?

Let's start with the most basic building block of golf: the stroke. In the simplest terms, a stroke is any forward swing of the club that you make with the intention of hitting the golf ball.

That definition is important. Every intentional swing you take counts as one stroke. This includes:

• Your big tee shot to start the hole.
• Your iron shot from the fairway.
• Your small chip shot from beside the green.
• Every putt you take on the green.
• Even the embarrassing shots - the one you top that only goes 10 feet, or the slice that flies into the trees.

The key here is "intention." If you are taking a practice swing and have no intention of hitting the ball, that does not count as a stroke. However, if you swing with the full intention of striking the ball and you miss it completely (what golfers call a “whiff”), that, unfortunately, does count as one stroke. It's frustrating, but it’s part of the rules.

Your score on any given golf hole is just the total number of strokes you take from your first shot on the tee box until your ball is sitting at the bottom of the cup.

What About Penalty Strokes?

Occasionally, you might have to add penalty strokes to your score. A penalty stroke is a point added to your score because of a rule infraction. The most common situations involve hitting your ball into a water hazard or seeing it fly out of bounds (off the designated property of the golf hole).

If you hit your ball into one of these areas, you typically drop a new ball in a specified area and add a one-stroke penalty to your score for that hole. So, if you hit one shot that goes out of bounds, your next shot would actually be counted as your third stroke on the hole (Shot 1 + 1 Penalty Stroke + Shot 2 = a total of 3 strokes).

Understanding "Par" - Your Target Score

While a "stroke" is what you actually do, "par" is the target you’re aiming for. Par is the predetermined number of strokes that an expert golfer is expected to take to complete a hole.

Think of it as the baseline for performance. Every single hole on a golf course has a par number assigned to it, which ultimately tells you how long and difficult the hole is supposed to be. Your final score on a hole is always talked about in relation to its par.

How Is Par Determined for a Hole?

The par for a hole is almost entirely based on its length - the distance from the tee box to the green. The calculation is based on the idea that an expert golfer should take two putts once their ball is on the green. Therefore, par is determined by how many shots it should take that expert golfer to reach the green.

This breaks down into three common types of holes:

• Par-3: These are the shortest holes. The expectation is that you can hit your ball from the tee box onto the green in a single shot. Add the two expected putts, and you get a par of 3. These holes typically measure under 250 yards for men and under 210 yards for women.
• Par-4: These are the most common holes on a course. The expert golfer is expected to reach the green in two shots (a tee shot, then a second "approach" shot). Add two putts, and that’s a par of 4. These usually range from 251 to 470 yards for men and 211 to 400 for women.
• Par-5: These are the longest holes. The design expects three shots to reach the green (a tee shot, a second shot down the fairway, and a third shot onto the green). Plus two putts, that equals a par of 5. Par-5s are generally over 471 yards for men and over 401 yards for women.

When someone talks about making "par," it means they met this expectation exactly. They finished the hole in the number of strokes assigned as par - like taking 4 strokes on a par-4 hole.

Your Score Versus Par: Learning the Lingo

This is where the fun language of golf comes in! Your performance is almost always described by comparing your actual stroke count to the hole's par. Here is a breakdown of the most common terms you'll hear, starting with the best possible outcomes.

• Albatross (or Double Eagle): This is incredibly rare. It means you scored three strokes under par on a single hole, like holing out your second shot on a par-5.
• Eagle: This is a fantastic score of two strokes under par. Examples include making a 2 on a par-4 or a 3 on a par-5.
• Birdie: A great and more common achievement. A birdie is a score of one stroke under par, like a 2 on a par-3, a 3 on a par-4, or a 4 on a par-5.
• Par: The benchmark itself. A score of even with par. This means you took 3 strokes on a par-3, 4 on a par-4, and so on. A round full of pars is a fantastic accomplishment. It shows consistency.
• Bogey: The score most amateurs are familiar with. A bogey is one stroke over par, such as a 5 on a par-4 hole.
• Double Bogey: Getting a little worse, a double bogey is two strokes over par (a 6 on a par-4).
• Triple Bogey: This is three strokes over par (a 7 on a part-4).

Beyond "Triple Bogey," most golfers just refer to the number (e.g., "I made an 8 on that par-4"). There's no need to continue the naming convention!

Putting It All Together: A Real-World Example

Let's walk through a common scenario to see how strokes and par work together. Imagine you are playing a par-4 hole.

1. You step up to the tee and hit a great drive into the fairway. (1 stroke)
2. For your second shot, you hit an iron, but it lands just short of the green in the grass. (2 strokes)
3. Your third shot is a small chip from the grass that rolls onto the green, a few feet from the hole. (3 strokes)
4. You now putt for the first time, but your ball misses the hole by a few inches. (4 strokes)
5. You tap in your next putt, and the ball finally drops into the cup. (5 strokes)

You took a total of 5 strokes to complete a par-4 hole. That means your score for that hole is Bogey, or "one over par." On the scorecard, you would simply write down a 5, but when talking about it, you'd likely say, "I made bogey on that one."

From a Single Hole to a Full Round

Finally, these concepts scale up to an entire round of golf. A standard golf course has 18 holes. The "par for the course" is simply the total of the pars for all 18 holes.

Most 18-hole courses have a total par of between 70 and 72. This is usually made up of:

• Four par-3 holes
• Ten par-4 holes
• Four par-5 holes

So, for a par-72 course, if you were to shoot a score of 90, you would be "18 over par" for the round (90 total strokes - 72 par = 18). If a professional shoots a spectacular round of 68, they scored "4 under par" (68 total strokes - 72 par = -4).

Scoring in golf isn't about getting the highest score, it's about hitting the lowest number of strokes. It is a measurement of your efficiency, with par serving as your a guide on every hole you play.

Final Thoughts

In the end, it’s all quite simple: a stroke is a swing, and par is the target. By understanding these two core ideas you can track your game, measure your progress, and get a lot more enjoyment out of watching and playing golf. Your score on the scorecard is what you did, and your score relative to par tells the story of how you did it.

Once you nail down the basics of scoring, the next step is building the right strategy to turn those doubles into bogeys, and those bogeys into pars. That process of making smarter, more confident decisions is where we can help. Our mission with Caddie AI is to give every golfer access to expert-level coaching and on-course strategy. When you're standing on the tee unsure of how to play a difficult hole, we can give you a simple, smart plan. If you find yourself in a tricky lie, you can even snap a photo of the ball and get instant advice on the best way to hit the shot, helping you avoid those big numbers that ruin a scorecard.