Par is the true measure of golf. It can also be used to measure a human life.

There are 18 holes in a round of golf. Should you par half of these holes, and be over par the rest, you have done a half-ass job of playing golf.

There are 70 years in a human life. Should you be the best you can be for 35 of those years and a jerk the rest, you have done a half-ass job of living.

Hey, some do worse. Some "golfers" can't break 100 and still play every time they get a chance.

The normal structure for what constitutes "par" on most holes on most golf courses in the world is discussed in the following writeups:

PAR is a word used to describe the parabolic reflector light bulbs used in various spot and flood lights. Often, the instrument holding this bulb is a thin aluminum cylinder -- and so, they are often called par cans. These are often the base of a lighting system.

PAR is also a unit of bulb measurement. In that system of lamp identification the first number listed denotes the maximum diameter of the lamp expressed as a number of 1/8's of an inch. For example, some common sizes are PAR-64's (8") PAR-36 (4.5"), PAR-38 (4.75"), PAR-46 (5.75"), and PAR-56 (7").

PAR has no intentional relationship to the point or the pica, though they may seem similar.

The letter at the begining of the bulb code denotes the basic shape of the bulb such as:

The clearer the glass, the narrower the beam is:

  • VNSP - Very Narrow Spot - Totally clear lens.
  • NSP - Narrow Spot - Pebble-ized (frosted) lens.
  • MFL - Medium Flood - About 8 lines per inch of lens.
  • WFL - Wide Flood - About 11 lines per inch of lens.

Taken from a post by Ron Hebbard from the Pro-Lighting forum. I thought someone might find it useful...

A par file is (it seems) a parity archive. When you're downloading porn off of usenet there is the constant problem of missing parts, and how can you get your jolly boat a'sailin' when you don't have all the pieces of the rar file? In the bad old days you'd beg, plead, and bargain for fills, but now you just need to beg, plead, or bargain for the par files, often posted with the pr0n to begin with. For any missing or corrupt rar file, you need one par file to replace it, use SmartPAR or Mirror and it will fix the Jenna Jameson movie up for you real good. It's not limited to just .rar files either, you can par anything.

The phrase "par", when used to describe the quality of something, i.e. "below par", "on a par with", etc., is often misused. Most people think that "par" is average. However, this is not so.

Par is not what the average golfer will score on a golf course. Par is what the average expert golfer will score. Think about it. What does the average Joe Golfer shoot when he goes out to the local golf club each Saturday? Probably not in the 70's. More likely, the average golfer is struggling to break 90 or 100. Par, on most 18-hole golf courses, is 72. If I could shoot a 72 regularly, or, "par", I would be one heck of a golfer.

Don't believe me? Just watch a major golf tournament. When you look at the leaderboard, count how many of the professional golfers are over par. It's quite a few. This doesn't mean that Joe Golfer could walk onto the tee and beat some of these pros. Even though the pros might be over par, the are usually still in the 70's, which is pretty darn good.

Keep this in mind the next time somebody describes something as "subpar". Most things, by definition, are subpar. They're average. If everything I owned was "above par", I would be one very happy guy.

Par (?), n. (Zoöl.)

See Parr.

 

© Webster 1913


Par, prep. [F., fr. L. per. See Per.]

By; with; -- used frequently in Early English in phrases taken from the French, being sometimes written as a part of the word which it governs; as, par amour, or paramour; par cas, or parcase; par fay, or parfay.

 

© Webster 1913


Par (?), n. [L. par, adj., equal. See Peer an equal.]

1.

Equal value; equality of nominal and actual value; the value expressed on the face or in the words of a certificate of value, as a bond or other commercial paper.

2.

Equality of condition or circumstances.

At par, at the original price; neither at a discount nor at a premium. --
Above par, at a premium. --
Below par, at a discount. --
On a par, on a level; in the same condition, circumstances, position, rank, etc.; as, their pretensions are on a par; his ability is on a par with his ambition. --
Par of exchange. See under Exchange. --
Par value, nominal value; face value.

 

© Webster 1913


Par (?), n.

1.

An amount which is taken as an average or mean. [Eng.]

2. (Golf)

The number of strokes required for a hole or a round played without mistake, two strokes being allowed on each hole for putting. Par represents perfect play, whereas bogey makes allowance on some holes for human frailty. Thus if par for a course is 75, bogey is usually put down, arbitrarily, as 81 or 82.

 

© Webster 1913

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