What is Target Par in golf?

Target Par is a hole-by-hole version of the total score you are trying to shoot. Instead of comparing every hole with scratch par, you compare it with the score that keeps your own round target on track.

Start with the total

Imagine you are playing a par-72 course and want to break 100. A score of 99 is 27 shots above course par. Target Par treats those 27 shots as part of the plan rather than as 27 separate mistakes.

OKBogey distributes the extra shots across the 18 holes. Hole par gives the starting point and Stroke Index helps decide which holes receive the additional allowance first. The result is a target score for every hole that still adds up to the overall score you chose.

A simple example

Suppose one of the harder par 4s receives a Target Par of 6 in your break-100 plan.

The six has not magically become a better gross golf score. But if the 18-hole plan allowed six shots on that hole, then six has done its job for the total you care about.

Target Par can change which club you hit

This is where Target Par becomes more than a different way of labelling the score. It can change how you construct the hole.

If your target gives you enough room to take four shots to reach the green or get greenside, you do not automatically need driver off the tee. You can choose four controlled shots with clubs you trust if that route keeps water, out of bounds or a reload out of play.

This is not an instruction to stop hitting driver. If driver is reliable and sensible for the hole, hit it. The point is that maximum distance is no longer automatically required just because scratch par assumes fewer shots.

A blow-up hole may only be a net bogey

Target Par also changes the emotional size of a bad hole. Imagine a difficult hole has Target Par 7 and you make 8. Against course par, that 8 may look horrible. Against the score you are actually trying to shoot, you have dropped one shot.

That is effectively a net bogey against your Target Par. It matters, but it is not a reason to abandon the plan. The next hole does not suddenly require birdie, driver over trouble or a flag-hunting approach.

Why that changes decisions

Traditional par can make a golfer feel behind almost immediately. Against a realistic target, the same bogeys, doubles or even an occasional larger number may leave the round close to plan.

If you know a safe recovery still leaves a realistic route to Target Par, you have less reason to attempt a low-percentage shot through trees, over water or from a poor lie simply to chase traditional par.

Target Par is not the same as a handicap score

Target Par is primarily a planning and round-management tool. You choose the total you want to beat, and the hole targets explain how that total can be distributed. It does not replace the Rules of Golf, official handicap calculations or the actual gross score you record.

Why Stroke Index is used

When OKBogey needs to decide where extra shots should go, the course's Stroke Index provides a consistent starting order. If every hole has already received one extra shot and another nine remain, the SI 1–9 holes receive the next allowance.

That does not necessarily mean those are the holes you personally find hardest.

Personal Stroke Index

Once enough scoring history exists on the same tee set, OKBogey+ can rank holes using your own results. That Personal Stroke Index can then be used when distributing future Target Par allowances.

For a regular course, this makes the plan increasingly specific to your game.

How to use Target Par on the course

Think in terms of the whole round. If you make one over Target Par, you do not have to recover it on the next tee. You are simply one shot behind the plan. A later bogey on a Target Par 6 can recover it naturally.

Before a risky shot, ask: what does Target Par actually require here? You may discover that laying up, hitting an iron from the tee, pitching sideways or taking an extra shot to reach the green still leaves you completely on schedule.