The Washington Post has an Editorial today commenting about Ledecky's 200-400-800-1500 sweep last week but also about the lack of the women's 1500 in the Olympics:
http://wapo.st/1MZ8Nw6
Pretty cool for the sport of swimming and the Olympic events to get that kind of publicity outside of the Sports page!
Jeff
The other thing about golf is good courses are setup for specific tee shot lengths and green approach shot locations. Fairway bunkers are put at specific distances to be in play for drives. Greens are also designed to be hit into with a specific club range. A green designed for a short approach shot with a lofted club (eg needing to stick the ball) might not be possible to keep a ball on the green using a hybrid which needs to be rolled on from the fairway. Having different tees for women, men, pros, etc. allow for the course to be played the way it was designed for people who hit the ball different distances.
I do agree that par is arbitrary, especially in a tournament where you are just trying to get the lowest score. It was funny at the 2015 Men's US Open to hear the players complain about a hole playing as a par 4 instead of a par 5 since it was the same for all players.
The other thing about golf is good courses are setup for specific tee shot lengths and green approach shot locations. Fairway bunkers are put at specific distances to be in play for drives. Greens are also designed to be hit into with a specific club range. A green designed for a short approach shot with a lofted club (eg needing to stick the ball) might not be possible to keep a ball on the green using a hybrid which needs to be rolled on from the fairway. Having different tees for women, men, pros, etc. allow for the course to be played the way it was designed for people who hit the ball different distances.
I do agree that par is arbitrary, especially in a tournament where you are just trying to get the lowest score. It was funny at the 2015 Men's US Open to hear the players complain about a hole playing as a par 4 instead of a par 5 since it was the same for all players.
