The par 5 is the only hole that gives you a shot back before it starts, and the only one that demands two long swings before the short game gets involved. That combination makes it the most volatile hole on any card. It is where a good round finds its birdie and where a decent round finds its eight.
Par 5s are where the handicaps separate
Shot Scope analysed scoring across more than 100,000 golfers and split it by hole type. Their finding is that par 3s are the hardest holes for a scratch golfer and the easiest place for a high handicap to hold a score together, and that the picture inverts as the handicap rises. The headline number is that par 5s carry a 2.22 shot gap between scratch and 25 handicap golfers, the widest of any hole type.
That is a strange result if you think of a par 5 as the easy hole, and it makes sense once you count the long swings. A par 3 asks for one shot with a club most golfers can control. A par 5 asks for two, back to back, and a mishit on either puts the hole into recovery mode with 400 yards still to play.
The tee shot is the least contested decision in golf
Nothing about a par 5 argues for less club off the tee. Shot Scope puts it directly: the average 30 yard gap between driver and 3 wood makes it hard not to hit driver on a par 5, because the hole depends on getting far enough down it to have a real second shot.
Their qualifier matters more than the headline. The emphasis should be on a controlled tee shot that finds the fairway rather than on a maximum effort drive, because hitting a good 3 wood or long iron from the middle of the fairway is difficult enough without doing it from the rough. The setup and strike side is in how to hit a driver, and the general case for the longer club off every tee is in golf club selection.
The second shot, and the argument golf has not settled
This is the genuinely contested decision, and it is worth being honest that good coaches land in different places on it.
The tracked evidence points one way and points hard. Shot Scope's proximity data shows that the closer a golfer is to the hole, the closer they hit their next shot, with no distance at which that stops being true.
| Third shot played from | Proximity, fairway | Proximity, rough |
|---|---|---|
| 110 yards | 64 feet | 80 feet |
| 50 yards | 35 feet | 48 feet |
Their shots-to-finish numbers underneath that put the cost of laying up at roughly half a shot, or 0.6 of a shot, per hole, which is about two shots a round across four par 5s. On that evidence the instruction is simple: get as close to the green as you sensibly can, every time.
Should a mid handicapper ever go for it in two?
For most mid and high handicappers the question is misnamed, because the shot they are describing is not really an attempt at the green.
Shot Scope compared 5 and 10 handicaps playing second shots from 190 to 230 yards on par 5s and found both far more likely to miss the green than hit it. A 10 handicap's 3 wood, 3 hybrid and 5 iron from that range all take an average of four strokes to finish the hole. Their 4 hybrid holds up best, needing only 0.2 more strokes than a 5 handicap's 4 iron from the same place.
So the real decision is not green or lay up. It is whether the shot that advances the ball 200 yards ends somewhere ordinary or somewhere expensive. Take it when the miss is fairway, fringe, light rough or a greenside bunker. Decline it when the miss is water, out of bounds or a short-sided lie that removes the next shot.
The 175 yard threshold
There is one number on a par 5 worth committing to memory. Shot Scope found that green hit percentage rises significantly once a golfer is inside 175 yards for their third shot, and that getting inside that distance is the practical target for the whole hole.
That reframes a lot of second shots. A golfer who cannot reach the green in two is not choosing between aggressive and safe, they are choosing where inside 175 yards to leave themselves. On a 520 yard hole with a 225 yard drive, anything from a 5 iron to a hybrid gets there, so the question becomes which of those clubs finds short grass most often. What stops golfers reaching that position is rarely distance. It is the poor lay up, the positional shot that leaks into the rough, and the tee shot that never gave the hole a chance.
The third shot is where the hole is actually won
Once the ball is inside 100 yards, the lie takes over. Shot Scope's numbers for short approaches on a par 5 are blunt: 40 feet average proximity from the fairway, 46 feet from the rough, 56 feet from a bunker.
They also found that 44 percent of those shots are played with a sand wedge. Nearly half of all third shots on par 5s are partial wedges, the exact shot most amateurs never practise and many actively avoid by laying back to a full number. Building that skill beats building a strategy to dodge it, and the method is in wedge distance control.
Shot Scope's own instruction for these is worth keeping: focus on the landing area rather than the pin, because a ball from the rough runs out further than one from the fairway. The technique itself is in how to pitch a golf ball.
Finishing the hole
The first putt on a par 5 is often the longest of the day, because the ball arrived from a wedge struck from further out than the golfer intended. The relevant threshold is six feet. Shot Scope's comparison of 5 and 10 handicaps has both holing around 90 percent from inside six feet, at 90 and 89 percent, and both dropping to around 40 percent from six to twelve. A 10 handicap is twice as likely to three-putt, and from inside 50 yards the 5 handicap leaves it inside six feet 42 percent of the time against 37 percent.
That five point gap producing a doubled three-putt rate tells you how much of a par 5 is settled by the last 50 yards. Lag putting is the other half of it, in putting distance control.
A decision table for the whole hole
| Situation on the tee | The play | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Open par 5, ordinary trouble | Driver, controlled swing | Distance is worth more here than on any other hole |
| Narrow with a hazard in driver range | The longest club that cannot reach it | This is the one reason to take less club |
| After a bad drive, in the trees | Sideways to the fairway | Two normal shots beat one heroic one and a reload |
| Second shot, green reachable, miss is grass | Go | Closer is better and the downside is ordinary |
| Second shot, green reachable, miss is water or out of bounds | Advance to a comfortable wedge distance | The penalty is worth more than the half shot |
| Second shot, green not reachable | Get as close as the lie allows, inside 175 yards | Proximity improves the whole way in |
| Third shot from a bad lie | Aim at the fat of the green | A 40 foot putt is a par chance and a bunker is not |
The general framework behind that table, including how to price a decision in strokes, is in golf course management. The failure mode it exists to prevent is in how to avoid big numbers.
What to practise if par 5s are costing you
Two shots do most of the damage and neither is the drive. The first is the long second shot from the turf rather than off a tee, which for most mid handicappers means how to hit a fairway wood or how to hit a hybrid.
The second is the partial wedge. Twenty balls from 50, 65 and 80 yards, twice a week, using one club and three rehearsed backswing lengths, addresses the shot that arrives on nearly half of all par 5 third shots. Give it four weeks, and score it by how many finish within a putter length rather than by how they felt.
Key takeaways
- Par 5s carry the widest scoring gap between scratch and 25 handicap golfers of any hole type, at 2.22 shots.
- Hit driver, but hit a controlled one. The hole needs a second long swing and the rough makes that much harder.
- Tracked data has proximity improving continuously as you get closer, so laying up to a favourite number costs around half a shot per hole.
- That data has two honest weaknesses: a selection effect, and no accounting for the penalty shots spent chasing the green.
- The rule that survives both is to advance the ball as far as a shot whose miss is still grass allows.
- Green hit percentage rises sharply once the third shot is inside 175 yards, which is the real target for the second shot.
- Lay up to a lie, not to a yardage. Sixty yards from short grass beats sixty yards from a downslope in rough.
- Nearly half of all third shots on par 5s are played with a sand wedge, so the partial wedge is a core par 5 skill.
Common questions
How should I play a par 5?
Hit driver off the tee with a controlled swing, then play the second shot to get as close to the green as a shot whose miss is still grass allows, ideally inside 175 yards. Play the third to the fat of the green rather than at the flag, and treat a 40 foot putt as a good outcome.
Should I go for a par 5 in two?
Go when a miss leaves you in fairway, fringe, light rough or a greenside bunker. Decline when a miss means water, out of bounds or a short-sided lie with no shot. The distance you can carry matters far less than what sits around the green.
Is laying up to a full wedge distance a good strategy?
The tracked data says no. Shot Scope found average proximity of 35 feet from 50 yards against 64 feet from 110 yards on the fairway, so the closer shot finishes nearer the hole even though it is a partial swing. The genuine version of the idea is about the lie rather than the distance: lay up to short grass, not to a number.
Why do I make big numbers on par 5s?
Because the hole asks for two long swings in a row and a mishit on either leaves 400 yards still to play. High handicaps score worst relative to par on par 5s for exactly this reason, and most of the damage arrives as a recovery attempt rather than as the mistake itself.
What club should I hit for my second shot on a par 5?
Whichever club advances the ball furthest while leaving a miss you can still play from. With the green out of reach, that usually means a hybrid or mid iron aimed at getting inside 175 yards on the fairway, rather than the longest club in the bag.
How far should I lay up on a par 5?
As close as the lie and the trouble allow. Proximity improves all the way in on tracked data, so no distance exists at which stopping short becomes an advantage. The exception is a hazard or a stretch of thick rough between you and the green, in which case stop in front of it.
Are par 5s the easiest holes in golf?
For a scratch golfer, yes. For a 25 handicap they are the hardest relative to par, because the two long shots the hole demands are the two shots that golfer controls least. Par 3s are the reverse.
Why do I three-putt so often on par 5s?
Because the first putt is usually the longest of the round. The ball arrived from a wedge played further out than intended, and proximity from 100 yards or more is measured in tens of feet. Fixing it starts with the third shot rather than the putter.
What is a good score on a par 5?
For most amateurs, par or bogey, and the hole is genuinely won by avoiding anything worse. Shot Scope's scoring data shows the gap between handicap levels on par 5s is driven far more by the size of the bad scores than by the frequency of the good ones.
On this page
- Par 5s are where the handicaps separate
- The tee shot is the least contested decision in golf
- The second shot, and the argument golf has not settled
- Should a mid handicapper ever go for it in two?
- The 175 yard threshold
- The third shot is where the hole is actually won
- Finishing the hole
- A decision table for the whole hole
- What to practise if par 5s are costing you
Tom Ashworth
Tom Ashworth is a PGA Professional who has taught golf since 2012, working mainly with beginners and mid-handicappers at club level in Surrey. He reviews the instruction guides on Learn Golf for technical accuracy before they publish.
Most of his teaching is with players in their first three years of the game, and most arrive having been told too much: six swing thoughts collected from videos, half of them contradicting each other. His approach is to check the grip and the alignment before touching the swing, on the basis that most bad ball flight is decided at address.