to save par

1 7.2

Finish a golf hole using the allowed number of strokes after a mistake

phrasal verb

Jargon

: salvar el par

putt to save par

Examples

And Mickelson here, trying to save par, and there's Mickelson's wife.

Life in a Day (2011)
Despite hitting his drive into the trees, he managed to save par with a great approach shot and a solid putt.
After missing the green on his second shot, he chipped close to the hole to save par on the final hole.
She was under pressure but made a clutch putt to save par on the 18th hole.

How Well

to eagle

Jargon

1 8.3

to birdie

Jargon

1 7.3

to save par

Jargon

1 7.2

to bogey

Specialized

2 8.4

to double bogey

Jargon

1 6.9

Surface Forms

save par infinitive

saved par past

saved par past participle

saving par present participle

saves par third person singular

Morphology

save + par

The meaning is directly compositional: 'save' (to prevent loss or preserve) combined with 'par' (the expected number of strokes) yields the sense 'to preserve the par score' or 'avoid taking extra strokes'. Although sport-specific vocabulary, the relation is literal and predictable from the constituents, so a learner who knows both words can infer the meaning.

Etymology

Save par comes from golf. When a player is in trouble but makes a good short shot or putt to avoid extra strokes, they save the hole's par, so save par means 'to finish a hole using the expected number of strokes'.