Question

A golfer was at par before the final holes of a golf course. During the final holes she got the following scores: under par, over par, under par, par, and over par. A number under par is negative, a number over par is positive, and par would count as . Was the golfer under or over par by the end of the course, and by how many strokes?

Answer 1

Note that it is given that a number under par represents a negative number, a number over par represents a positive number and a par represent 0.

For the first hole with 1 under par, the score will be -1.

For the second hole with 3 over par, the score will be +3.

For the third hole with 2 under par, the score is -2.

The fourth hole with a par is equivalent to a score of 0.

While the fifth hole with 3 over par, the score will be +3.

To calculate the total score of the golfer at the end of the course, find the sum of the scores from each final 5 holes noting that the golfer was at par (0 score) before the final 5 holes.

The total score is:

`\begin{gathered} -1+(+3)+(-2)+0+(+3)_{}_{} \\ =-1+3-2+0+3 \\ =+3 \end{gathered}`

It follows that since a positive number means over par, the golfer was over par with 3 strokes at the end of the golf course.

Hence, the correct option is the third option.