1st hole, PAR 3?

[killerduck]

Hey guys, here's one for ya.....

My (9 hole) home course here in Mawson Lakes, South Australia opens up with a 148 metre, un-bunkered, pretty gentle par 3 hole that seems to be REALLY hard for me to hit in reg at the moment.

Just wondering if anyone else out there has played an opening hole par 3, and what your thoughts are about it.

I don't really like it, because your tee shot has to be pretty well spot on. You can't get away with a half-hit drive, like you can on a shortish-medium length par 4 or 5. It seems like you can find yourself half a shot behind compared to other courses I play, where and ok-ish average drive will still leave you in good pozzy to hit to green.

Of course, that situation can be overcome by hitting a few warm up balls first, to get your groove on. But seriously, who could be bothered most the time??? lol

[JetFan1983]

What's your 148 meter club? You should probably hit that club with your last five or ten balls at the range. Imagine the hole when you do this. When they call you to the first tee, you'll be ready. Assuming that you go to the range first.

[mcfc_nick]

Our golf club starts with one, a 155 yard up hill with a big valley in the middle with a ditch which gathers anything 20/30 yards short of the green. at the beginning it did mess up with me as i was not comfortable with my distances when i first started and anything 20 yards long is OB so a lot of my shots when i started playing would end up down in the valley which then puts you in a bad state starting with a bogey/double which is pretty much guaranteed if you go down there. now i have it that my 7-iron will get me to the middle of the green every time and its nothing now, in fact i like having a par-3 first.

[nevets88]

I've played this one:

http://www.sandagolfclub.co.uk/course_1.php

Guess you could think of it as a long iron off the tee of a short par 4. Have never encountered on in the US yet under normal circumstances. Definitely strange though.

[Zeph]

My local 6 hole course has got a par 3 opening hole at 110 yards with 10-20 yards vertical drop. They're reorganizing the course this season, so it'll be the last instead, making a par 5 the first.

[chriskzoo]

Opening par 3? This sounds like a horrible setup for speed of play, LOL.

I played at a course once where they had an "opening" par 3, but it was really just a practice hole you could play on your way to the first tee if you wanted.

[teacherfitter]

http://www.redbridgegolfclub.com/ Opening hole a par 3 at 142yds over a deep ravine.

[burnabao]

We played here last year http://www.manorofgroves.co.uk and a group of 8 of us teed off in front of a 40-50 strong society who had finished for the day and were drinking/lunching by the first tee. Not a single one of us hit the green. Some short, long, left, right - everything. We all moved very quickly (and sheepishly) to the second tee once we'd eventually holed out. Oh the shame...!

[colin007]

never played one with an opening par 3, but theres one close by that has a par 3 for the 18th. its so anticlimactic, i hate it...

[Tiger Spuds]

The 9 hole I play on Sundays starts with a par 3, 200 yards very much uphill.Feels a lot longer than 200.The shot is a 3-iron for me, but there's no range at the course, so you're not warmed up going into it, and it's your first shot of the day, horrible.I've played it countless times and made par on maybe 10 occasions.It's a nasty way to start a round.

[Greg]

One local 9 hole course has a opening par 3, about 140-145 yards depending on where the marker is and ive played at one course that has a par 3 at the 18th at fairfield il which is very similar to the 17th at tpc sawgrass, island green and about the same distance, i think i lost like 6 balls on that hole.

[Fat Slice]

Of course, that situation can be overcome by hitting a few warm up balls first, to get your groove on. But seriously, who could be bothered most the time??? lol

For me, it's warm up or screw up the first few holes. Two rounds ago I was 9 over for the first 3 holes and finished the front 9 shooting 12 over. That's typical for me if I don't warm up.

If it's the same for you, either warm up or just accept the fact you are going to bonk on the first hole except for the times you get lucky.

[OCdude12]

I've only seen it on a couple courses. One that sticks out in my memory is Napa Valley Country Club, played there one time probably 6 or 7 years ago and I remember is starts off with a short downhill par 3, and for some reason, I also want to say you hit off a mat. Could be mistaken about the mat, long time ago, but definitely a different way of starting things.

Someone mentioned closing on a par 3 as well and the only course that does that and sticks out to me is Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz, CA. Awesome, awesome course! MacKenzie course that's semi-private, pretty expensive ($220) but you can find deals every once awhile. Normally I would say its pretty anticlimactic also, but in this case its almost nice to end on a relatively difficult par 3 (169 yds over a creek) since the rest of the course has already done a pretty good job of beating you up by that point. Its a slightly elevated tee with a hill to the side that anyone waiting for a match to finish up can watch from pretty easily. If you're a serious golfer and are in Santa Cruz, I highly recommend trying to get out there as the Monterey peninsula is about and hour drive from there and the only other golf course real close is a slow round at DeLaveaga.

[Meddle]

One of the courses I play opens with a 175 yard par 3. It's really not that hard of a hole and should be an easy par...but since that's the case it puts the pressure on when I'm up there, and I never warm up, first ball of the day is that shot. I'll hit the green maybe 1/2 the time.

[billysandy]

A par 3 opener is just not right. A par 4 opener is the only way to go.

[bucklateral]

My local course starts off w/ a par 3 on the first and second hole. The first is 150 yards uphill with the distance from the back of the green to a persons back yard at about 10 yards. The second hole is also a par 3. 90 yards downhill over trees and water.

I hated the layout at first, but it is fun w/ friends who haven't been there before. They seem to struggle with it.

[Deryck Griffith]

I personally have never played a course with an opening hole par 3. I do however frequently play a course locally that has an ending par 3 hole and it bothers me. Everything about the course is close to perfect besides ending the round on a 165 yard par 3 shot...it just isn't right to end a round that way!

[killerduck]

What's your 148 meter club? You should probably hit that club with your last five or ten balls at the range. Imagine the hole when you do this. When they call you to the first tee, you'll be ready. Assuming that you go to the range first.

Yes, that is usually my routine when I do actually warm up. Most of the time I'll only warm up before a comp round, but when I'm sneaking in a quickie I usually don't bother as anything within 5 metres of the green is pretty easy to chip close.

But get this, my average score on the first hole is 3.60, whilst my average score on the 10th hole (the same hole from a slightly different angle approach) is still 3.60. But the GIR is only 20% on the 1st, and 50% on the back. Putt ave goes from 1.60 to 2.10.