Laying up on Par threes?

[sean_miller]

I havent ever layed up on a par 3. The longest one i have ever face that i can remember was a 215 yard par 3 slightly down hill. Hit my 5iron and was about a yard short of the fringe. Chipped it close and putted for par. I really cant think of any situation where i would lay up on a par 3.

The longest par 3 you've ever faced was 215? Are you playing from the red tees?

Regarding the bold part (I added emphasis): That's what other people are talking about too. They feel confident that coming up short (or bailing out) will leave an easy up and down. People should play their own game.

[walk18]

Nike, a wedge from 120 is most certainly not as easy to mishit as a 200+ hybrid. You're having to hit it twice as far!

[Bullitt5339]

There's one Par 3 on my home course that I have been laying up on lately. It's 200 yards, green sloped toward the front, deep bunker and ravine on the left, trees to the right. Tee shot is over a pond. I have hit way too many shots that have went over the back of the green, and then you've got uphill to the green, and severe downhill to the pin. I've learned over the past year that short is always better on that hole than long. I hit my 7 Wood and I'll be close, but there's no way I can hit over the green with it. So I end up with a pretty easy chip usually.

[GaijinGolfer]

If its a 200+ yard par 3 and there is trouble (especially if you go over the green), I will lay up. Having a little chip onto the green is better than trying to hit a flop shot out of the jungle or worse, ended up in the drink.

[nike_golf]

Nike, a wedge from 120 is most certainly not as easy to mishit as a 200+ hybrid. You're having to hit it twice as far!

Well, just by the fact that more can go wrong (ball fades/draws too much, etc) over a larger distance, I will agree w/ that statement. However, I don't believe in approaching a long Par 3 thinking that way.

"Oh, I better lay up so I can have an easy pitch. Too much can go wrong hitting it 200+ yards." - That's just not me. I don't know. Like I said, I'm just relaying what's going on in my head when I come to a tough par 3. I'm certainly not saying I'm right and everyone else who disagrees w/ me is wrong. Sorry if I came across that way.

[oneoverwrx]

The longest par 3 you've ever faced was 215? Are you playing from the red tees?

the hole i am talking about is hole 12 at gibson bay. The tees go like this...black, blue, white, and gold/red(not sure) Any way on 12 when the blacks are all the way back it is 225, everytime i have played the blacks it has been at 215. I usually play the blues as it is where i play when Im in a tournament here. Also...the guys i play with are probably 20-30 handicaps and playing from the tips would be torture for me and them both.

As far as having a short wedge in to a green 60yds and in.....i would personally rather hit from sand and would definately rather a greenside chip shot. To each his own.

[2bGood]

I have not ever seen a par 3 that made me seriously think about laying up, but I'd do it if necessary. Toughest I played was pretty simple, 190yd carry over water that was short/left...with right to left wind. I thought about maybe laying up to the right as my miss is left with irons, but I just started it right and figured I'd deal with consequences. Only holes with water would make me want to lay up, anything else I'd figure getting up/down from sand or a bad spot was worth the risk, versus being sure that I'd have to get up/down to par.

you of course mean water

or OB . The only way to get par after going ob is to jar it from the tee box on shot #2

[2bGood]

I havent ever layed up on a par 3. The longest one i have ever face that i can remember was a 215 yard par 3 slightly down hill. Hit my 5iron and was about a yard short of the fringe. Chipped it close and putted for par. I really cant think of any situation where i would lay up on a par 3. I hit every shot with purpose and the beliefe it will do what i need it to.

I read this to mean - 'Every one should go for it everytime'. The best golfers in the world, lay up all the time. I guess it comes down to wether you are trying to hit the best shots you can or shoot the best score you can.

[McGolf-Doggie]

Did tonight on a beyotch of a 228 par 3. And enjoyed the heck out of the par, but then I would, given my HC.

I'll do it on those well-defended holes sometimes, but not always. For me it also depends which clubs I'm hitting well for a certain distance and type of shot.

For instance if I am dodgy with the 3W but the 4W is going well, then I'll do like tonight:

Put the 4W (new hand-me-down club I've been hitting straight since I got it) on the apron, fluffy lie wedge to a few feet, and 1 putt.

Loved that outcome on a relatively well defended hole that's often a bogey or worse if I try 3W to the green.

Another 220 hole with a steeply sloping right to left green is completely guarded by a bunker in front, OB and nastiness to the right.

Only entrance is from the left. A layup to the left side, short or even with the green may find light rough, but it can yield a much more makeable uphill putt if the wedge or bump and run is even halfway decent. Downhill or sidehill putts on this green can be devastating.

[James_Black]

I read this to mean - 'Every one should go for it everytime'. The best golfers in the world, lay up all the time. I guess it comes down to wether you are trying to hit the best shots you can or shoot the best score you can.

The pro's lay up because if they mess up they could miss the cut and lose a lot of money.

If there was nothing on the line and they were just playing for fun like 99% of golfers, they'd go for every green.

[2bGood]

The pro's lay up because if they mess up they could miss the cut and lose a lot of money.

I play for "fun" but I also play for low score, small bets etc. I am not saying I lay up everytime, but if the situation is warrents it I do consider it.

Of course the other day I was 245 out after a great drive on a par five. My shot was into the wind over water with a 235yrd carry and bunkers everywhere a green wasn't. Smart play was lay up, but with no money on the line and with only a few hole left I knew I wasn't going to do anything historic as far my score went, so I went for it - hell I would remember an eagle. ...I should have layed up, but I was 2 yards away from pulling it off.

[bplewis24]

If there was nothing on the line and they were just playing for fun like 99% of golfers, they'd go for every green.

I doubt this, although we have no way to prove it. Some people would still care about their score. Besides, I've seen guys lay up on a Sunday when out of contention and the money differences at those spots being relatively negligible amounts.

Brandon

[golfro]

hey remember when iacas posted that thread about what course management really means?

yeah...that applies here. If you don't think your strongest feat is hitting long par 3's, then lay up. If you are like nike_golf...and my self at times... then go for it.

I don't stupidly go for it every time but a par 3 is an excellent birdie chance. When I step up to the tee box, I have all the confidence to hit the shot I'm envisioning. With that mentality, I do most times go for it. Sure sometimes it comes with a cost but thats the name of the game...

I don't blame nike_golf for saying go for it every time. It's the same mentality I had when I was younger. I still carry that mentality with me and it does sometimes bite me in the ass, but again, I carry the confidence with me to go for it.

I once hit a driver on a 270 yard par 4 when everyone said I was stupid. I got it on the green.

A couple weeks back, there was a 320 yard par 4, all down hill, easily can make it with a driver with some good bounce. I was 20 yards short, but the 20 yard chip was a hell of a lot better than a 100 yard approach shot.

Anyway, point being, sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't...but i play golf for those rounds with hopes that it does pay off. its what makes this game fun for me.

[Leftygolfer]

It seems perfectly reasonable particularly if the wind is really blowing and you just don't feel good about the shot. As a mid capper, courses that have big par 3s I will play one up so it may be 210. For me, that is a really long way to hit a three iron and I could bomb it over with a three wood. My big miss is right and if there is serious trouble right, then if it makes sense, I will take the best chance of making a par and that might be a club that I can't get on the green with.


I find scoring more enjoyable than hitting the one career shot that I have one in 10 chance of pulling off.

And par threes are great birdie chances?? I'd say they are statistically the worst for good players.

[sean_miller]

It seems perfectly reasonable particularly if the wind is really blowing and you just don't feel good about the shot. As a mid capper, courses that have big par 3s I will play one up so it may be 210. For me, that is a really long way to hit a three iron and I could bomb it over with a three wood. My big miss is right and if there is serious trouble right, then if it makes sense, I will take the best chance of making a par and that might be a club that I can't get on the green with.

I'd say most of my birdies are 4s, then 3s. I get a 2 the least. Then again, I'm not that good, and the last par 3 birdie I got was a chip in.

[allin]

If a course has par 3s requiring over 210 yard carry, I ask myself if I am playing the right set of tees? I do play one course with a par 3 from an elevated tee that often plays into a strong wind in the fall. There is water 15-20 yards short of the Green. From my tee it is only 195 to carry the water, with the down hill plays about 180-185. But in the wind? steep hill to the left, worse to the right. I will lay up short of the water, basically it is 8 or 9iron and a full wedge played this way. If you put it to close to the water the ball will plug, so if I lay up I really lay up even though it plays about 165 or a bit less to the water.

[mdl]

I don't know how the R&A; affiliated clubs do it, but USGA clubs have 18hcp as the one where a bogey golfer least likely needs a shot from a scratch golfer. One of the toughest holes at my home course is a par-3, #18hcp. I've seen low-single digit handicap players produce double bogeys there.

You talking about 16 at Rancho? That hole definitely can bite you. There's usually a full or almost full club on-shore wind behind you, so it's usually a 7i for me, so if I'm swinging well that day it is indeed one of the easiest holes, and definitely the easiest par 3, but when the flag's in the right green (hole has two equally used greens, almost identical distance), a mishit can kill you.

I've over-drawn a ball into the very steep down-slope just left of the green when they're letting the rough grow deep there, was too scared to commit to swinging a bit hard cause of the trees, dirt, and pine needles just over the green, didn't get the chip up out of the grass much, chipped again this time to the far fringe, then 3 putted. Makes you feel dumb when on a good day that's a whole you expect to par... As to OP, I'm not smart/good enough to do this, though I might consider it next time on number 8 at that same course. It's 190/215 from mid/back tees. I play mids on my own but will play back tees if the rest of the group is. From the back it's a 2h for me, and the greens pretty thin unless the pin's in the back. A 6i towards the right edge of the green leaves a slightly uphill up-and-down opportunity. Maybe I'll try that next time I'm out and my 4i/2h aren't going super straight that day..

[Joeyvee]

This is a great idea and I've taken it one step further. I'm kinda new to playing regularly and I make BAD decisions that probably cost me a dozen strokes a round. One of them is aiming for the pin on par 3's. I may get lucky, but probably wont. If I looked at my last few scoercards most of them have a lot of doubles and triples on them. And VERY frequently do I double or triple a par 3. They're starting to make me nervous now. I'm going to learn to lay up on them and get up and down which I'm getting good at.
Here's something I just thought of.
I'm going to play my next round laying up on EVERY hole when I'm more than say 100 yards out. Anything longer than that and I can be left, right long or short pretty easily. New clubs too. What I think this will teach me is to always look to lay up on every hole. I bet my next round is closer to 95 then 105.

Thanks for the post.

There is the 10th hole at Coral Creek here and it's a par 3 ( http://coralcreekgolfhawaii.com/CC.nsf/Hole10 ) and I layed up by accident one time and picked up 4 skins from the two 5 handicappers I was playing with. They both went right for the pin and found major trouble while I chipped it close and putted for par.