627yds/par 5. Is this normal?

Big match play tourney in Spain this weekend. Almost 7300 yds. Seems like par should be about 82. I'm pulling for Poulter.

On tour it's long, but not unheard of.

Heck, there courses on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama that have two 600 yard-plus holes on the front nine.  One of the courses - the Judge - which has three holes measuring over 600 yards.  One of those holes is 711 yards long.

LOL....

I bet there are still a handful of guys that will reach it in two if the conditions are right....

Tour pros play a COMPLETELY different game from the rest of us mere mortals.  They are STUPID long and STUPID good in every facet of their game.

To put it into context, I've got a buddy who plays to about a +1  and struggles to make cuts on the mini tours.

Having said that, even a relatively short hitting single digit player like me will be able to get there in regulation unless there's something goofy about the conditions that day.  I'm not going to be making many birdies, but I'd still expect to par it more often than not...

....course my expectations don't necessarily always match reality either.

The second hole at the TPC at Avenel (former Kemper Open site) played about 620 yards.  I saw Phil Mickelson drive a ball about 320 yards and then put the ball hole high on his second shot with a 3 wood.  Daly had no issues reaching that green either.  And this was in the mid 1990's.

Dang, Rory would be on in two...but then three putt for par.

Yup.

Who said it?  They play a game with which I am COMPLETELY unfamiliar!

I believe the original quote was by Bobby Jones referring to young Jack Nicklaus.

I was told there was some 600+ yard hole in arkansas that played as a par 6. Do these holes you guys are talking about play as a par 6 or par 5?

The ones on the Trail are par fives... even the 711 yard monster.

At the Shoals on Fighting Joe, there's a 716 yarder.  Haven't played there, but I have played the Judge.

Meadow Farms in Fredricksburg, VA has an 800+ yard par 6.  Pretty stupid hole if you ask me.  Had two forced layups.  More of a gimmick than anything.

The ones they are talking about, I assume, play as par 5's.  They aren't all that uncommon anymore.  There are 2 courses down the street from me right now Talega and Bella Colina (San Clemente, CA) that both have 600+ yd par 5's.  Additionally, both of them have hazards crossing the fairway such that you cannot hit driver off the tee.  To top it off, the Talega one plays uphill.  The BC one has a pretty big drop from tee to green.  The one time I played it I went 3h, 3h and was 100 yds out for my third.

Lots of pro courses are set up with a Par 5 in the 600+ yard range. They want to have at least one true three-shot hole on the course.

When I was stationed in Okinawa in the military, we had one Par 5 on the Kadena AB course which measured about 618 yards. The trick: This part of the course had volcanic rock underneath the fairway, so a draw drive into the slope-sided fairway would run 320 yards even for mere mortals.

Short course. Here is one with more reasonable length: http://www.kimigolf.com/china/Jade-Dragon/Jade-Mountain-Sonw-Dragon-E.htm

Basic math suggests that something like 620 yard is pretty reasonable. Driver:250 3 wood 220 and 5 iron for 150 yards. Those are pretty low numbers for anyone who is playing a 7300 yard course. Put in tour numbers of  290 yard drive and a 250 yard 3 wood and it is just a little wedge shot to the green.

Short course?  That place is 10,000 ft above sea level.  Fighting Joe and The Judge are roughly 9,000 feet closer to sea level.

That place is a pitch and putt.

I almost played talega about a week ago. Now I think I have to or Bella Colina. I will look up where they are. I just want to play one that long. I would bet I shoot better on those than I would on most 500 yard holes because I know Im not going for it in 2 and it will force me to lay up where right now I always try and crush the ball on both swings to get there in 2. Yesterday I did it but it was with my provisional ball :(

I grew up in Akron Ohio & the main course there is Firestone. Everyone knows about 'The Monster' hole #16, which for years was a 625y par 5. I mean, going back to the 1960s it played at that length. And for years it was legend that nobody ever got home in two - not the tours pros, nobody. But in recent years the pros can get there in 2. It plays downhill & it's not unusual for pros to get close to 400y drives off the tee with today's equipment. Now it plays 667y...and some pros can still get home in 2.