Choosing a Tee Box and Par 3's

[Big_M]

Anyone else play a course that would be perfect from the tips or another back tee box if the par 3's weren't frigging rediculous.

I play a course that is 6603 from the blues and 6097 from the whites, BUT the par 3's are as follows...

140...122
190...156 (tons of water everywhere)
203...165
239...220 (but this one is always moved up to about 170 from the whites)

The one on the front is pretty short, but the 190 plays completely over water to a smallish thin green (Donald Ross grees), and is always into the wind.

All I ask for is a set of tees between 6400 and 6800 that has a variety of par 3's lets say 140, 160, 180, 200.... a nice balance.

[Jay-Bird]

Those yardages don't seem abnormal at all.

My home course from the tips is 7092 yards. Par 3s are 208, 236, 192, 198. - Big greens though!
(From the green tees it's 6636 yards. Par 3s are 182, 210, 168, 183.)

[David in FL]

The only one that strikes me as unusual for a 6600 yd course being played by a single digit hcp, is the 239 yd. That's a loooonnng damn par 3! Certainly one that I wouldn't expect to hit very often.

But, given that it's only one hole out of the round, I'd prob look forward to it as a unique challenge. But then, I beat my head against brick walls for fun sometimes too.......

[Big_M]

Ok... I guess my real complaint is this... the 239 is stupid, there is a bunker that takes up half of the front of the green, and there is a spine running through the green and sometimes they put the pin behind the bunker and to the right of the spine. The green is not large, and looks like a green you should be hitting a mid to short iron into.

the 190 yarder is a difficult hole, water short and right, bunker left, and a thin green, only help is the green does have a front to back slope. Then there's the 203 which plays a club longer because it's uphill.

So basically I might hit...
140... 9-iron
190... 5-iron (4-iron if windy)
203... 2 or 3 hybrid
239... 3-wood or easy driver with a cut and it needs to land soft.

I just think they need to redo the tee boxes on a few of these holes and stretch out some of the par 5's, 2 of which are crazy short (with little trouble), and one which is quite long (with lots of trouble).

[glebert]

Maybe you shouldn't expect to par every hole

[KwSipp]

You cant go along the game and think yardage is your disadvantage....especially from a level lie tee box... I can understand a 490 yrd par 4 with ueven lie through out the whole fairway but not something thats given ..... if you cant hit those greens then go at it at the range and come up to that hole with more confidence..say 239 is your 3wood or 5 wood or for some maybe 2iron or 3iron.....learn how to hit straight shots and trust your yardage more and maybe youll learn to love those holes more than the short wedge 3's.

[M2R]

Yea I see this quite a bit, the guys I play with just treat the par 3s separately and agree on a mixed set of tees that makes sense to us.

For the two course near here with this issue it's SOP by now and we don't even go through the discussion anymore. The USGA publishes a chart for adjusting the slope and rating accordingly.

Couldn't you basically do the same?

140... vs 140.
...156 vs 160.
203... vs 200.
...170 from the whites) vs 180 (but sounds plenty interesting at 170)

[Dub]

Those do sound like some very....very....tough holes.

190 all carry over wet stuff and to a thin green.....ouch.


239 with a penal bunker in front......ouch.


I used to gripe about our island green....from the whites it plays anywhere from an 8iron to a 4hybrid....depending on which tee box they put the whites and where the pin is, although I basically aim for the center of the green regardless.

I feel for you. Tough par 3s can really beat up your scorecard badly.

[lumpuckeroo]

When my friends and I play a course for the first time, a lot of times base what tees we play from on the lenght of the Par 3's. So I can see your issue, I would suggest one of two options, play a mixed set of tees or play as is and come up with a solution to playing the tough holes.

In the US Open that Billy Casper won they had a really hard and long Par 3, all four days he played it like a par 4, he hit short of the green, chipped up, and putted. He made 4 pars when the rest of the field was way over par, maybe that strategy would work for you.

[goblue107501]

If I play a new course I look more at the par 4's. For the longer ones I think that if I hit a good drive what will my second shot be. If the course has 3 or 4 really long par 4's I might look at moving up a box. At the courses I have played, par 3's distances are capped at 220-230, at least for most non-tour courses. While I know I won't play these holes well, the distance isn't all that bad to me. I'll just take my medicine and move on. Usually, if there are long par 3's there is only one that is outrageous and the other 3 or 4 will be within a comfortable distance for me.

[DJYoshi]

there's a few courses I play with long and dangerous par 3's.
check them out
highbridge hills
patriot hills
berkshire valley (the hardest par 3's put together i'd say. most are over hazards, or you spray.. right or left....your ball is gone...and not even a big spray... like a 20 yard miss is real trouble)

and the course with my favorite par 3's all are 180+ except for 1 that's only 155 surrounded by water - Farmstead

[GaijinGolfer]

Those arent bad par 3 yardages at all. The course I play on is a par 3 course and all the holes range from 120-250 yards, with green that are guarded by bunkers and water and often are very shallow greens that slope either towards or away from you, requiring precise shots.

[flopdarock]

par3's at my home course... from the tips
#4-208 you basically carry water from the edge of the front tees... to the edge of the green
#8-230 water along the left side with a left front bunker usually guarding the pin
#13-213 my fav hole of the whole course... water along the left side of teebox's... giant lake on the right side of green... 2 bunkers... one in front and one on the lake side
#16-200 this hole sucks cuz it seems soooo close... optical illusion... forced carry over water... elevated green... if you dont hit the green... catch the fringe... your ball is swimming... there is a drop area next to the cartpath at the base of the hill that you basically must flop or ball gets wet

[glebert]

Man, I am glad I don't play at some of these courses!

[RC]

Par 3s... can be the signature of a course. The course I'm playing the most has the following (if you go long on any of them, forget par, make sure double is the most you make):

First one: 207 yards uphill to a devilish green with 3 putts (or more) almost the norm. A good play is into the front side right bunker and go for the sand shot -- you will make par about as often as hitting the green. Two club deep green

Second one: 177 to green with a horse shoe of water on three sides, usually into the wind. I double this one a lot. Four club deep green. Short with a chip is not too bad, at least you make 4, maybe 3.

Third one: 170 with huge deep bunker in front, and if you go over, it is the end of the world -- straight down a steep hill into deep woods. Two club deep green. Killer when downwind. Best to be good at deep bunker sand shots where you can't even see the landing area.

Fourth one: 208 uphill with a huge slope to the right. Misses are bogeys unless you get lucky -- huge contours and mounds. Three club deep green.

I used to play a Par 3 at 253 yards to an elevated green aligned into the prevailing wind. This hole was in a quarry, so if you hit it high, the wind would really affect the shot. You never were really certain what the best club was. I would remember the days of the one iron... that would have been the right club.

For me, the par 3s pretty much determine the round.