260 yard par 3

[FLOG4]

http://www.theinternational.com/club/scripts/golf/view_course.asp?GRP=8211&NS;=PG&APP;=32&CID;=27

Check out the score card of The International.....From The Tiger Tees there are two par 3's at 270 or more......And these tees have been in existence for over 20 years.[prior to the Woods Tiger]  I had the good fortune to play here on the Tiger Tees.  At the time it was the longest course in the world.  I've played many others of distances similar but never longer.  Many courses have a really long single par 3.  BUT The International has 3 where driver may be your weapon of choice for mere mortals.....And even if they stretch the hole this post speaks of to 290.....Who cares. They are all playing the same hole.  Make the big boys hit a driver.  Bring a little head game action to the mighty. And for New England travelers The International is open to public now if you stay at their lodge. It's a fabulous place.  You have to get special permission to tour the Tiger Tees though.....

[Deryck Griffith]

I highly doubt that par 3 will be stretched out to 260 all 4 days; however,  the day (or days) that it's stretched to 260, there will be no wind or a tailwind in which case, they'll be hitting hybrids and 3 irons....

What's the big deal?

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Paradox

I reiterate that its not THIS hole in particular that I think is ridiculous...I just think that the length that some holes are becoming is getting to be ridiculous...Whats next..a 600 yard par 4?  A 700 yard par 5?  The thing that gets me about the increased distance is that they give the pro's these large fairways to hit into and never seem to narrow them down.  Give them a 15 yard fairway with deep rough on either side and see how hard that is.  Keep fairways soft so they don't get 50 yards of roll-out.  Move trees closer to the edges of fairways so that players will have to bail out if they miss the fairway.  Thats the kind of thing I find interesting..precision..not pounding the ball a long way.

I agree.  These guys are supposed to be good.  Let's see some of that talent.  I'd like to see some shot making come back into the game.  Put them in situations where they have to work the ball left, right, high, low - let's see how good they really are.  15 yard fairway is a bit tight, but 40 yards is a joke.  If putting a fairway bunker at 280 yards isn't enough, then instead of moving the tees back, lengthen the bunker, or add more bunkers farther out so that they can't automatically carry them.   graduate the depth of the rough so that it's more playable at 280 than it is at 310 from the tee.  Create risk to balance the reward.

There are way to make courses play harder without being totally tricked up, and ways to test the ability of the players without torturing them.  Length alone just isn't fun to watch.

[TheRichie]

what club would you use for a par 3 176yard?

only asking because the last few rounds i been trying and failing using my 4/5i but today i chosse to hit my 7i as i was hitting it really well and landed on the green for a 20ft putt granted i 3 putted for 4 tho :(

[Callahan14]

Originally Posted by TheRichie

what club would you use for a par 3 176yard?

only asking because the last few rounds i been trying and failing using my 4/5i but today i chosse to hit my 7i as i was hitting it really well and landed on the green for a 20ft putt granted i 3 putted for 4 tho :(

Depending on the wind and the weather, Usually 6 or a 7 iron, sometimes I might use a 5 if the wind is in my face.

[TheRichie]

Originally Posted by Callahan14

Depending on the wind and the weather, Usually 6 or a 7 iron, sometimes I might use a 5 if the wind is in my face.

very slight breeze across the hole

[senorchipotle]

Originally Posted by TheRichie

what club would you use for a par 3 176yard?

only asking because the last few rounds i been trying and failing using my 4/5i but today i chosse to hit my 7i as i was hitting it really well and landed on the green for a 20ft putt granted i 3 putted for 4 tho :(

7, 8, or 9. with no wind on flat groud, i hit my 8i 175. so depending on the wind/elevation i'll club up/down. but in tx, there's often a 2 club wind and the occasional 3 club wind.

[Callahan14]

Originally Posted by TheRichie

very slight breeze across the hole

7 Iron.

[iacas]

What does a 176-yard par three have to do with the topic?

[trackster]

Originally Posted by iacas

What does a 176-yard par three have to do with the topic?

I was thinking the same thing, but people will never miss a chance to say how far they hit their clubs.

[senorchipotle]

Originally Posted by trackster

I was thinking the same thing, but people will never miss a chance to say how far they hit their clubs.

[ghalfaire]

I read a most of the comments.  Interesting discussion.  I like the idea of giving Fred Funk and Tom Kite more of a chance to win by not mostly using length to increase  the difficulty of a course.  The initial hole discussed, a 260 yard par 3, pretty much takes birdie out of the equation for the shorter drivers on tour.  I would prefer to see many of the other options used more often, like water, bunkers, thicker rough, narrow fairway, or hole position.  Things that require more thought and precision as opposed to power.  But I recognize that given today's equipment and touring PGA players' skills that a short course is probably defenseless so 7000+ yards for the pros is probably necessary.  I don't really have a problem with a 260 yard Par 3 for the Touring Pros, but I'd rather see a well guarded 320 yard Par 4.

Since we all measure our performance against Par and most of us cannot hit a driver 260 yards let alone a 4 iron (yea yea I know most of you on TST hit it over 300 yards),  it would be nice to stand on the tee thinking if you make a good shot you have a chance at Par or even birdie.   So hopefully the course designers have included in the course design several shorter tee boxes for us normal humans and we can enjoy the game too.

[Leftygolfer]

Length doesn't make a golf course hard for the pros.  Fast hard greens, long thick rough around the greens and fairways.  A softer course plays into the long players and makes courses easier for them.  If it is just throwing darts with no roll, it is perfect for scoring.  On fast fairways all the players are going to drive it over 300 and you have to be able to move the ball in both directions to hold fairways on the doglegs or against the slopes when it lands.  Hard greens makes making birdies really hard.  If you have to play for 15 feet bounce on the green with a short iron, and the pin is tucked, your making a bomb to make birdie.  You just can't get at the pin.

To get to the level of an elite player, you are long.  Some of the old guys aren't super long, but they can get around the course just fine hitting longer irons into 4s, taking advantage of the shorter holes and 5s with wedges, and holding on and making pars on the killers.  I just don't see any young players that is great at that level and not long.  Maybe that one kid from Italy, but besides that, they kill it.  Maybe he was a legend in his past life.  But 99% of good young kids can kill it.  It is hard to compete at big AM tourneys if you can't.