The Demise of the Short Par Three

[ApocG10]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

I see it.

Ya, it was the post before that I originally put it in. The last post, I finally got it to work. Either way, its a great little hole.

[carrx]

I generally rate a course's "difficulty" by the makeup of the par-3 holes.  From the correct tees, most courses usually set up in similar fashion from the par-4s:  Driver (or fairway wood), short iron, occasionally a long iron/mid iron if there are particular hazards in play.  Similarly the par-5 holes are usually similar:  Driver/Wood (going for it) or Driver/Mid Iron/Short Iron (layup).  But the par-3 holes are where you can't hide a mediocre swing behind above average distance off the tee.

That being said, I agree that there needs to be more variety on the par-3 holes.  When a course has 4 par-3s that require 4 iron tee shots, it's monotonous.  Ideally, you'd get to hit a variety of shots, a scoring club on one hole, a long iron on another, maybe even a hybrid or fairway wood for a challenging test.  After all, they can't all be birdie holes!

[allin]

Granted that one long par 3 per round is a good idea, we all understand separating the best from we hackers. I also think fronting long par 3s with sand or water is getting more common. It makes these holes almost unplayable for women and seniors. One course I play has a 175 yard carry over water to the front into the prevailing wind, grass mounds with rough surround it, long left is a hill, shallow bunker on the right. This is the white tees, the back tees have a 215 yard carry. The green is crowned. On windy days I am now laying up short of the water with an 8 or 9 and hitting a LW. I par it 20 to 30 % of the time this way. Without the water I would double that. I believe better players hit a fade since the greenside bunker isn't much of a penalty. I play with only one person who gets a par more than 50% of the time but he carries his 5 iron 190 - 195 yards, 3 215 - 220. He says that from the back in the wind he intentionally puts it in the bunker. How is this fun?

[Topper]

Originally Posted by iacas

Because even on the PGA Tour - or especially on the PGA Tour - par threes have gotten looooooong. They've probably gotten long at your local course too.

It's getting old.

+1  Shorter par 3s that are well protected or at least make you think about going after the pin or bailing out somewhere else on the green are really fun.  Once the par 3 gets long, it's more of a just hit it and hope for the best.  I'm just not accurate enough at long range to do anything else.

[iacas]

I just wanted to point out that one of the more interesting holes at Olympic in the third round is the 15th, which they moved up to 107 yards today. Johnny Miller said most guys will hit it 20 feet over the hole.

[Mattplusness]

I can think of a few holes around here that are 240 yard par 3's.

That's just crazy. I need to take my second longest club to what should be one of the shortest holes.

Nuts!

[ghalfaire]

The course I play a lot in Summer has 5 par 3 holes and 3 of them are over 200 yards.  But the most difficult one to par is the shortest (about 130 yards).  Well protected with bunkers and there is not an easy putt on the green no matter where the pin is located due to the way it is contoured.

[wolfsburg2]

A long par 3 is basically the same as a Big drive plus a wood into a green on a par 5. THe difference is on the par 5 you are rewarded with an eagle. 225 yard par 3s aren't fair to a golfer.