Par 3 Finishing Hole

[disco111]

Personally, I dislike a finishing hole (front or back) being a par 3. Don't really know why, I just do. Opinions............

[bradsul]

I can't say I've given it much thought.  But I'm a sucker for a good par 3 so that may be why.  I'm curious to hear why people might not like it.

[Silent]

I like a good risk/reward hole to be the 18th. Whether that's a reachable par 5 with water in play, or a par 3 surrounded by green-side bunkers and a difficult pin position I don't really care.

[dbuck]

A good hole is a good hole.

That said, a par three 18th is not my favorite, though I don't mind a par three ninth as much. I play a course sometimes with a par three ninth, but the course does not come back to the clubhouse at the ninth, so you don't notice it as much.

As far as watching a championship event, I prefer a par four or five finish.

[FaldosEgo]

Not sure I've even seen a par 3 18th.

[Silent]

Not sure I've even seen a par 3 18th.

The Tour Championship finishes with a par 3....

[Golfingdad]

The Tour Championship finishes with a par 3....

The US Open at Congressional used to finish with a Par 3 as well.

And, if memory serves, the Greenbrier course that they play at every year also finishes on a Par 3.

And not that it's ever been the site of a PGA tournament, but Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz, which is always on the lists of best golf courses, finishes on a Par 3.

I have no problem with it at all.  I really have no opinion on the topic, except if I was forced to make one, I'd probably be devils advocate and argue that par 3's as finishing holes can be very exciting - even more so than the 10th or 11th par 4 of the day. ;)

[Tgb02]

Prefer the 18th to be a challenging par 4 or a risk/reward reachable par 5, course I played yesterday had a 490 yard par 5 but a giant ditch 280 off your tee shot and if you hit it a good 265 then it would more then likely roll down into the ditch so you had to play it careful but loved the hole.

[Dave2512]

Par 3's are hard and IMO would be a bummer finishing hole. Almost certain bogey for me. I dread par 3's anywhere on the course. But for pros yeah bring it.

[Chilli Dipper]

I have three separate opinions on the topic. 1. As a recreational player, I don't like feeling beaten up by a finishing hole. There is a tendency for 18th holes to be long, uphill hikes back to the clubhouse, and holes like those are rarely fun for a player of my ability. I may not finish with a par on a par-3 finishing hole, but I won't feel emasculated by it, either, so it's something that I wouldn't mind seeing more often. 2. A par 3 would provide a dramatic finish for match play, which granted, isn't often seen in professional competition. For match play, I wouldn't want to save my course's signature hole for last, because the majority of matches would never reach it. For the few that do go the distance, I'd prefer a stage where one shot determines the outcome. 3. In stroke play tournaments, par 3s just don't produce the variance in scores to provide for big swings that can affect the outcome on the 72nd hole. A good tee shot can set up a birdie; barring a big mistake, a pro will walk away with bogey at worst; but most players will just make par. There's not much room to make a move for the lead. Also an issue for tournament play is potential issues with crowd control if the 17th and 18th greens are too close to one another. Congressional reversed its old 18th hole and re-routed it as the 10th, less because it didn't want to finish on a par 3, and more because the 18th green was only a few yards across a pond from the 17th, meaning the crowds could take in (and react to) approaches on both holes, which bothered the players on the 18th green during the 1997 U.S. Open.

[Golfingdad]

I have three separate opinions on the topic.

1. As a recreational player, I don't like feeling beaten up by a finishing hole. There is a tendency for 18th holes to be long, uphill hikes back to the clubhouse, and holes like those are rarely fun for a player of my ability. I may not finish with a par on a par-3 finishing hole, but I won't feel emasculated by it, either, so it's something that I wouldn't mind seeing more often.

2. A par 3 would provide a dramatic finish for match play, which granted, isn't often seen in professional competition. For match play, I wouldn't want to save my course's signature hole for last, because the majority of matches would never reach it. For the few that do go the distance, I'd prefer a stage where one shot determines the outcome.

3. In stroke play tournaments, par 3s just don't produce the variance in scores to provide for big swings that can affect the outcome on the 72nd hole. A good tee shot can set up a birdie; barring a big mistake, a pro will walk away with bogey at worst; but most players will just make par. There's not much room to make a move for the lead.

Also an issue for tournament play is potential issues with crowd control if the 17th and 18th greens are too close to one another. Congressional reversed its old 18th hole and re-routed it as the 10th, less because it didn't want to finish on a par 3, and more because the 18th green was only a few yards across a pond from the 17th, meaning the crowds could take in (and react to) approaches on both holes, which bothered the players on the 18th green during the 1997 U.S. Open.

Good post ... and interesting tidbit regarding Congressional - I did not know that.

EDIT:  I knew of the change, but not the reason why.

[ghalfaire]

I don't have any strong feelings about this one way or the other.  I do think a well designed Par 3 requires 3 good shots to score a par and can really penalize a marginal shot making par close to impossible.  I have played courses with both finishing and starting par 3 holes.  Again if well designed, and I don't mean long necessarily, they can be a challenge.

[mdl]

Well I like short par 5s to finish cause my +/- hole average on par 5s is significantly lower than for par 4s or par 3s :-)  Then I prefer par 4s cause my +/- is a bit lower for par 4s than par 3s.

Basically I prefer to feel like at least I'm finishing strong (after a full round that's inevitably disappointing from a scoring point of  view) rather than losing strokes on the last hole!  But this isn't a super strong preference.  If it's a good course and the 18th is a fun to play par 3 I'm fine with that.

[Spitfisher]

For the 18th I like either the toughest Par 5, with a High inprobability of reaching in two, or a tough par four where it's driver and mid to long iron to get home in two. It's the finishing hole, it should take either 3 great shots in a par 5 or two great shots on a par 4 for a decent chance at par or birdie. In addition the 17th should also be one of the toughest, be it a challenging par 4 or 175-220 yard par 3 This is where the game is settled and matches can be won or losted, it also keeps golfers coming back for more. IMO

[Chilli Dipper]

For the 18th I like either the toughest Par 5, with a High inprobability of reaching in two, or a tough par four where it's driver and mid to long iron to get home in two. It's the finishing hole, it should take either 3 great shots in a par 5 or two great shots on a par 4 for a decent chance at par or birdie. In addition the 17th should also be one of the toughest, be it a challenging par 4 or 175-220 yard par 3 This is where the game is settled and matches can be won or losted, it also keeps golfers coming back for more. IMO

I absolutely would not be coming back for more from a course that eats my lunch before I can make it back to the clubhouse.

[14ledo81]

Would rather not see a par 3 on the 18th, but the 9th would not bother me.

[Spitfisher]

I absolutely would not be coming back for more from a course that eats my lunch before I can make it back to the clubhouse.

But what if you made par, or just missed par on the final hole which plays tough and is a par 5. IMO a great finishing hole is where great shots have to occur, some course assessment, risk reward and decision making, like pretend the match is square between you and your buddies. How will you play the hole to win or not lose.

[Chilli Dipper]

But what if you made par, or just missed par on the final hole which plays tough and is a par 5. IMO a great finishing hole is where great shots have to occur, some course assessment, risk reward and decision making, like pretend the match is square between you and your buddies. How will you play the hole to win or not lose.

The way you said that sort of proves my point. When you reach the hole that separates the men from the boys, you shouldn't have to pretend there's something on the line; if it's the 18th, when it's as likely as not a match is already wrapped up by then, that's an example of poor routing. The broader point is, I don't see any reason why a course [i]shouldn't[/i] necessarily finish on a par 3, besides it not providing a suitably volatile setting for tournament play. This is a case where the game has come to cater to the top percent of golfers over the lower 99, so I'm not inclined to say it's a terrible idea.