Par 3 Finishing Holes

[Rick Shefchik]

Purely from an enjoyment standpoint, the idea of a par-3 finishing hole is a good one. The usual formula is a 5-3-4 or 3-5-4, with the finishing 4 being a heroic 450+ with a diabolical green. Nothing wrong with that; I like a challenge as well as anyone, but I also like feeling good about myself (or at least neutral) after finishing a round, and those par-four maneaters are designed to do just the opposite.

My favorite finishing hole in America is the par-3, 167-yard 18th at Hollydale in Plymouth, Minn. I've played it twice; the last time was a qualifying round for the Minn. State Amateur. I knew I was going to miss the cut, but soldiering on to the end, I made a good swing with a six-iron and knocked it into the hole for my only career ace.

Any course that offers the opportunity to feel that good as you head for the clubhouse is all right in my book.

Rick

[CHrisB]

Mike,

I would contend that #s 9 and 18 at Oak Hills are fundamentally different holes.  #9 is a level 155 yards from the back tees (135 middle tees) to a small green, at least half of which is covered by deep bunkers in front, requiring a stop-it-quick short iron.  #18 is a downhill 198 yards (169 middle tees) to a larger green that slopes from front to back and is more open in front, with difficulty more on the sides than in front, requiring a controlled mid-iron with more hang time.  Both are good finishes to each nine.

As for how much of Tillinghast's original work remains, I'm not sure but I know the course has been revised at least three times (in the 60s, 70s, and 80s for sure), and three holes (I believe #s 15, 16, and 17) were added by Joe Finger in the 60s.  Still, the course has an "old-style" flavor and the holes around the clubhouse (1,2,8,9,10,18) are all solid (I especially like the stretch of 7-10: 460 uphill, 310 tight, 155, 506 reachable if one carries the right trees on the 2nd shot).

[JerryK]

Any suggestions of a course which should end with a par 3 but they chose to finish with a 4 or 5 which is not nearly as good a finishing hole as the par 3?

[Mike Hendren]

Chris B

Thanks.  I must narrow that 40 yard gap between clubs!  

[trenpga@aol.com]

I have a list of 64 golf courses that have a par 3 #18 hole. Some of these do not exist anymore (NLE). If you would like a copy of the list send an email to the address above. After reading the other replys below I now have about 16 more courses to add to my list.
Pete Trenham

[Mike_Cirba]

Hi Pete!  Great to see you on here, as well as Mike.

You probably don't remember me but we had some correspondence on the architectural origins of Philly area courses a few years back.  In any case, I hope your research is going well.

As an FYI, you'll probably need to remove Jeffersonville from your list soon, as the routing is being changed to make the 16th the new 18th under the Ron Prichard restoration.  My guess is that was the original Donald Ross routing, and seems to make the most sense.