courses with a par 5 1st hole

[astavrides]

I dont like a par 5 1st hole, especially if its potentially reachable in two.  I like to be (overly) aggressive on par 5's and its a recipe for disaster if you dont warm-up, as many of us don't.  

[Mike Hendren]

On the other hand it's a great warm up, presenting the opportunity to hit driver, long-iron and short-iron.

[Steve Mann]

alex-

i grew up playing glens falls cc..donald ross.  1st hole is a par 5.  terrific hole.  uphill tee shot over a pond(not in play) and at about 260ish the hole bends to the right.  you try and drive it over the hill with a fade to get it on the flats so you can have a go at the green with a long iron.  if you just drive straight away to the top of the hill you can still get there but have to hit lumber and the approach to the green site starts to narrow down at about 50 yards from the green.  lots of hills/undulations for terrain.  i love that hole and the golf course.  i think it is better than the sagamore which gets more press in the upstate NY area.

sm

[Steve Mann]

also, forgot to mention that glens falls also ends with a par 3!  great setting too, the tee is right off the back edge of the clubhouse patio.  have seen everthing from hole-in-ones to dead shanks into the clubhouse!

sm

[mike_malone]

 Scotland Run begins with a par five. I find it reduces the pressure of needing to hit a great first drive since it  usually plays as a three-shotter. Kind of reminds me of   "easy" par four openers. The beauty is when the pressure is reduced I hit it better.

[Ted Kramer]

I like the par5 opener at Pine Hill.


And the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of par5 openers in general.

-Ted

[Scott_Burroughs]

It's certainly not uncommon.

A few off the top of my head:

LACC (North) starts with two.
Riviera
Olympic (Lake)
Baltursol (Lower) - for members
Sand Hills
Olympia Fields (North)

4 of the courses I've been a member at:

Indian Hills, Erwin, NY
Chemung Valley (now Willow Creek), Big Flats, NY
Wake Forest, WF, NC  (711-yard par 5)
(former) Louviers course at Dupont CC

[Dan_Callahan]

Taconic opens with a par 5 that is dead straight and not incredibly long. I find it is a nice way to get into the round. No real trouble on the hole, although I have a friend who popped up his tee shot on 1 during a tournament. The ball landed on the 18th green (about 50 yards to the right) that was surrounded by specatators watching groups finish. Of course, he played it from there, and managed to get back into the fairway without taking a divot. Got big cheers for that one.

[Michael Moore]

The ball landed on the 18th green (about 50 yards to the right) that was surrounded by specatators watching groups finish. Of course, he played it from there, and managed to get back into the fairway without taking a divot.

This is against rule 25-3, a two stroker.

[Dan_Callahan]

This is against rule 25-3, a two stroker.

I think he was so embarassed he would have gladly assessed himself a 10 stroke penalty if it got him out of there . . .

[Jim_Coleman]

    Pete Dye's new course at Casa de Campo - Dye Fore - starts with a par five (the 10th is a par 5 too, in case you start on the back).  Pete generally starts his courses with "a gentleman's handshake," and these holes certainly fit that description.
    Bel Air and Doral Blue are other par 5 openers where you're pretty pissed off if you don't make a par.  
   I too like it.  On most par 5's, you can miss a shot and still make par.  And bird is a real possibilty.  A nice ("gentleman's") way to begin a round.

[Scott_Burroughs]

A few more:

Stonewall (I)
Rustic Canyon
Pine Needles
Shoreacres
Tobacco Road

Pasatiempo's opener used to be a par 5, now listed as a 4.  It was a 5 when I played it in 1998.

[mike_malone]

 Scott,
      The old first hole at Louviers indeed  was a par five, but when the nines were switched that made #10 the first hole-low and behold - it was still a par five.

    The old tenth was a more intimidating first shot , but the old first a "goofy" second shot.

[Kyle Harris]

Wyncote in Oxford, PA starts and ends each nine with a par five.

[Wayne Freeman]

I agree with most of the comments.  I like to get into the round in a more relaxed manner and think that a reasonable par 5 or shortish par 4 is the way to go.  In my area Bel Air, Riviera, LA North,  Rustic Canyon, Valley Club are great examples of starting with par 5's.  It's certainly a lot better in my mind than getting up to the first tee at Winged Foot or Country Club of Brookline and facing a really brutal par 4.  Could really ruin your day early.

[Dan_Callahan]

Not to get off topic, but a few of these posts made me wonder about brutally difficult opening holes.

I've always had trouble with the first hole at the Orchards. I always lay back too far from the stream out of fear of rolling into it. That leaves me about 200 yards uphill to a relatively small green. I love the hole, but it is a tough way to start the round.

From the pictures I've seen, the opener at Tobacco Road looks pretty daunting as well.

[Matt_Ward]

I can provide an example of where a great par-5 starts the round and where the most inane par-5 commences the round.

The best --

1st at Desert Mountain's Geronimo Course (Scottsdale, AZ) -- Plays about 585 yards from the tips and the views from the elevated tee of the surrounding landscape with the Tonto National Forest is breathtaking. Like the way designer Jack Nicklaus created the hole to provide for long hitters to get home in two blows but only with the tee shot and second played to max perfection. The green is also nicely contoured to keep all sides honest. A great hole of its kind.

The worst --

Try the 1st at Mount Airy Lodge in the Poconos (PA). Designed by Hal Purdy the hole is simply a mess of epic proportions. The hole is u-p-H-I-L-L all the way and it causes significant back-ups as each group simply cannot handle the sever grade incline. On top of that there is a blind water hazard that confronts people either on their 3rd or 4th shots. The green is also plain vanilla.

The 1st at Mount Airy Lodge is textbook example on what NOT to do for an opening par-5 hole.

[Brad Tufts]

Talamore in Pinehurst......550 yards uphill and it feels like 650.  Although no one will mistake Talamore for having classic architectural elements, this hole might make you think twice about refusing the use of the llama caddies.

[Buck Wolter]

 Arcadia Bluffs Goes 5,3,5,4,5

[Kevin_Reilly]

I prefer not to see a par 5  #1, 9, 10 or 18,

I know of one course, close by, that violates 3 out of 4!

[Tom_Doak]

I've started with a par-5 several times:  Black Forest, Stonewall, St. Andrews Beach and Barnbougle to name a few.  I'm not really a great fan of starting with a three-shotter -- I try to play without making a 6 on the card, and a wobbly start can blow it right out of the box -- but sometimes that's what you need to do to make the rest of the routing work well.

George Thomas was an especially big fan of the par-5 opener.

[Doug Wright]

...Apache Stronghold too Tom. I like the hole as it's pretty open but the mound/ridge in front of the green provides a lot of interest.

Castle Pines GC's par 5 opener is a lot of fun. If you don't feel like Superman launching one off the highly elevated tee at 7,000 feet elevation, you never will.  Some of the TOUR pros have reached this 644 yard hole with a 5 iron.

[John Kirk]

Similar to Riviera, Stanford GC starts with a 500 yard downhill 5.  Plenty of room, and reachable in 2 shots for a strong player.  The easiest hole on the course with respect to par.  I like the concept, but for those of us who play at 7:00 AM in the summer, it places pressure on you to play well early in the round.

Pasatiempo GC started with an easy 5, until they redesignated it as a 4.

[Matt_Ward]

Doug:

Glad you mentioned the par-5 1st at Castle Pines -- the 1st at Sanctuary (Sedalia, CO) can give players vertigo given the height of the tip tee to where the actual fairway starts.

[Doug Wright]

Doug:

Glad you mentioned the par-5 1st at Castle Pines -- the 1st at Sanctuary (Sedalia, CO) can give players vertigo given the height of the tip tee to where the actual fairway starts.

True enough Matt. I think Dave Liniger wanted to outdo his haughty neighbour Castle Pines GC when he and Engh drew that hole up...

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