Unique Par Distributions

[wsmorrison]

There is a very famous American golf course that starts off with six straight par 4s followed by a par 3 then two more par 4s; eight par 4s and one par 3 on the front side.  The back nine has a more traditional five par 4s, two par 3s and two par 5s.  I hardly took notice of the unique distribution on the front side while playing it, even while studying it for a time.

What course is it?

What arer some other unique par distributions for a nine or the entire eighteen?  Here's one for an eighteen:  the redesigned Old Course at the Homestead has six par 3s, par 4s and par 5s.  

Have you come across a routing that produced a par distribution that doesn't work well?  What sorts of issues account for a disfunctional routing progression?

[Bill Gayne]

Wayne,

Pacific Dunes has a unique par distribution.

 www.bandondunesgolf.com

[michael j fay]

Point Judith starts with eight fours and a three. The back is more the standard configuration of 2 fives, 2 threes and 5 fours, not in that order.

[Jonathan Davison]

Bishop Auckland in England

4,5,5,5,3,4,3,3,5 -  

3,5,3,4,4,4,4,4,4. Looks awful but plays well.

[michael j fay]

I see that Pacific Dunes has back to back threes. I have not had the privilege of playing there as yet.

Back to back threes are unusual but pop up at some very good courses. Ballybunion, Cruden Bay, Quaker Ridge, Cypress Point and Newport all sport back to back threes.

[wsmorrison]

Michael,

Does the routing work well?  Is it noticeable?  Was the par changed over the years?  It is amazing to me, the course I'm thinking of that is all par 4s and one par 3 on the front it and it seems perfectly fine.  I guess it is a matter of making the best use of the land and letting par fall where it may.  What if the same was true of the other nine though?

Look at Merion East.  There are two par 5s but none after the fourth hole.  Idon't think it seems odd to anyone.  I've never heard anyone remark negatively about it.  When the best use is made, it is hard to argue.

Thanks, Johnny.  That is an interesting routing, same with Pacific Dunes.  I had no idea.

[Kyle Harris]

Cypress Point (Back to back Par 5, Back to back Par 3).
Seaview Bay (Back to back Par 3, Three par 5s, 3, 16, 18, First Par 3 is the 8th)

[michael j fay]

Wayne:

Point Judith works very well. You cannot help but notice that you play nothing but fours until you get to number 9.

[Bill Gayne]

Good call on Ballybunion.

4-4-3-5-5-4-4-3-4
4-4-3-5-3-3-5-4-4

The fives and threes are bunched together in the middle of the nines and it works great.

[THuckaby2]

Re the back nine at Pacific Dunes, it's not the back to back par 3s at 10 and 11 that make it odd, it's the fact there are TWO more par threes after that... and three par 5's... a nine with that distribution has to take the cake for quirk.

4 par 3s
3 par 5s
2 par 4s (one of which is driveable downwind!)

Quirky quirky quirky.

And fantastic fantastic fantastic.

TH

[BCrosby]

I recall that Skokie has no consecutive holes with the same par.

A perfect par distribution.

I don't know of another course like it.

Bob

[Dan Kelly]

Town & Country Club

St. Paul, Minnesota

Minnesota's oldest course

433 544 444
435 435 553

That's back-to-back par-3s, back-to-back-to-back par 5s, no par-4s after No. 13....

I have no idea if it's the best course that could have been built, once upon a time, on that site -- but I do know that a century later, it's a lot of fun to play, and the quirky par distribution just makes it more memorable.

[Geoffrey Childs]

Wayne

Greenwich CC has a stretch of consecutive par 4's on the front 9 extending into the back nine (don't recall hole #'s off the top of my head - 3-11-? ) that seem never to end. That is not my favorite flow for a round of golf but the course is excellent.

On the other hand, Wannamoisett has NO par 5 until #17 and it is just great.  The variety in length and play of the holes is superb.  Par 69 - who cares.

Yale as well has its first par 5 on #16 (the least interesting hole on the course which I think has 17 supurb holes) and its variety and interest till that point can not be questioned.

[Andy Levett]

Front nine at Machrihanish has 8 par 4s and a solitary par 3.
The Berkshire Red is 6 3s, 6 4s, and 6 5s with just one instance of consecutive holes having the same par (10 and 11 both par 4s)
I thought Dr MacK's Shipley was 6,6,6 as well but I miscounted and it's actually 6 3s, 7 4s and 5 5s. Still quite unusual though. 4 5s on the front nine, two back-to-back. Front half also has consecutive par 3s. Not very well known, even in Yorkshire, but it's another good example of the quality of the topography and architecture being more important than the numbers on the scorecard.

[ForkaB]

Dunfermline GC is a 5/8/5 routing and finishes 5-3-5-5.

[Chris_Clouser]

Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City was originally laid out by Perry Maxwell with 6 par fives, 6 par fours and 6 par threes.  There was a great variety in the length of all of the holes and fourteen of the eighteen holes had water that came into play from the surrounding lake.  This was perhaps one of his best routings ever and was the last course of his that he saw in any sort of final form of construction.  

Its too bad they ripped up the course and put in two courses at the location.  That would have been some routing to see.

[Tyler Kearns]

My home course, Glendale essentially has three loops of holes. When playing after work, in order to avoid slower players, I often skip around and when the course in played in the following order 1 through 5, followed by 10 through 18, and concluding with 6 through 9 the par sequence is as follows;

443 444 443 553 545 353 (only one par 4 in the last 10 holes).

Perhaps that's cheating in order to get a unique par distribution, but I've played the course in this order many times.

TK

[Jeff_Mingay]

If the holes are consistently interesting, and possess good individual character, I don't think golfers even notice what might be considered a strange distribution of par.

As Wayne points out above, Merion East is an excellent example. Each of the holes there are so good that two par 5s within the first four holes, and the absence of a par 5 after the 4th doesn't strike most as odd. Pure and simple, Merion's just a great course.  

I'm sure the same can be said about Pacific Dunes, for example.

There are probably more than a few unfortunate instances where golf architects tried too hard to "balance" par at the expense of more interesting holes, and in turn, a better course.  

[Mike McGuire]

Lawsonia 9-14 goes  5-3-5-3-5-3

[Jeff Shelman]

My course, Mendakota CC, has back-to-back 5s. Before changes were made it also had back-to-back 3s. There is also only one par four in the first five holes. Goes something like this:

534 354 345 445 534 434

[Mike_Trenham]

Michael,

Does the routing work well?  Is it noticeable?  Was the par changed over the years?  

The routing does work well.  Yes I agree with Michael Fay that it is noticeable but not disagreeable.  My thought was that you could only get away with this before the days of golf digest, but I am told by a very knowlegeable source that the short 4th was lengthened from a one shotter to a short par 4 by Cornish.  Not that Ross had a par on his routing.  The routing on the back also has two very long Par 3s.  Point Judith is a very nice course that lies on the land in an excellent manner, the very middle of the course arround the clubhouse is a bit cramped/forced but not uncomfortable.

[Wayne Freeman]

Inwood CC, on Long Island, site of the 1923 U.S. Open has a very unusual layout:
         
                         
Front   4 4 5 5 5 3 3 4 4    Back    3 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4

Personally I didn't like the 3 par 5's all together.

[wsmorrison]

Anybody want to guess the course I referred to in the opening post on this thread?  One par 3 and the rest par 4s on the first nine on this very famous American course.

[BCrosby]

The Country Club.

(Using the member front nine, unless you set it up to play no. 2 as a long par 3 as they have done for big toonaments.)

Bob

[JohnV]

A few from memory.

Rock Creek Country Club outside Portland, OR where I was a member in 80s started with a par 4 and then the next 16 holes went 4-3-4-5 repeated and then ended with a par 4.

Persimmon Country Club in Gresham OR started 4-5-3-3-5-5-3 or something like that.  And then #8 was a drivable par 4.  I think that 6 hole stretch is the longest I've seen without a par 4 (on one 9 at least)

My current home course (Hannastown) has a 5 hole stretch on the back 9 which goes 3-5-3-5-3.

I was on a course earlier this year where every par 5 was immediately followed by a par 3.  I can't remember which one it was right now though.