Who Still Designs really Short Par 3's?

[Peter_Collins]

Fazio's Long Point at Amelia Island Plantation has two very short (both right around 100 from the men's tees) back to back par 3s right along the ocean.  (I want to say holes 5 and 6 or maybe  13 and 14).  The cross wind can be tricky, but neither are particularly strong holes.

[Anthony_Nysse]

#14 at Gil Hanse's Tallgrass on Long Island-95-100 yards to a really neat punchbowl style green.

Tony Nysse
Asst. Supt.
Long Cove Club
HHI, SC

[Ben Voelker]

Ben - It's the 11th, but you are right that is a really fun hole.

Tony,
I should have known that, becuase the 9th is another short par 3 as well.  Not quite as short and maybe outside the criteria here, but I prefer the 9th to the 11th, although they're both great IMO.

[Andy Hughes]

Andy - If you could think of one thing TR doesn't have that would be fun, what is it.
A wonderfully long par-3 that is a 1/2 par hole, right? That would be a fine piece of property to create something and heck you don't lose anything. In fact it's better for walkers because the 16th tee is closer to the 18th tee than the 17th green is.

Interesting, and you are certainly right that TR does not have a long par 3.  17 has always seemed like a bit of a letdown, especially as a 17th hole.  
Having a hard time picturing 16 tee being closer to 18 tee than the 17th green is, though I am sure you are right.

[Jari Rasinkangas]

This is a great short hole in Oulu, Finland designed by Ron Fream and David Dale from Golfplan.  It was opened for play this year.  The hole is 112 m from back tees and 76 m from front tees.

The hole was designed "on the rocks" between the big blocks.  The green is 60 meters long and has a lot of different pin positions.  The toughest ones are behind the right bunker and on the left behind the triangle shaped rock.

Green is very rolling and tilts in different directions so the putting can be quite tricky.

The wind is usually towards the player so it also makes the club selection difficult.









Jari

[Mike_Cirba]

Jeez, Jari...

It's really pretty and the green contour looks pretty bold, but I'm starting to have to question the "golf" use of boulders and rocks that are clearly in play.

Just so I'm not picking on Ron Fream, et.al., I thought the same thing looking at the pics of Mike DeVries' new course.  At least those boulders/outcroppings/cliff blowouts seem to be generally unmovable.

I can't say the same for the boulders in these pics.

[Ben Voelker]

Mike,

I'm hardly an expert on GCA, but I do like the boulders around the green.

If the green is as large as it looks for a short par 3, don't the boulders simply amount to a hazard similar to any other used on a golf course?  This green seems big enough that if you're not able to hit it, there should be some sort of penalty, whether that be water, sand, whatever.  I like the looks of it and the unique situations that they could bring.

Obviously, if the green was smaller, they'd would seem much more out of place and would probably block sightlines too much.  Just my opinion.

[Forrest Richardson]

I like the boulders. It is thinking outside the box. Golf is supposed to be a frustrating endeavor with rewards to those who are crafty. The rocks promote craftiness in shot placement and advance planning.

[paul cowley]

I'm with the rocks too.

[wsmorrison]

I like the boulders as well.  Incorporating them sure beats moving them.

[Forrest Richardson]

Moving them? Say...now that is a good idea. The third one from the right...let's put it over here...no wait...over here. Ahhh....no...on the other hand, let's leave it where it was...no...

[Jari Rasinkangas]

Mike,

Yes, I know that rock on golf course irritates some people.  But why is that?

Of course they can be dangerous but on this hole we tried to work so that there should not be a problem with that.  If you hit them from tees you are too far away to be hit by the ball.  When chipping around the green the ball travels much slower.  If you hit to the left side of the green you can also chip down the swales between the rocks.

Of course you get occasionally some unlucky bounces but who said that golf should be fair?  You can also get unlucky bounces from sprinkler heads, trees, water hazard markers etc.  And you can also get lucky bounces, don't you.

The left side row of rocks can be compared to a situation where the whole left side and front of the green would be water.  If you hit the rock and get very unlucky bounce you may lose your ball and hit a new one from the tees.  But it is the same thing if you hit the water hazard.

To have this hole you can partly blame me because when the architect first arrived to the site I somehow lured him to these boulders and asked can we do something special with them.  The first version was then sketched in the evening at the local restaurant but it changed many times before we got it ready.

We marked the boulders with GPS on the map so the designer could work on.  Golfplan made very good detailed drawings but we of course had to make some adjustments on site to get the boulders sit naturally there.  All rock that was left there were too big to be moved by any machine so they are on their original places.

Jari

[Jari Rasinkangas]

Ben,

Yes, the green is a big one.  You can fit many clubs and different trajectories in it depending on the wind and pin placement.  You must hit quite poor shot to miss the green but if you are flirting with the difficult pin position you can very easily burn your fingers.

This is a good example of par 3 where you do not always want to hit straight at the pin.  But then it is also very thrilling to hit your tee shot aiming at the triangle shaped boulder on the left and try to drop the ball at the pin there.

Jari

[Jari Rasinkangas]

Forrest,

Yes, the hole needs careful planning when the pin is somewhere else than the middle of the green.  It is always a surprise where it is because you cannot see the hole before you climb to the tees.  The previous green is down on the hill slope so you will have some time to start wondering where the pin is today.

You surely get some oh’s and ah’s when the pin is in a difficult position.

Jari

[Forrest Richardson]

I love them!

[Andy Hughes]

Would everyone who loves the boulders feel differently if the area where this hole sits had been devoid of any rocks, and the architect came in and added the boulders?

[Ben Voelker]

Would everyone who loves the boulders feel differently if the area where this hole sits had been devoid of any rocks, and the architect came in and added the boulders?

Yeah, I certainly would feel different.  That situation I think can be compared to the same hole having water surrounding the green in a desert, sand hills, etc type environment. IMO the boulders work as a unique hazard only because, from the limited look we get from the photos, they make sense in their environment.

[Jari Rasinkangas]

The boulders are on their natural original places where the ice age left them 10 000 years ago.  The hole is on top of a small hill that is full of smaller and bigger rocks the melting ice left there.  We just removed the smaller ones and left the big ones.

It would have been inexcusable to not use the boulders in design.  They are the oldest natural feature on the course.

This is an example of the most extreme rock formation caused by the ice age.  It is called "pirunpelto" and can be translated as "Devil's field":



Jari

[paul cowley]

Jari.....I have yet to see a field like the one pictured east of the mississippi, although I'm sure they exist, probably mixed with glacial till....the similar gradation is intriguing, what do you think was the con'troll'ing factor?...they look so recent!

 I come across boulders much more commonly, which we usually refer to as glacial 'erratics'.....and I must confess, I still get excited when I bump into one in the woods...I usually start looking around to see what other 'friends' might be lurking.

 alas, so little time to ponder all thats past

[Kyle Harris]

Paul,

The Blue Rocks site in Pennsylvania, just northeast of Hamburg, PA and accessible from the Appalachian Trail is a similar feature, though the boulders are much larger.

[Tim McManus]

14th hole at Kelly Blake Moran's Laurel Links is 124/112/95/78, with a prevailing tailwind.  Bunkers guard the front and the right, with OB behind.  The large green (30 yds deep and 31 wide) slopes back to front with a spine that splits the green into left and right sections.

12th hole has a green on a left to right diagonal that enables pin placement anywhere from 135 to 170 yards from the tips.

A fun thing at Pocono Manor is to try and toss the ball onto that downhill par three.  Best toss I have seen finished a foot from the hole.

[Allan Long]

One more for the Faz. One of the most photographed par 3's--#3 at Ventana Canyon (Mountain) is only 107 yards from the tips.

[paul cowley]

thanks for the info Kyle...of late my interest in glacial history and formations has become keener, which if I don't curb soon could result in faux drumlins, eskers, kettle holes, and a few other things popping up on new courses .....

[Doug Wright]

As Matt Ward knows well  , Jim Engh can design a really short par 3. The 100 yard 5th at Fossil Trace in Golden, CO has a very nice green complex, right Matt?  

And if you want rocks, Fossil Trace has 'em...  

http://www.fossiltrace.com/

Paul, if you like drumlins head over to the Finger Lakes region of central New York State. The drumlin/esker filled glacial region near Penn Yan got me thinking many years ago about what cool golf holes could be built there.

[wsmorrison]

Kyle,

I think the photo you posted are also called the singing rocks.You can hammer on the rocks and they make really nice tones.