Reachable Par 4

[archie_struthers]

Reachable par fours have been all the rage in architecture for a while now. I'm looking for a best of list and why. Alos how would you defend par on a 315 yard four par.

[Kyle Harris]

Archie,

Two of my favorites are the back to back 4th and 5th holes at Makefield Highlands here in Bucks County, PA.

Par on these particular holes is defended at and just before the green. Any player attempting to drive the green must shape the shot correctly with the right trajectory or it will be fed to an area where the angle into the green is less than ideal. The player laying up has his approach confounded by the same features, but it plays just like any other hole in that case.

The idea is to defend par around the green by placing a premium on the decision on the tee. If the green site is such that a well executed and planned shot into the green is rewarded, but the less than well executed shot is fed away at a bad angle - you'll see a range of scores made.

Width is another key. In order to make "internal" yardage, I feel the hole needs to offer a wide avenue by which the ball can get away from the green. A tee shot may be hole high and 320 yards from the tee, but it can still have 40-50 yards in where a ball hit on the correct line at 250 yards from the tee has the same distance, but a better angle.

[Sean Walsh]

To my mind reachable par 4's are not about defending par.  If you play them cautiously (and are a player of reasonably high standard) then you probably have a shot at birdie/par 9 times out of 10. If you attack and stretch for Eagle/Birdie then the good ones will bite you.  

I would list the 14th at County Louth, 6th at Kingsbarns and 3rd at Kingston Heath as the three pre-eminent examples.

The beauty of the 14th is that it accomplishes the task without a bunker or any other tremendously penal element in play. Astoundingly good GCA.

[Garland Bayley]

reachable for who?

Reachable for anyone with ability to choose the tee of the 5 or 6 sets of tees on modern courses that will allow that person to reach the green in 1 stroke. For you Brian that might mean choosing red.    

[Evan_Green]

Here's one that would not likely otherwise come up:

Weiskopf seems to like to put one of these on each of his courses. #4 at Troon CC (w/ Morrish) in Scottsdale is quite an interesting hole.

296 yards from the tips
Looks simple off the tee and makes you want to reach for the driver:



If you spray it wide right or left, you're in the desert. But even if you dont, there is plenty of opportunity to make bogey around the green:



Especially if you pull it into this:



The green and surrounds are undulating and tricky:



This is the angle from the back left of the green looking front right. You can see the difficulties on the green even better from here:



All in all a fine drivable par 4 hole in my opinion.

[Scott_Burroughs]

reachable for who?

Reachable for anyone with ability to choose the tee of the 5 or 6 sets of tees on modern courses that will allow that person to reach the green in 1 stroke. For you Brian that might mean choosing red.    

Don't let Brian fool you, he ain't no short knocker.


#6 at Pacific Dunes is a doozy.

The back-to-back pair of #7 and #8 (from the square tees) at Sand Hills is pretty good, too.

#10 at Riviera is often cited as one of the best.

[Jason Blasberg]

To this day one of the best drivable par 4s I've played is #4 at The Seawane Club, Hewlett Harbor, NY.  Over 5 seasons I've eagled it twice, birdie it tons and doubled it tons.  

It's 295 on the card but plays less down wind (I've reached the fringe with 3 wood but almost always have to hit driver), into the wind it's not reachable for most mortals.  It's got  a two-tiered green with a small back shelf so even if you reach it it's not an automatic two putt.  A channel runs down the entire length of the right side of the hole and separates the tee from the rest of the hole.  So you tee off over the channel and the fairway is slightly off set from left to right with a watery grave all down the right side.  

If you don't cross the hazard you're hitting three from the tee.

A pot bunker captures balls not carrying about 240 and leaves a very difficult 50 yard bunker shot that you generally can't get near the green and usually have to just hack out a few yards.  

A ball hit too far left to avoid the water down the right finds fescue and mounds leaving an awkward stance and thick lie, which of course you must blast out of and from the left side going long means going into the channel you avoided off the tee.  

The coolest thing about the hole IMO is that you walk right off the 3rd green to the back 4th tee and the tee shot from the back tee plays over the right greenside bunkers from 3 green.  It's an awesome hole visually.  

The preferred ball flight for driver is a power fade to ensure that you cross the hazard, then at least if you over cook the cut your droping from inside 150 yards and can still get up and down for par.  However, for those that need to hook the ball you must start the ball out over the channel and if it doesn't come back you're hitting 3 from the tee.  

It's an awesome match play hole.

[Mike Nuzzo]

Reachable par fours have been all the rage in architecture for a while now.

When you say " for a while" - do you mean since the old course was built?  

I assume you are saying that the short par four is back in vogue for many designers - while it was gone during the 70's and 80's.  Do you really think the short par four will be out of fashion in the near future.  There are many new courses without them.

My favorite short par 4 is Black Mesa's 14th.  But that may be because I drove the green and made the putt.

[CHrisB]

I think for an driveable par 4 to work best, the two options (go for it or lay up and have a wedge in) should be equally difficult.

The 7th at the new course at The Club at Carlton Woods in Houston is a good example: the hole is driveable, but the opening to the green is small and there is water right and a couple of bunkers left, and bail outs to the left leave a very tough up and down.

But laying up also leaves a tough shot--the green is firm and runs away a little over the bunkers, and again the opening to the green is narrow.

The 6th at Spanish Oaks in Austin works much the same way. And of course so does #10 at Riviera (without the water).

If a golfer stands on the tee and each option seems equally desirable (or undesirable!), then that says something good about the hole in my opinion.

[Patrick_Mucci_Jr]

Archie,

I think we both share an affinity for # 8 at Hidden Creek.
It's centerline pit bunker, narrow right, wide left fairway that slopes right to leftd make it most enjoyable, but, that's just the begining.  

The blind, highly contoured green provides a substantive challenge even if you're good enough to drive it.

The same applies to # 1 at NGLA.
Lots of risk reward and a difficult green.

# 2 at NGLA has a benign green, but, that can change as the stimp speed goes up.

Temptation and testing one's initiative seem to appeal to golfers on the driveable par 4.

There's something very sporty about a reachable par 4.

[Jason Topp]

Australia has the best I have experienced:

10 - Royal Melbourne West



4 - Woodlands - 251 Meters on flat wide open ground.  Bunkerless green is very narrow and going for the green but missing wide leaves a difficult up and down for birdie.  This hole could be built anywhere but requires very firm conditions to play as intended.



3 - Kingston Heath - Profiled in several places

4 and 12 - Barnbougle Dunes

[Jimmy Muratt]

One of my absolute favorite par 4's is the short 13th hole at the Kingsley Club.  It's a whole that you could play all day long and never tire of, options abound over every shot.  The fun really starts when you get on/around the green.  Below are a few pics.





Another wonderful new short par 4 that will garner much discussion in the coming months/years is the short par 4 5th hole at Boston Golf Club.  It's an amazing hole with one of the smallest greens you'll ever see.

[Scott_Burroughs]

Rustic Canyon has a good pair, #3 and #12.

Archie,

I think we both share an affinity for # 8 at Hidden Creek.
It's centerline pit bunker, narrow right, wide left fairway that slopes right to leftd make it most enjoyable, but, that's just the begining.  

The blind, highly contoured green provides a substantive challenge even if you're good enough to drive it.

Patrick,

What are your thoughts on the notion that #8 could use some greenside bunkers to make it more difficult to reach/recover around the green?  Some thought this and others felt the green itself and the entire green complex (surrounds) are plenty tough enough to defend birdie.  I admit I was convinced to lean this direction.  That green is pretty wild.

[Kyle Harris]

Speaking of drivable par 4s... David Duval eagled the first hole today at the Chrysler Classic...

[Pete Lavallee]

Hard to believe, but armed with a sasquatch driver Tiger has made the 384 yard dogleg 6th at La Costa a "driveable par 4"!

[Andrew Summerell]

Australia has the best I have experienced:

10 - Royal Melbourne West



4 - Woodlands - 251 Meters on flat wide open ground.  Bunkerless green is very narrow and going for the green but missing wide leaves a difficult up and down for birdie.  This hole could be built anywhere but requires very firm conditions to play as intended.

Both are excellent holes, Jason. If not on the green in one at the 4th at Woodlands, you have the option of 10 different ways to play your 2nd. Very easy to walk off with a 5 or worse.

[Jimmy Muratt]

Two of my favorite "classic" era short par 4's are:

#15 at Fenway Golf Club:  a perfect short par 4, it tempts you off the tee and then again with your approach.  The extremely narrow green demands pinpoint accuracy.  Even a lay-up off of the tee must be precise, otherwise you are left approaching the green from a horrible angle.

#6 at Ridgewood Country Club (Center nine):  known as the "five and dime" hole.  If laying up off the tee, the approach shot is to the uphill green that is extremely narrow and deep.  Personally, I prefer to blast it up there somewhere around the green or perhaps in the greenside bunkers.  It's a difficult target to hit, even with a wedge in your hand.

[JohnV]

I always enjoyed the 17th at Pumpkin Ridge's Ghost Creek course.  The yardages are 329 / 301 / 273/ 224.



The player can hit about a 5-iron and layup short of the creek, but avoiding it on the left and then have to take on the small pond on the second shot, try to hit it over the creek giving a good angle up the green or be very daring and go for the green.  There is OB way right and the green is very narrow so missing left of the greenside bunker makes an almost impossible up and down.  The risks are very great for going for the green, but given the fact that it is the 17th and can be a big swing hole, players will do it.



When I officiated a mini-tour event there for 3 years we would put the tees up around 280 the last day to tempt the players.  It was great fun to watch players drive the green while others made 8s on the hole.

[Tom_Doak]

John V:  That is a really good looking hole.  It's fairly similar to the 14th at Muirfield Village although the latter is not reachable; did Cupp reference that in writing about the course?

Archie:  I love the look of the 4th at Barnbougle, but if I have to pick just one of my own, it would be the 6th at Pacific Dunes.  It isn't reachable very often because the prevailing wind is right in your face, and 316 yards into the north wind at Bandon is out of range even for Tiger.  In the calm or downwind, it's doable, but you have to run it into an entrance which is about 10-12 yards wide, and if you miss on either side, there is no guarantee of even making a four.  I'm convinced if there was a championship on the line, most professionals would lay up there and take their chances on a 3 or a 4 with their wedges.

[Sean_A]

One of my absolute favorite par 4's is the short 13th hole at the Kingsley Club.  It's a whole that you could play all day long and never tire of, options abound over every shot.  The fun really starts when you get on/around the green.  Below are a few pics.

Jimmy

That bunker on the left of the green is a doozie.  It looks like that ridge on the green pushes balls either into or running around the bunker to a tough chipping area.  Is this the case?  Anybody know how effective that bunker is?

Ciao

Sean

[Jim Nugent]

#10 at Riviera is often cited as one of the best.

I know you're right -- #10 Riviera is cited as great -- and I didn't understand why.  Have never played it.  Saw it a few times while attending the L.A. Open.  Going for the green looked like a real low percentage shot.  How many really reach it?  Hoping someone can explain the hole to me.    

[Jimmy Muratt]

Sean,

That left greenside bunker on #13 at Kingsley is definitely very much in play.  Both it and the right greenside bunker (which you can kind of see in the first picture from the tee) are magnets for any mis-hit shot.  I actually putted my 20' birdie putt into the right bunker during one of my rounds there.  

One of my favorite things about the entire green complex is that you really must use the contours of the green to get the ball close to certain pin positions with your approach.  The green is separated by severe slopes which can be used to feed the ball closer to the hole or, if the shot is miplayed, feed it further away.  Firing directly at a flag is a much riskier shot to pull off as anything misplayed ends up in a bunker, collection area, or area of the green far from the hole.  

[Sean Leary]

Are the examples listed here better now that technology has helped the majority of players get longer?  15 years ago these holes were unreachable for almost all players.  Has technology improved the short par 4?  Or are these holes being designed more on modern courses which take newfound distance into account?

[Mike_Clayton]

Sean,

Certainly the Australian holes mentioned here are more dangerous now they are reachable for so many more players.
10 at Royal Melboure was a hole only Seve used to go at but now almost every player in a professional field can reach.
It takes a great shot to hit the green and if you miss anywhere the pitching and bunker shots are very difficult.

The 3rd at Kingston Heath and the 15th at Victoria are two other terrific short fours which are more dangerous now the ball is going further - it may be the only benefit of the longer ball.
The 4th at Barnbougle is an easy hole to make 4 if you play short of the bunker but to try and carry the bunker means you can make anything from 2 to 7.

4 at Woodlands was always reachable but there is no good place to miss the green.Only a lay-up dead in line with the front of the green leaves a reasonably easy chip and even then it is not that easy.

[M. Shea Sweeney]

 a couple of good reachable par 4s are just a few blocks away from each other, 1st at cherry valley club, and the 1st at garden city golf club. it was a 4 wood in my highschool caddie days at CVC.