Why are Par-3 18th holes so rare?

[A.G._Crockett]

Jeff Brauer,
How in the world did you get that list?  Amazing.

[Dave Bourgeois]

 Mohansic Golf Course in Yorktown Heights, NY finishes with a 17something yard par 3.  Its actually quite a nice hole which plays up hill.  Mohansic is really the gem of Westchester County public golf (not that there is much to choose from).

[Stu Grant]

Wow, thanks for the lists everyone.  We've got just over 200 courses on this thread that finish in par-3s.  Comparing these lists against say the Golf Digest Top 100 in America, we've got four courses (Congressional, East Lake, Garden City, and Cascades) that finish with a par-3.  That's more than I thought there would be.  Call that 4%, a percentage that probably holds across the board for all full-size golf courses.  Meanwhile, there are approximately 4 par 3s during a round of 18 holes, therefore roughly 22% of the holes are par-3s.

So while there are some great par-3 finishing holes in golf, why is it that only 4% of golf courses finish with a par-3 given that par-3s represent 22% of a golf course?  Obviously people involved in the design of golf courses must see a par-3 finish as a negative thing.  Do you?

[ForkaB]

how could i forget mahoney's point at killarney!... what a beautiful finishing hole

Ally

We are all fallible on this board.

....even Pat Mucci, Tom MacWood, and Tommy Naccarato, and even me, although VERY occasionally.........

[Andrew Mitchell]

Just to add a couple more:
My home course Northcliffe has a very tough par 3 to finish (once on the web site click on history for a picture). 177 yards from an elevated tee with bunkers left and front and a stream and trees all the way down the right hand side. A tough tee shot at the best of times let alone when you have a potentially good medal card in your hand.

Neighbouring Bingley St Ives (an early MacKenzie design) also has a par 3 18th, but with nowhere near the element of potential disaster of Northcliffe.

[Tony_Muldoon]

Scotland (Brora) ...

 but I am yet to see a "very good" P3 finishing hole.

Kevin, does that mean you haven't been to Brora?   I thought it was a fine finish to the course and a "very good" hole totally in keeping with the style that had gone before.  It played as a 7w when I was there and I felt that (Shivas was wrong as) it did provide a challenging finish.  


Upminster GC start's and finshes with a Par 3, not bad holes, but probably there because of ROUTING reasons, ie that's all there's room for with the rest of the course on the other side of the road.

[ForkaB]

How right you are, Tony.  I'm pretty sure that when Jimmy MIller set his course record at Brora (61) he had a bogey at the 18th.  It is a superb golf hole per se, and one of the best finishes in all of golfdom.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Jeff Brauer,
How in the world did you get that list?  Amazing.

A few years ago, I was trying to convince the Owner's rep at the Quarry at Giants Ridge that a par 3 18th would be best. For those who have played there, it would have basically been the second shot on what is now 18.

Ron Whitten graciously provided me that list (and sent it again recently in response to a question of mine) so I happened to have it on hand. He prepared it out of general interest, and in hopes of making it a GD article, which the editors apparently scotched as too esoteric for the general readership.  I guess he spends his spare time just wondering about golf courses like the rest of us here! He just puts his time to better use (other than Tom MacWood, who must be a very close second in terms of ability to do golf course research) than mumbling on a discussion board.

In my initial post last night, I told that story, but then I had to break it up into two for post length limitations on this site, and inadvertantly lost that part of the credit to Ron.

I am amazed that with the length of that list, that people can keep contributing more par 3 finishers........I was going to add a par 2 finisher to the list from my local putt putt course!

[BCrosby]

Jeff -

Add Roaring Gap (Ross, 1924) to your list.

Bob

[Tony Ristola]

Quote:
So while there are some great par-3 finishing holes in golf, why is it that only 4% of golf courses finish with a par-3 given that par-3s represent 22% of a golf course?  Obviously people involved in the design of golf courses must see a par-3 finish as a negative thing.  Do you?
END

Not at all. I like the fact that all golfers finish the round hitting their final full shot from the same spot. Then there is the chance for an ace. In matches (among better players) there is greater likelihood for 2 and 3 shot swings, which keeps things interesting. My first project finishes on a par-3, due to environmental reasons, and the course is better for it. Think if you reversed the 17th and 18th at the TPC Sawgrass. Even though I am not a fan of island greens, I think the finish would be even more dramatic. Some would really howl about carnival golf, but I think the pressure would be even greater.

What's funny is I grew up playing a course that finished with a par-3... it didn't phase me a bit.

[Tony_Muldoon]

It’s kind of annoying my brain tells me I’m missing a really obvious one … but others I can remember that I’ve played

Priors  GC
Pedham Place  GC
Sandy Lodge GC
West Midlands GC (finishes with a TPC 17th 'tribute' hole).

[JeffTodd]

Add Colts Neck Golf Club (NJ). They shifted the routing in the last couple years and the old #16 (230ish one shot hole over water) is now #18.

http://www.coltsneckgolfclub.com/golf/virtualtour.cfm#

[SoLa_in_NoIll]

Pinehurst #1 also ends with a par 3.

[Jon Wiggett]

Andrew, not to far away from you is Howley Hall where I did my apprenticeship many moons ago. It has a great par 3 finishing hole. About 180 yards from an elevated tee with the clubhouse (including some large windows) just a few feet off the back edge.

[Andrew Mitchell]

Jon

I played Howley Hall a couple of months ago in an inter club foursomes cup match. Unfortuntely we lost on the 17th so didn't play the 18th competitively - it would have been my tee shot.

We did all play down the last to complete the round - the clubhouse windows look worryingly close to the green when you are stood on the tee!

[Tom_Doak]

I would not hesitate to use a par-3 for the 18th hole if I thought it was the best solution to that part of the property.  But, clients don't like it.  The 19th hole at Stone Eagle was suggested as the 18th and rejected, that's how it became the 19th ... and possibly the explanation for some of the other "bye holes" which have been built recently, too.

All that said, if I was planning a course from scratch a la The Rawls Course, I'd never think about making the 18th a par 3.  For me it's not about the difficulty of hitting driver or anything of the sort -- it's just that if a match is still going at 18, I want the drama to last a bit longer than the first guy's tee shot.

[ForkaB]

Tom

Having played tournament matches which ended at par-3's (Brora, Aberdour, Auchterader) I must respectfully disagree with you.  All were fantastic in that role, and Brora (in particular) was the best finishing hole for match play that I have ever experienced.  The tension/excitement on the tee, knowing that you absolutely have to hit a good golf shot (and not just bunt the ball down the fairway) is what match play is all about.  IMHO, of course.

Rich

Oops, I forgot Painswick....  You remember that one, don't you!

[Tom_Doak]

Rich:

When I played Brora a month ago, I hit a stinging one-iron onto the green, and watched my opponents fold like cheap suits.

Unfortunately, however, one of them had closed me out on 16.  

[Mike Hendren]

Kilspindie, one of the older and quirkier links golf course in Scotland, is doggedly claiming their 252 yard 18th Hole as a Par 4. The hole is down hill, to a firm landing area before an open green. In the modern ball/Club era it is easily reachable for all single handicap players. From the Tee one is expected to get down in three - an effective Par 3.
Maybe the traditional courses will have to alter their score cards to meet the needs of the  future ?

JC-S,

Even yours truly drove it hole-high to 8 feet at Kilspindie's 18th.  The only real danger there is having to play one's second from the porch under the watchful eye of the gents lounging in that wonderful paneled clubhouse.  BUT, when you have nick-named your ownself "Bogey" that hole is a par four all day long.

Also, be careful with your reasoning, as North Berwick's 18th is just down the slippery slope.

Mike

[Chris Moore]

Chattanooga Golf and Country Club finishes with par 3s on both nines.

[SL_Solow]

The contours on the green at Pasatiempo #18 make it anything but a bland finishing hole.  A favorite memory is holing an 8 footer for birdie on top of my brother's putt to preserve a 1 up victory after my 23 handicap partner hit the green and proceeded to 5 putt.  Not as impressive as Shivas on 17 but a lot of fun nevertheless.

[Mike Hendren]

Chattanooga Golf and Country Club finishes with par 3s on both nines.

As does Tillie's Oak Hill CC in San Antonio.

Mike

Oops! Just saw it on Jeff's list.  

[Tom Huckaby]

Shel - anyone who calls 18 Pasa "bland" either has no imagination or has never played it with anything on the line, or both.  Let's see... 180 over a hazard to one of the most highly sloped greens one will ever face.  If that's bland, this game is too easy.

 

Now 17, that I can see being called bland.  And anyone who would possibly take more than 3 putts on that green really ought to seek out desparate measures like broomstick putters.  Oh, I see we both know a perfect example....

 

[Jay Flemma]

I would not hesitate to use a par-3 for the 18th hole if I thought it was the best solution to that part of the property.  But, clients don't like it.  The 19th hole at Stone Eagle was suggested as the 18th and rejected, that's how it became the 19th ... and possibly the explanation for some of the other "bye holes" which have been built recently, too.

Tom (and others) what about this...lets take, for example stone eagle or Forest Dunes...

What about taking that "bye hole" and making it the 10th hole...then simply call it the front 9 and the back 10?

Nineteen holes "for the price of 18."

I mean after all, really...how do they police the fact that some groups may not need the bye hole...I mean who DOESNT play the bye hole?  People in a hurry?

That solves the issue of ending on a par-3

My home course as a kid...Valley View...an RTJ Sr. design, ended on a par-3...NOBODY COULD MAKE UP MUCH GROUND IN MATCHES.

It was short (142W, 163B), so it wasn't a "half-hole."

Shame...seventeen was a great 4.5 (really a par-5, but 495 all downhill...but if you missed the green left or right, you were in the woods...AND the green sloped heavily AWAY from you...it was a "one bounce and on green.  If you thought you stubbed it and hit it short, you were pin high...if you thought you were good, you were 20' by...

[Jim Franklin]

I love par 3 18th holes. My first hole-in-one was at #18 at Greenspring Valley with about 40 people watching. Fortunately it was a tournament with open bar .