Short Fours on Open Rota Courses?

[Mark_F]

Aside from the 12th on The Old Course and the 3rd at Carnoustie, Im struggling to think of a great little short four on these old-fashioned courses we all love so much, yet they are more representative on Open courses past (Deal, Portrush) non-existent Open courses (Dornoch Royal Aberdeen), other links (Burnham, Porthcawl, Silloth) or on inland courses (Sunningdale Old).

Or maybe I've just become spoilt for choice, and therefore jaded, in Melbourne.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I'm not sure if the 8th (or 10th as it was played at the Open) at Royal Liverpool counts.  It's not a short par 4 to me, but the Open field played it as a short 2-shotter and it provided much fun.  The 13th and 16th at Lytham are both good short two-shotters.  The 282-yard 14th at Ganton (not an Open course, but it's held just about everything else) is a great short par 4 and I love the 3rd as well.  Also among the championship courses which have not held the Open, the 8th at Nairn is a little brute.  The 6th at Hunstanton is a corker, again not an Open venue.

[Brad Klein]

I would have thought the 9th, 10th and 18th at St. Andrews would also qualify, though I'm not sure they are all that strategically interesting; not as interesting as Riviera's 10th.

[Mark Pearce]

I'm not sure if the 8th (or 10th as it was played at the Open) at Royal Liverpool counts.  It's not a short par 4 to me, but the Open field played it as a short 2-shotter and it provided much fun.  The 13th and 16th at Lytham are both good short two-shotters.  The 282-yard 14th at Ganton (not an Open course, but it's held just about everything else) is a great short par 4 and I love the 3rd as well.  Also among the championship courses which have not held the Open, the 8th at Nairn is a little brute.  The 6th at Hunstanton is a corker, again not an Open venue.

Mark,

Don't you mean the 9th/11th at Hoylake?  The 8th/10th is a par 5.  The 9th/11th is around 360 yards, so I think it is a short par 4.  Agree with the 14th at Ganton.  I played four rounds there in July and simply couldn't work out how to play it (6 iron, wedge was how I kept trying, but damned if I could play the hole).  The second at Muirfield is a short par 4, particularly with a following wind but I don't think it's a great one.

[Tom_Doak]

Mark:

St. Andrews has the third and sixteenth, as well as those mentioned before.

Muirfield has the second and the eleventh, both of them very underrated; the fifteenth used to be shortish but no more.

Royal St. George's has the ninth or tenth (depending on the wind) and twelfth, probably the next best set on the rota.

Having a great set of short par-4 holes is usually the difference between a 9 and a 10 on the Doak scale.  St. Andrews and Muirfield are the only courses on the Open rota which got that grade, but don't feel too bad; Shinnecock and Merion are the only US Open venues to get it.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Mark, You are quite right - mea culpa.

[john_stiles]

The 8th at Lytham is a good short par 4.

An exacting approach is required, especially if downwind as is normally the case.

[Mark Pearce]

Tom,

I forgot the 11th at Muirfield, a better hole than the 2nd.  The 12th also plays like a short par 4 and I prefer it to 2 or 11.

[john_stiles]

The 9th at Birkdale is a great short par 4.

It is a blind drive over the ridge, with a rolling fairway, to a green set at the top of another low ridge.  The bump and run is practically eliminated as an option.

[Travis Ripley]

#7 at Troon?  pretty good hole with great topography and turns inland/wind change for the first time on the outward nine.  and sets up the postage stamp playing back into wind conditions.

and if you block your short iron right of the green, you can make an easy triple.  so i've heard.      

[Jon Wiggett]

3rd at Muirfield, 10th at Lythm, 10th at TOC, 5th at Birkdale, 10th at Turnberry are all great short holes.