[Bob_Farrell]

In a couple of other postings on GCA I have alluded to the fact that my home course, Spring Brook CC in Morristown NJ, has three par 3's in a row, the 9th, 10th, & 11th.

In an article a number of years ago, Red Hoffman, the doyen of golf writers here in NJ, stated that we are the only par 70 or above course in the United States with such a run of threes. I have never been able to validate the fact, so I was just wondering if members and guests know of any other courses in the US that have three consecutive par three holes.

BF

[Bob_Farrell]

No one yet?

[JakaB]

Bob,

Do you ever have club tournaments when people have to start on 10...seems like starting with two par threes would be a bitch.

Do the nines return to the clubhouse and is the clubhouse location the reason for this abomination.

[Chris_Clouser]

I have only seen one other course like this.  Britton Golf Course in Fishers, Indiana.  It is a pretty awful design done by the guy who owned the land and made the course himself.  But it is cheap and has a few nice holes.  The three in a row are on the back side and the kicker is that they are all basically the same shot in the same direction.  165-175 yards slightly downhill.  The second of the trio is semi-blind as you can't see the putting surface from the tee, but aside from that shots are exactly the same.  I've played in the group behind the owner before and he says he just loves hitting his 6 iron which coincidentally goes about 170 yards.  The original 9 holes on the course all have inverted saucer greens.  The second 9 holes added about 10 years later actually has some decent greens.  These were obviously outsourced or at least done by someone different as none of them are even close to the original set of greens.  

[rob johnston]

Lake Geneva Country Club #'s9,10,11.
Great old course about 1894. I was told as a kid it was the
third or forth oldest 18 in the US. I have aconvex dimple
Spaulding ball dated 1899 we found in an enbankment.
Front nine on the outside back nine on the inside.

[Paul Daley]

There is a fun little par-32 layout at Apollo Bay, Victoria, Australia, where the home stretch of 7-9 are all par-3s: 210 metres; 180; and 155. It is a quaint seaside course and well worth a game if in the area.

The 27-hole annual tournament is usally won with 3 x 35s. With tight lies, small greens, and ever-present coastal winds, the layout is far from a pushover.  

[Neal_Meagher]

Mr. JakaB:

Your prose, your golf skills, your general demeanor are all first class and winning in everyway.  So, with all of that in order, I must respectfully disagree with your assessment of 3 par-3's in a row being an abomination.

Yes, it is unusual, however, isn't one of the points of this forum to discuss the quaint, quirky and unusual?  I hardly think that this condition would be an abomination if done correctly and for the right reasons.  Heck, sounds like fun to me and worth trying in the right place.

It does bring to mind a green I've seen that receives shots from three separate holes.  It is the Brentwood C.C. in Brentwood, TN and it was redesigned into its current housing configuration by Gary Baird in the mid-80's.  It actually kinda works.  Certainly is quirky.

[Patrick_Mucci]

JakaB,

Having played Spring Brook a good number of times prior to the recent alterations, while not optimal, the three par 3 holes in a row work out fine.

The 9th green is fairly close to the club house.
# 10 and # 11 are quite different and demanding so teeing off on # 10 isn't a burden.

Spring Brook was a rather enjoyable, challenging golf course when I played it.

[JakaB]

I apologize if I hurt Bob or any of the fine members of Spring Brook with my question...I would go so far to say that an abomimation is something highly unusual...like three par threes in a row...but the word might have some negative vibe which was my opinion...sorry.   The point of my question was if you assume every site has an infinite number of hole sites, what possess an architect to choose one or a few holes that leads to a problem such as three par threes in a row.   In this instance I asked if it was the clubhouse location because the quirk came at the turn...on the scales of commerce quirk needs to be balanced by other factors...and I am confident this course found those other factors or it would not have the respect I am sure it has earned.

[Dunlop_White]

Hillcrest in Winston-Salem, NC. ....The front nine of this muni (named Cedar Side, I believe), which traditionally holds the County Am., starts with three par 4's, ends with three par 3's, and bookends three par 5's in the middle. This is a great piece of land in a prime location. The course is quirky and short with an odd routing and sequencing of holes.

[Bob_Farrell]

JakaB:

Far from being an abomination, these three holes will test your mettle in any match considering that the first one ends the first Nassau, and the next two start the second. If you're not the best of iron players, you had best make sure you're up going into the turn, and then pray that you can get through 10 and 11.

The "Abomination" was situated in 1921 when the course was built, perhaps because of the mercurial setting of the holes. Each plays over the same pond in a different direction, each at a different length. #9 is 173 White(carry is 155) and 199 Blue; 10 is 166(carry is 155) White and 179 Blue; and 11 is 193 (carry only 70) and Blue 213.

Most tournaments start at 1, although there are exceptions for shotguns and Member-Guest tournies. Not too many people are willing to test their warmup routing on 10. While not long, the fact that it is almost all carry, and the visualness of it, makes even the strongest knees weak.

We've never experienced criticism of the rota, in fact, it is the primary element that people take away from our course, usually because it has gotten their goat.

I daresay that none of our members would change it if they could

[Mike Hendren]

Neal,

You are well traveled indeed and have an excellent recall of GRB's triple-green at Brentwood CC in my hometown.  This was a rather clever marketing tool to sell memberships and lots, since there were three fairly distinct greens in close proximity connected by narrow un-pinnable strips between bunkers.  Not surprisingly, those strips are no longer maintained as putting surface.

It would be my pleasure to host you at my club (Cupp) should your travels bring you back to the Nashville area.  That goes for any of you other archies out there.

[mike_beene]

If the ball gets any longer,The Old Course will have five in a row(8-12)

[Trevor Ledger]

You are cordially invited - at your own expense I hasten to add - to visit us happy fools at Church Stretton Golf Club in Shropshire, England. Designed in 1898 by James Braid it lays claim to be the highest course in England although others dispute the fact... Without a doubt you would not dispute it after the climbs encountered after hole three, on hole seven and on hole nine.
Church Stretton opens with three par threes and returns to a single shotter on number five; do not be fooled, this is not a Mickey Mouse golf course, merely a fantastic example of making the best of the available land and working out how best to kill a golfer with a layout that is only 5020 yards (par 66).
I don't have a card in front of me so the following details are ball-park. Hole one is 178 yards long, fiercely up hill with an elevation of around 80 feet - maybe more. Thick gorse and the mountain-side to the right gives no margin to the slicer.
Hole two is 130 yards, blind over the edge of a hill spur and again uphill - the green being in a wonderful bowl giving respite from the ubiquitous wind.
Three offers variety - it is downhill... At 165 yards it is yet again blind with the green situated in a classic glacial hanging valley. Thereafter the small matter of a 150 foot climb up to the fourth tee is all that remains before Braid's initial challenge has been achieved - to get the golfers from base-camp - the clubhouse - to the plateau on top of the Long Mynd where remarkable drama unfolds.
I believe (probably in a minority of one) that the first hole was originally a short par four that has been lost due to clubhouse safety and the provision of a putting green. However, there is little evidence for this and the change must have been made within a couple of years of opening.
I could go on to point out that seven of the par fours are driveable - although wind direction would play a large part in this. The backdrop is peerless anywhere in the world - iron age fort, prehistoric ridge and furrow fairways, maintenance crew consisting largely of sheep...
The course also ends with a par three and yet the course record is a respectable 62 - quirky? Yes. Easy? No. The lover of manicured excellence will hate this course, despite the terrifically tight turf made up of natural fescues and bents. Equally unimpressed will be the slave to regulation par. But this is how golf used to be played and I, for one believe it is how it ought to be played still, pompous Luddite that I am.

[Brad Klein]

JakaB

a raw site for a golf course does not have an infinite variety of possible hole variations. And architects don't choose routings out of whimsy or abstract philosophy. Most routings are designed to conform to a site and to solve problems, Par-3s are often used on broken or awkward ground and thus can be very helpful to a designer when out of good room for a fairway. I don't know the land upon which the course in question is built, but generally, designers love par-3s as a way of bridging broken ground (dunes, wetlands, crevices, abrupt elevation changes) or knitting together the longer holes on a routing.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Brad,

In this case the 9th and 10th holes are over water.

[Bob_Farrell]

Mike Beene:

You're right. TOC could indeed have 5 in a row!!


Brad:

Check out my note a few before yours and you'll find that you're abasolutely right. As Pat said 9 & 10  play totally over a pond, and 11 crosses it diagonally.

Anyone who wants to come and try to make three 3's is more than welcome!!!


BF

[Scott Weersing]

I was looking over the layout for Chechessee Creek Club and it has 11, 12 and 13 as par 3 holes as well as no. 16.

So I searched to see if this topic was discussed before.

And here we are.

So does 3 consecutive par 3 holes take away from the flow of a course?

I am not sure I would want to play three in a row. I am fine with back to back such as Pacific Dunes, Cypress Point, etc, because the holes are very different. I am not sure you could design three different par 3 holes in a row.

[Bart Bradley]

I was looking over the layout for Chechessee Creek Club and it has 11, 12 and 13 as par 3 holes as well as no. 16.

So I searched to see if this topic was discussed before.

And here we are.

So does 3 consecutive par 3 holes take away from the flow of a course?

I am not sure I would want to play three in a row. I am fine with back to back such as Pacific Dunes, Cypress Point, etc, because the holes are very different. I am not sure you could design three different par 3 holes in a row.

12 is not a par 3.  It is a fairly short 4 (330yds or so).

I saw that the Chechessee website is incorrect.

Bart

[Scott Weersing]

I was looking over the layout for Chechessee Creek Club and it has 11, 12 and 13 as par 3 holes as well as no. 16.

So I searched to see if this topic was discussed before.

And here we are.

So does 3 consecutive par 3 holes take away from the flow of a course?

I am not sure I would want to play three in a row. I am fine with back to back such as Pacific Dunes, Cypress Point, etc, because the holes are very different. I am not sure you could design three different par 3 holes in a row.

12 is not a par 3.  It is a fairly short 4 (330yds or so).

I saw that the Chechessee website is incorrect.

Bart

You are right, the website is incorrect. I like the idea of a short par 4 between two par 3 holes.

So the three consecutive par 3 holes is rare.

[Ian Andrew]

Glendale in Hamilton used to have three.

The first was short tricky and over a creek from a high elevated tee.
The next was mid length and along the bottom of a nice valley with the creek on the right.
The last one was uphill through a deep valley and 215 yards to a green that was well elevated from the fairway approach.

I loved playing that stretch for the variety in the shots.
They were each wonderful holes.
The challenge increased as you played which was cool.

10 years ago the changes not only eliminated the back to back to back, but even removed the back to back threes too!

But don't worry, they still have the best "full" cross-over holes in Canada.

[Pete Lavallee]

The GCA Poster Child of quirk, Painswick in England, has 3 consecutive par 3's; the 5th plays 130 yards uphill to a volcano like Iron Age fort. Thr 6th, a Redan like 200 yarder plays from the highest point for miles and has a supurb view of the Bristol Channel. The 7th plays downhill at about 150 yards. Of course Painswick has 7 par 3's; the mix of 2 long, 2 medium and 3 short par 3's definetly breaks up the monotony.

[Michael Tamburrini]

Strathpeffer up in the north of Scotland has 4 straight par 3s (3, 4, 5 and 6).  It's a short course at 5000 yards, par 67.  I played it about 15 years ago and was utterly blown away by it.  The opening tee shot is spectacular - according to the website it is the longest drop of any hole in Scotland* and the scenery is superb.  It also helped that I played it on a beautifully sunny day, temperature in the 80s without a breath of wind (not the most common occurance in Scotland).

*I'd have thought the 17th at Lochwinnoch in Scotland has a greater drop, although it's a par 5 rather than a par 4.

[Lenny Polakoff]

I think patriot hills in rockland county,ny has 3 in a row.  8,9,and10 if I'm not mistaken.

[Doug Braunsdorf]

Douglaston, in Queens (where's Brad Klein?) has three in a row, 15-17; I am not sure if this was original, as this course was the first location of North Hills, which has since moved a handful of miles east on the LI Expressway. 

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