Great Bunkerless P3's and P5's

[James Boon]

Tony,

Thanks for the Brancaster and Portrush pics. Yes the 8th at Brancaster is difficult to photograph, so here is an attempt at an aerial that hopefully gives the idea...


Cheers,

James

[Scott Warren]

What sort of terrain is left of the green, James?
Could you take the safer line off the tee, hit your second over the marsh to finish left of the green and still have a decent third shot?

[Ben Stephens]

Scott,

The terrain front + left of the 8th green at Brancaster is mainly fairway with a left to right shallow slope. The black line on James' diagram there is a another option for the 2nd shot to lay up short of the green but it still means a second leap over the second tidal marsh. This will then give you a bump and run chip shot to the green

This hole is really deceptive! It is hard to pick the right line off the tee and 2nd shot toward the green depending on the wind direction which is usually downwind. Ive had eagle, mainly birdies and pars, the odd bogey etc. It is a great risk/reward par 5.

Also Hunstanton's 11 is one of my favourite bunkerless par 4's which almost plays like a par 5 in the Autumn.

Ben

[Leo Barber]

Kevin,

There are two fantastic unbunkered short holes at Paraparaumu in NZ.

5 is flanked by steep banks that fall steeply down and leave really difficult pitch shots back. 16 has a steep high bank on the left and a sharp fall off on the right. There is a picture of it in the Courses by Country section. The green is very narrow and it takes a better than average shot to hit the green.
2 has bunkers well short of the green and they largely out of play. There are no bunkers around the green - but plenty of tough pitch shots.

Hi Mike

These are some pictures of the two holes you have mentioned at Paraparaumu Beach.  Both these holes have featured prominantly in the fortunes of NZ Open aspirants.  I remember Frank Nobilos head to head with Greg Turner coming to an abrupt end at the 5th on the final day when he pulled a six having gone over the green twice chipping.  He pulled six again on a Par 3 in his dual with Grant Waite in the Open of 92, this time it was at the 16th as the ball returned to his feet on several occasions as he tried to up and down it.  The thing to note on both these holes are that they are relatively short at 148m for the 5th and 130 odd for the 16th but the wind and the wonderful contours around each of these greens makes a Par treasured.

The 5th Hole Paraparaumu Beach from behind the green. 



The 5th Hole looking as it is played (Mike you will notice your beloved Poplars have been removed in the foreground, still a few weeds to go however).  Russells original plan had the teeing ground perched up under the hill on the left with the angle of play much more across the axis of the green and all the contours around the green on display.  This tee was never built instead when the course opened the tees were situated to the right of the current tees (much more evident on the previous picture).  In Russells return visit in 1952 he noted that he still thought a tee as suggested would improve the hole.  With the addition of the 8th back tees in the 60s and the strong will of one of the "founding fathers" who simply hired a bulldozer and started pushing earth one weekend, a gully was filled in and the site of the current tee was established.  The only detraction from the current tee is that the full extent of the cavernous drop offs aren't necessarily evident from this level and the further you move left up towards Russells original site the more the contours around the greens are exposed and the better the tee shot feels.  The only other change which has occurred to this hole which I think also has some significance is the partial filling in of the drop off to the left hand of the green.  I know Bob Glading, one of NZs finest golfers winning the NZ Open as an amateur in 46 and 47 and someone who played the course extensively during the 50s and 60s lamented the fact that this had been done and had this to say in the Clubs history book

 "I confess sadness , however that the deep hole on the left which in my days used to give one real problems in getting the ball onto the green has been largely filled in.  I have no argument about reducing the depth but this has been overdone until it no longer holds any terrors for the average golfer"



The 16th from slightly right of the playing line and probably doesnt quite show the narrowness of the green or quantify the difficulty of hitting that narrow strip playing into the predominant diagonal left to right breeze

[Leo Barber]

Kevin.

13 at Barwon Heads is bunkerless - and a fine hole.

[RichMacafee]

Barwon Heads 13 is a fantastic short bunkerless par 3. That is some zoom you have going there Leo, makes the 13th Beach clubhouse look a hell of a lot closer than it is!

The 13th is the best par 3 out of the 5 at Barwon Heads. The next best 2 IMO are 8 and 4, and both of them are bunkerless also - and both excellent holes.

[Paul Stephenson]

The 8th at Uplands (Thompson) I believe is in Golf Magazine's top 500 and has no bunkers.  Measures 232 from the back tee.



Not a top 500 in the world, but the redesigned par 3 4th at my home course gets a nod from me.  Plays 190 from back tees.  The angled green makes it a difficult one to hit.  Hitting it over the back leaves you at least 5-6 feet below the putting surface looking at all of that water.  It makes for a challenging recovery.

[Charlie Goerges]

Sean, this hole looks like perfection; like it stands at the edge of the earth.





On a couple of the other shots you posted, it looked like there used to be bunkers on them, but that they were filled in. Is that the case, or were those "grass bunkers" designed in?

[Matt_Ward]

Sean:

What are the lengths for the holes you posted from Kington ?

Thanks ...

Gents:

On the public side I would throw forward the fun par-3 12th reverse Biaritz Jim Engh created at Four Mile Ranch in Canon, City CO. Just a great hole for a mere length of 150+ yards max. Wish I had a photo to show.

Ditto the entire course has NO bunkers and the concept works very well.

I would also throw forward the long par-3 14th at The Ocean Course -- if memory serves, there's no bunkers on that hole either.

Love the pics provided of Paraparaumu in NZ -- can someone provide me the length of the par-3 5th and what the general wind pattern is when playing it?

Thanks ...

[Leo Barber]

Love the pics provided of Paraparaumu in NZ -- can someone provide me the length of the par-3 5th and what the general wind pattern is when playing it?

Matt

The 5th at PB plays 148m and the wind blows on a left to right diagonal towards you through a small gap in the LHS dunes.  It can be calmish on the tee but funnelling through up near the green.  Characteristic of many of Russells greens, the axis is angled across the play line.  Tough pins back left but I would say the toughest pin of any on PB is front right.  Miss the green and get greedy with the recovery and you will be sharing stories with Frank Nobilo.

The 16th plays 126m

I would add that distance on all four of the Par 3s is largely irrelvant when selecting a club.  The wind (velocity and direction) literally can determine that on one day at 16 you can be playing wedge and the next day a 5 iron.  The very best players at PB play a manufactured knockdown shot with a less lofted club when faced with such headwind which warms the soul of any links enthusiast who may be watching.

[Paul Jones]

Peachtree Golf Club - Hole 2 Par 5.

[Matthew Rose]

15th at Blackwolf Run, Meadow Valleys.

[Phil McDade]

15th at Blackwolf Run, Meadow Valleys.

Matt:

Good call -- maybe my favorite hole in the entire Blackwolf Run complex.

[Mark Pearce]

Completely agree with Sean's recommendations at Kington and with 13 at Silloth - a great hole.

[Sean_A]

Sean, this hole looks like perfection; like it stands at the edge of the earth.





On a couple of the other shots you posted, it looked like there used to be bunkers on them, but that they were filled in. Is that the case, or were those "grass bunkers" designed in?

Charlie

I think the club did experiment with sand on a few holes, but for three reasons the club decided to abandon the idea. 

1. The sheep kept mucking up the bunkers.
2. Sand kept blowing onto the fairways.
3. Expense - Kington is one of the most frugal clubs I know of.  They are able to keep membership dues to £370 a year which has to be one of the great bargains in golf. 

Matt W

I don't really know the yardages of the holes.  Its rarely calm enough for it to make any difference.  My best guesses would be

#9: 140ish (usually between a 6 and 9 iron for me)

#12: 165ish (usually between a 6 iron and 2 hybrid for me)

#14: 500ish (usually reachable in two, but don't go long)

The entire length of the course is under 6000 yards.  Probably somewhere between 5600 and 5900 yards. 

Ciao

[Kevin Pallier]

The snaking P5 16th at Loch Lomond is interesting with it's water crossings - particularly the one nearest the green. I believe the pro's may play it as a P4 ?

Interesting to have no-one talk about  the 10th at Pacific Dunes ? No love for it here ? for those that have played it ?