Courses with the best overall set of Par-5s

[Niall C]

Scott

OT - I didn't realise that you were going over to Czech Republic or I would have strongly suggested that you play a new course in Prague called Prague City which was designed by Jeremy Ford. Jeremy has GCA'er Jonathon Davidson working with him as well as Mick McShane who was lead shaper on Kingsbarns and the Castle course. I was out there a couple of times during construction and the course looked like it was going to be superb, a great example of how to take a flat site and make it interesting IMHO.

Niall

[Scott Warren]

Very late notice trip, Niall. I'd have loved to check it out, but sadly I had to get back here to work. Robin Hiseman was staying on to play a couple of courses in Prague - perhaps Prague City was among them.

[Bill Brightly]

I would submit the three par 5's on Ridgewood's Championship Course for consideration.  In the Barclay's they were #3 590 yards, #13 625 yards and #17 595 yards.  Over four days the pros had a total of 8 eagles.  #3 has Tillinghast's trademark fairway mounds separating the fairway.  One has to challenge the left side of the fairway and the mounds to get an angle to try for the green in two.  The green is set at a 45 degree angle to the fairway, is three tiered and well bunkered left and right making the approach angle very challenging.

#13 at 625 yards plays slightly downhill from the tee to fairway.  Again this fairway is separated by mounds with tall grass.  These mounds are mostly unreachable from the tee box but mishit tee shots have to contend with the mounds on the second shot.  The green is slightly front to back with a bunker guarding most of the approach in front.

#17 at 590 yards may be one of the best par 5's in the Met Area.  Recent tree work on the left side gives this double dogleg some options off the tee.  The hole turns around a tulip tree where photos show that Tillie hung out there with his drawings.  From 200 yards in the land moves dramatically right to left requiring well struck approaches.  

This pro has hit a safe shot, propbably a 3 wood, straight down the middle and did not try to draw a driver with the dogleg. It is a full 3 shot hole for the pros from here.


I forget this pro's name, but what a finish!!!

Tillinghast did a great job on his par 5's. I think 3 of the best holes at Baltustrol lower are par 5's, including a classic pair at the finish, Holes 17 and 18.  Mike is correct, Ridgewood has superb par 5's. Of the 5 on the property, I would rate four of them as excellent. The pros will play one of them (pictured below) as a par 4 from forward tees, which makes a full iron shot REALLY hard as the green complex is set up to receive a 3rd shot. (I get confused with the composite course numbering.)

[James Boon]

Ben, the 8th hasn't convinced me yet, but I shall see how I feel after Sunday...

Mark, really looking forward to it. I'm sure there will be plenty there "of interest"...

Bill,  I almost mentioned Rye or Swinley as having none.

James

I read your post and struggled to remember the par 5's at Castle Stuart even though I've now played the course 3 times in the last week and a half. The one at Castle Stuart that I do remember and like a lot is the 12th along the water which again is similar to the 16th at Dornoch which has been taking a bit of a pasting on another thread.

Niall

Niall,

A shame you don't remember them as I seem to remember the par 5s fondly as a strong point of the course, though i did only have the one round.

The 2nd with its split fairway, then the greensite down by the water and its various tiers and runoffs. The 6th with its fairway bunker dead centre, just where you want to be to play to the very narrow green (you'd be dead green high but wide, something Tom Doak mentions on the other par 5 thread at the moment). The 12th where there is plenty of room and undulations to run one in from the right, even if it does play a bit like 16 at RD  . And finally the 18th, with the downhill approach to the green tempting you to go for it.

Maybe I'm seeing something that isn't there, but at £150 a go, I'm in no rush to try again 

Cheers,

James

[Patrick_Mucci]

Mike Policano,

I've always thought that Ridgewood's par 5's were the best collection anywhere.

There's nothing gimmickie about them, they're just good.

# 3 East, # 2 Center, # 4 West and # 8 West are hard to match

What's interesting about them is that other than # 4 West, none of the other par 5's have any fairway bunkering, and they're still great holes.

[Mike Nuzzo]

I don't talk about the par 5s at Wolf Point much
I should because they are really good
There are 3 of them - so that gets a point from Ally
14th green is Wild and the only green side forced carry on the course - I can't par it any more...
I like 3's angles and bunkers - green is cool too
And one of Shooter's favorites is #9 the long one around the lake - has a great 2nd shot

[Tom_Doak]

There have been a bunch of good courses built since 1996, but my list of the best par-5's up to that time was:

Muirfield
Long Cove
The Golf Club
Pebble Beach
Cypress Point
Desert Highlands
Woodhall Spa
Crystal Downs, and
Pine Valley - both of these would have been higher except they only have two par-5's
The Lakes (Australia)
Augusta National
Muirfield Village
Pennard
Harbour Town
Shoal Creek
The River Course Blackwolf Run
Roaring Gap, N.C.

[Niall C]

Tom

Is that list in order or just a random bunch of the best ?

James

After I posted on Castle Stuart, I stopped to try and remember what the par 5's were. I think the reason I couldn't really remember them straight off was that the other 3 played like a long par 4 for some of the guys I was playing with (certainly not for me except the 2nd hole where I was just off in two). Like the rest of the course they were nice, good even but not great IMO. I would say this about the 18th though, its about the only blind drive on the course and for all the world your perception is that the fairway is about 50 yards to the right of where it actually was. The tee, the tee markers, the cut of the rough all seem to suggest the line is to the right. Very annoying when clearly the green is gettable in two (and very inviting) but the lie won't allow.

And you are right about the price but then I wasn't paying top dollar.

Niall

[Mac Plumart]

Golf Club of GA Lakeside has a real nice set of par 5's.  9 and 11 in particular.  11 is one of my all-time favorites.

Here is a link to 11...

http://www.golfclubofgeorgia.com/lakeside_11.html

I am sure it is not among the world wide greatest of all time...but it is a hole I look forward to playing everytime I play the GCofGA.

[James Boon]

Niall,

You are probably right that while all the par 5 holes at Castle Stuart are good I'm not sure if any of them are great, though I think some elements of the holes come close. The issue for me is that I don't remember any of them as being week, poor or fillers (I must admit I dont remember the drive on 18 being a problem) and that seems from my experience to be the crux of this thread.

We can all think of courses that have great par 5s, but a lot of these courses will also have mediocre or poor par 5s. Getting a course where all the par 5s, no matter how many, are good or interesting holes, nevermind great, doesn't seem to happen often. And yet we are always talking about courses that has a great set of par 3s.

Cheers,

James

[Greg Tallman]

   Cruden Bay

Do you even read the topic or just type Crduen Bay in every thread?

[Anthony Gray]

   Cabo

[Greg Tallman]

There have been a bunch of good courses built since 1996, but my list of the best par-5's up to that time was:

Muirfield
Long Cove
The Golf Club
Pebble Beach
Cypress Point
Desert Highlands
Woodhall Spa
Crystal Downs, and
Pine Valley - both of these would have been higher except they only have two par-5's
The Lakes (Australia)
Augusta National
Muirfield Village
Pennard
Harbour Town
Shoal Creek
The River Course Blackwolf Run
Roaring Gap, N.C.

I can only remember 3 and 16(love this one) from Long Cove, no wait there is #6 which I see little special about. Theo other escapes me.

Muirfileld Village I would agree as it has 3 of the funnest par 5's on the same course i have encountered.

[Mark Pearce]

   Cruden Bay

Do you even read the topic or just type Crduen Bay in every thread?

I think he types Cruden Bay every time in the hope that one day it will be right.  Since 6 and 13 at CB are both great holes, this may be the occasion.  Perhaps he'll move on now?

[Greg Tallman]

   Cabo

Disagree, Our(Cabo del Sol) 5's are solid and scenic but nothing warranting metion here. The 12th is underappreciated but still...

Diamante is much the same actually, nothing awesome unless you like driver, driver, driver, wedge type of par 5 toward the end of the round.

[Tom_Doak]

I can only remember 3 and 16(love this one) from Long Cove, no wait there is #6 which I see little special about. Theo other escapes me.

Muirfileld Village I would agree as it has 3 of the funnest par 5's on the same course i have encountered.

Greg:

Long Cove only has the three par-5's -- 3, 6, and 15.

I always liked #6.  It is the shortest of the three, but the tee shot is angled and the green is narrow and perched up, so if you miss it to either side it's a difficult up and down.  Been a long time since I played it, though.

[Anthony Gray]

   Roko Ki is no Cruden Bay but it has an all-world par 5 finish.


     


   Anthony

[Anthony Gray]

   Cabo

Disagree, Our(Cabo del Sol) 5's are solid and scenic but nothing warranting metion here. The 12th is underappreciated but still...

Diamante is much the same actually, nothing awesome unless you like driver, driver, driver, wedge type of par 5 toward the end of the round.

  The par 5 17th at Diamante is more Scotland than Scotland.

  Anthony

[Greg Tallman]

   Cabo

Disagree, Our(Cabo del Sol) 5's are solid and scenic but nothing warranting metion here. The 12th is underappreciated but still...

Diamante is much the same actually, nothing awesome unless you like driver, driver, driver, wedge type of par 5 toward the end of the round.

  The par 5 17th at Diamante is more Scotland than Scotland.

  Anthony

The par 17th atDiamante is a hole unplayable by anyone not creating 75 MPH clubhead speed.

[Greg Tallman]

I can only remember 3 and 16(love this one) from Long Cove, no wait there is #6 which I see little special about. Theo other escapes me.

Muirfileld Village I would agree as it has 3 of the funnest par 5's on the same course i have encountered.

Greg:

Long Cove only has the three par-5's -- 3, 6, and 15.

I always liked #6.  It is the shortest of the three, but the tee shot is angled and the green is narrow and perched up, so if you miss it to either side it's a difficult up and down.  Been a long time since I played it, though.

LOL - Pretty good reason the other escaped me!!! I thought 15 was par 4 around the the marsh? So it is 15 that I really liked. Apart from the green complex at 3 I did not see anything great... that said the green complex does make it a wonderful hole. #6 just seemed blah compared to the rest of the course to me... only thing going for it was my biuddy's hous along the fairway for a quick beer stop. Since he has moved over to the 14th(thought it was 15th) the sixth is a connector for me. The green is OK but seemed artifical and just sort of weird.

[Anthony Gray]

   Cabo

Disagree, Our(Cabo del Sol) 5's are solid and scenic but nothing warranting metion here. The 12th is underappreciated but still...

Diamante is much the same actually, nothing awesome unless you like driver, driver, driver, wedge type of par 5 toward the end of the round.

  The par 5 17th at Diamante is more Scotland than Scotland.

  Anthony

The par 17th atDiamante is a hole unplayable by anyone not creating 75 MPH clubhead speed.

  I picked up twice on that hole. But the second time I had somewhere I needed to be. Next time I'll own that hole.

  Anthony

[Greg Tallman]

   Cabo

Disagree, Our(Cabo del Sol) 5's are solid and scenic but nothing warranting metion here. The 12th is underappreciated but still...

Diamante is much the same actually, nothing awesome unless you like driver, driver, driver, wedge type of par 5 toward the end of the round.

  The par 5 17th at Diamante is more Scotland than Scotland.

  Anthony

The par 17th atDiamante is a hole unplayable by anyone not creating 75 MPH clubhead speed.

  I picked up twice on that hole. But the second time I had somewhere I needed to be. Next time I'll own that hole.

  Anthony

Good decision: WVU 73 - UK 66

[Anthony Gray]

   Cabo

Disagree, Our(Cabo del Sol) 5's are solid and scenic but nothing warranting metion here. The 12th is underappreciated but still...

Diamante is much the same actually, nothing awesome unless you like driver, driver, driver, wedge type of par 5 toward the end of the round.

  The par 5 17th at Diamante is more Scotland than Scotland.

  Anthony

The par 17th atDiamante is a hole unplayable by anyone not creating 75 MPH clubhead speed.

  I picked up twice on that hole. But the second time I had somewhere I needed to be. Next time I'll own that hole.

  Anthony

Good decision: WVU 73 - UK 66

  And a dozen shrimp.


  Anthony