The best courses with five or more par-3's

[Matthew Rose]

Par-3s are fun. I think they're also great equalizers. Great for the high marker and always a challenge for the low marker if you got to hit a longer club. So I'm never adverse to seeing five or six on a course.

[Jim Nelson]

Rancho San Marcos outside Santa Barbara has 6.  After playing it, I had to go through the scorecard to confirm.  No way it can be considered a great course, but having 6 par 3s certainly makes it noteworthy. 

[Bill Gayne]

Doonbeg has five par threes and five par fives for a total par of 72. The two nines are unbalanced with the out nine being par 37 and the in nine being par 35.

[Bill_McBride]

Pasatiempo is another that hasn't been mentioned.

Maybe that's because #3 is really a par 4.   

[Matt Vandelac]

Golden Valley in MN, Great Tillie recently redone.

[Tom Birkert]

Sunningdale New probably deserves a mention.

2 - plays a short iron, long, narrow, two tiered green
5 - medium iron to a small target with trouble all around
10 - long iron to a well contoured green
14 - medium / long iron to a two tiered green
17 - short / medium iron

With the exception of 17, they are gorgeous holes too!

[Brad Isaacs]

Telluride golf club was originally 6 par fives ,6 par 4,s and 6par 3s, but unoteworthy otherwise.

[John Shimp]

Chechessee. They are slanted to the side though with 3 requiring a long iron or more. 

[mike_beene]

Bel-Air has 5.

[Sam Morrow]

Glen Mills has 5 really good par 3's that are all very different. Miramont also has 5 par 3's but I wouldn't compare them with the ones at Glen Mills. Le Triomphe also has 5 pretty good par 3's, like Miramont it's Trent Jones Jr.

[Grant Saunders]

I would like to put forward Arrowtown Golf Club in New Zealand as a course worthy of this discussion.

While it doesnt feature on any world 100 lists, it most definitely ticks a lot of boxes when discussing great courses.

It wasnt until some time after my first play that I even realised the course had 5 par 3's. This to me is a sign of an "anomaly" being incorporated so well that it doesnt present itself to the player is an obtrusive manner. Also, the course features no bunkers which I also did not realise until later.

The first hole plays 162 metres down hill to a semi obscured green. Landing short can propel your ball through the green. Playing long leaves a downhill chip:



The sixth hole plays 133 metres across a gully to a green that offers very little support yet demands a shot that is best carried onto or just short of the surface:



The twelfth plays 156 metres slightly downhill to a green with a large bank to the left. A soft ridge running through the green can magnify how far a ball will move right if playing away from the bank:



The Fourteenth plays 187 metres uphill to a green which falls away to the left. The natural contours support sliding a ball in right to left off the slope on the right of the green. For me, this is one of the most fun shots I have and best par 3's I have personally played.



The final par 3 sixteenth, is possibly the quirkiest and most fun. It plays 139 metres to a green set in a tight little saddle. The green slopes off both the front and back so distance control is premium. It is very easy to push or pull a shot from the tee and leave the most interesting of recovery shots. It is also possibly the smallest green I have seen and I paced it to be approx 190m2 (Idont know what that is in sq feet.) It is less than 10 metres wide in the middle. The second photo highlights just how small and sloping it is.





Check out the rest of the course here:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,34305.0.html

[Andy Shulman]

Bedford Springs has a top notch group of five par-3s.

[Kris Shreiner]

Great post! It is astounding to me...the number and array of courses, all over the world, of quality, that have five or more par threes. Ian's observation that Stanley Thompson's top 5 ALL had at least 5 par threes was particularly notable. Wonderful one-shoters(even those that are a stretch for us mere mortals) really do spice up a round's excitement factor. There's a certain giddy anticipation (or fear) that accompanies stepping up to the tee on a par three. While it can be felt on other shots of different par holes, the immediate verdict of that tee shot can really get you going...one way or the other!

Cheers,
Kris

[Patrick Kiser]

Pasatiempo would have been my first choice, but Tom  beat me to it.

Good call on Lawsonia by Phil.  Some really challenging 3s there I'd say.

I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned ... Friar's Head. 5 par 3s in the 4th, 8th, 10th, 12th, and 17th.

Or how about LACC-North with the 4th, 7th, 9th, 11th, and 15th.

[Danny Brassil]

Old Head has 5 par 3's, the 3rd,7th,11th,13th and 16th.

[J_ Crisham]

Beverly has 5 par 3's that range from 130yds to 245yds. All of which head in different directions so wind can play a significant role.

[Edwin Roald]

I believe that more par-threes are very effective to make sure we test the better players with the longer clubs, while even adding to the entertainment for the common golfer. It has been said here that par-threes for fun. They are, and they are useful to cover rough terrain and connect natural playing corridors. This lowers constfuction cost, and ultimately greenfees. I believe more par-threes are the future.

I am doing a course now that has six par-threes, simply because the dimensions of the property and the terrain suggested it.

Tom Doak, may I ask why the Chinese don't want more threes from you?

[Alex Miller]

Pasatiempo would have been my first choice, but Tom  beat me to it.

Good call on Lawsonia by Phil.  Some really challenging 3s there I'd say.

I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned ... Friar's Head. 5 par 3s in the 4th, 8th, 10th, 12th, and 17th.

Or how about LACC-North with the 4th, 7th, 9th, 11th, and 15th.

I believe LACC North can now have anywhere from 3 to 5 par threes thanks to new tees at 7 and 11. It's a testament to that course that the fourth is the worst par 3 of the bunch.

[Tom_Doak]

Tom Doak, may I ask why the Chinese don't want more threes from you?

Edwin:  As funny as it sounds, their answer is "tradition".  They are so used to seeing the normal par-72 setup with four par-3's, that the client is very concerned about doing something different for his first project.  They did, however, give me carte blanche for our second project there ... which is funny because the best routing there worked out to have four par-3's and four par-5's without me thinking about it!

All of the Asian countries [or at least Japan, Korea, and China] seem to have some sort of superstition about numerology and balance buried somewhere deep in their culture ... they don't try to explain it but the par-72 thing is enormously important to them.  I've got a Japanese client who is determined to go against the grain and reform his course to a par-70 layout, but the project is on hold for the time being ... perhaps his bankers are nervous about the change!

[JNC Lyon]

Swinley Forest?

[Mike Kosak]

Forest Highlands - Canyon has 6; starting at 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14.  Par 71

[Ally Mcintosh]

Tom Doak, may I ask why the Chinese don't want more threes from you?

Edwin:  As funny as it sounds, their answer is "tradition".  They are so used to seeing the normal par-72 setup with four par-3's, that the client is very concerned about doing something different for his first project.  They did, however, give me carte blanche for our second project there ... which is funny because the best routing there worked out to have four par-3's and four par-5's without me thinking about it!

All of the Asian countries [or at least Japan, Korea, and China] seem to have some sort of superstition about numerology and balance buried somewhere deep in their culture ... they don't try to explain it but the par-72 thing is enormously important to them.  I've got a Japanese client who is determined to go against the grain and reform his course to a par-70 layout, but the project is on hold for the time being ... perhaps his bankers are nervous about the change!

That point about numerology is interesting. I know that the Chinese consider the number 8 to be lucky beyond the point of regular garden variety superstition. I guess the 72 (being a multiple of 8 and just generally a rounded, even number in golf terms) might be partially to do with that...

I'm glad to see so many great examples of great courses with 5 or more threes though... Ian's example of Stanley Thompson's best 5 courses was particularly enlightening.

[Sean_A]

It has taken me many years to recognize this as my favourite course, but Kington has six par 3s, however, the best finishing hole in golf is in true generous Kington style called a par 4.  They are all terrific holes and as a group are a difficult set to be beaten anywhere.

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Ciao