Most intimidating par 3's?

[Bill Seitz]

How about Blackwolf Run River #4.  219 yards with little room for error except laying up:

Intimidating, yes. And an awful hole to boot.

And on probably every Pete Dye course I've ever played.  Heck, the Kampen course at Purdue has three of these holes.  

Can't believe nobody's mentioned #11 at Crystal Downs yet.
190ish, OB right, can't be above the cup or you'll have another 30 yd. pitch.
I've never played anything harder.

Dan, I thought of that one as well, but only having played it once, I didn't get a good feel for how the rest of the green played.  If I remember correctly, we had a front middle pin, which was plenty tough. 

[Scott_Burroughs]

A lesser-known toughie is Cardinal's (NC) 220-yard 12th, recently re-designed by original archie, Pete Dye.  Plaque by tee:  "the hardest par 3 I ever designed.”

Pic is taken from tips:

[Jud_T]

Can't believe nobody's mentioned #11 at Crystal Downs yet.
190ish, OB right, can't be above the cup or you'll have another 30 yd. pitch.
I've never played anything harder.

Dan,

I agree, but is it only so intimidating cause the greens are running at 11?

[JNagle]

3 Daunting par 3's - each has a wonderful combination of length, elevation (especially Bedford and Buffalo), wind and a challenging putting surface.


The "Pulpit" hole at the Country Club of Buffalo - to be extended back to 185 yards.


The "Volcano" hole at Bedford Springs.


We could also include the 14th at Rolling Green, but here is the 10th.  +/- 260 uphill

[Mark McKeever]

Good call on Rolling Green.  That hole is a beast.

Mark

[Chris Roselle]

Good call on Rolling Green.  That hole is a beast.

Mark

I actually find the 14th Hole at Rolling Green more intimidating than #10...

[Josh Tarble]

Par 3's do not have to be stretched to 250+ yards to be intimidating.  The 2nd hole at Kingsley plays 162 yards from the tips.  If you miss the green in the wrong spot and get too greedy all hell can break loose.  I holed out for a smooth 10 recently after getting cute with a funky lie instead of taking a drop.  Pros and most strong players, and most players frankly, deplore "unfair" conditions and rub of the green that can lead to big numbers in medal play.  I wonder how much the stroke play vs. match play issue raised in another thread has lead to the excessive lengthening of some of these holes and courses in general.

Jud, I agree that holes don't have to be super long to be intimidating.  But aren't the shorter ones usually more intimidating the second time around?  

[Chris_Hufnagel]

Par 3's do not have to be stretched to 250+ yards to be intimidating.  The 2nd hole at Kingsley plays 162 yards from the tips.  If you miss the green in the wrong spot and get too greedy all hell can break loose.  I holed out for a smooth 10 recently after getting cute with a funky lie instead of taking a drop.  Pros and most strong players, and most players frankly, deplore "unfair" conditions and rub of the green that can lead to big numbers in medal play.  I wonder how much the stroke play vs. match play issue raised in another thread has lead to the excessive lengthening of some of these holes and courses in general.

Jud, I agree that holes don't have to be super long to be intimidating.  But aren't the shorter ones usually more intimidating the second time around?  

Josh, I agree on the "second time around" comment...

I remember my first time playing #2 at Kingsley - as I got to the tee I thought to myself "What is all the fuss about?"  I hit it to the back, right of the green and two putted for a par and walked over to #3 tee without giving it much of a thought.  Now 75+ plays later, I know what trouble lurks.  I still know where to hit it and know how to get to the next tee with my dignity, but with all the previous doubles, triples, and worse - I have a greater tendency to try and "aim" my tee shot which only makes the smaller muscles takeover and get in the way...regardless of this and the difficulty the hole presents - it remains one of my favorite holes on the course...

[Mark McKeever]

That picture of CC of Buffalo gets me every time.  It almost looks doctored its so intense.  I get nervous just looking at the picture.

Mark

[JNagle]

The look of the 6th at Buffalo is even better now that many of the trees seen in the image are gone.  Vast swaths of naturalized areas void of trees are beginning to appear.  Thinking more about Rolling Green makes me realize 3 of their 5 par 3's are worthy of the list.  #16 is no slouch either.

[David Kelly]

I am greatly intimidated by the 11th at St. Andrews.  Knowing the history of the hole and also knowing tthat death awaits in the form of both the Hill and Strath bunkers, having to deal with the wind, and seeing the other groups of golfers playing the 7th, teeing off on 12, etc., just makes it an intense hole for me.

The 10th at Prairie Dunes is also intimidating.  It plays 185yds from the back and the wind is ever present.  The hole is slightly uphill, blind in parts and trouble lurking right and left, long and short.  The hole rarely plays its distance - sometimes you need to take 2 or 3 more clubs and sometimes you have a helping wind of 20 or 30 mph and you have to guage how much to take off and yet still reach and hold the green.   Add to that the fact that you are teeing off in front of the patio, dining room and bar and it is an intimidating hole.

[Greg Tallman]

The "Pulpit" hole at the Country Club of Buffalo - to be extended back to 185 yards.

That may the strangest, most intimidating yet coolest looking hole I have ever seen.

[David Davis]

I agree on that, super cool and strange looking hole. Do you know how much of that is natural and how much is shaping? Could we get away with calling that a raised green with gentle run offs on both sides?

[Jeff Taylor]

# 11 at Fenway and # 11 at Pacific Dunes

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jeff,

Thanks for the photo of # 11 at Pacific Dunes.

# 4 at Old Marsh is intimidating.

Love the CC of Buffalo hole, it's unique.
Is the photo taken from a tee or another vantage point ?

[JSlonis]

Jim,

That photo of CC of Buffalo is unreal!!  I really thought it was a photoshopped image at first. It looks like one of those old Gary Patterson golf cartoons.

[Tim Martin]

#4 at Shennecossett-"The Anthill"

[David Whitmer]

#12 at Muirfield Village. I have no idea how the pros score on it, but it's very intimidating to me. Being right-handed, it's really easy to come off one and splash it, or come over the top of one and go long-left, where an up-and-down is brutally difficult. I think I've played there eight times, and probably have four doubles.

Also, Sven mentioned #8 at Butler National. I second that one.

[Mark Pearce]

4 pages and nobody has mentioned 2 or 6 at Dornoch?

I like Tom D's nomination of 9 at Brancepeth Castle.  For me, though, it's 5 at Anstruther.  235 yards to a tiny green, tucked behind a high ridge on the right, with the North Sea hard by the left and prevailing wind into and from the left.

[Sean_A]

Jeepers, in the spirit of short par 3s, I forgot a doozy; The Glen's 13th or Sea Hole.  Anyone who has played it will get the drift.

Ciao

[Ben Jarvis]

4 pages and nobody has mentioned 2 or 6 at Dornoch?

I like Tom D's nomination of 9 at Brancepeth Castle.  For me, though, it's 5 at Anstruther.  235 yards to a tiny green, tucked behind a high ridge on the right, with the North Sea hard by the left and prevailing wind into and from the left.

Mark- see reply #45 on page 2.

Having played the second at Dornoch (and failed miserably), I can attest to its intimidation!

[Patrick_Mucci]

Short par 3, # 13 at Pine Tree.

180 yard par 3, # 17 at Boca Rio.
Perhaps someone can post the photo that  appears in Ran's write up under courses by country.

[Jud_T]

Boca Rio #17

[Phil McDade]

For me, though, it's 5 at Anstruther.  235 yards to a tiny green, tucked behind a high ridge on the right, with the North Sea hard by the left and prevailing wind into and from the left.

A dogleg par 3 -- always tough, esp. when the wind is up.

[JNagle]

According to the Ross plans portions of the plateau were present at the time of construction.  The lower left bunker face was a quarry wall.  We are working on the bunkers at the moment and there are plenty of rocks in the face of that bunker.





There was talk of the 14th at Rolling Green.  Although the fall off is not as significant as RG the carry, bunkering and green contours make the 8th at Lancaster a stout par 3.  There are some similarities between the two holes.