[John Kirk]

Hi everybody.  A friend and fellow GCA member are having an off board conversation about par 3 holes, and their relative lack of strategic options.  One of our prominent architects once referred to par 3s as "primarily a beauty contest".

Let's create a list where our members describe a par 3 hole they have played enough to have developed different playing strategies.  I'm mostly looking for par 3s where the strategy changes based on pin position, but strategic changes due to wind or green contours are also appreciated.  Be creative; I'm hoping players of all abilities contribute, and offer how they see the required shots for the chosen par 3 hole.

Beyond golfing in a beautiful environment, the greatest golf holes are the ones where strategy changes, and yield different playing characteristics from one day to the next.

I'll go first with a somewhat mundane example:

Pumpkin Ridge - With Hollow
15th hole - 157/175 yards

In this case, the strategy changes because of fir trees that line the right side of the playing corridor.  If the pin is on the right side, you almost have to play a fade to get close to the pin.  I generally curve the ball from right to left, but If I am playing reasonably well, I can get it to curve a couple yards to the right.

For pins on the middle to left side of the green, I'll play my usual shaped shot.

If the pin is on the right side of the green, and I'm playing well, I'll try to carve one in there.

Here's a side view of the green, courtesy of Randy Kirkpatrick:



I hope this idea catches on.  The goal is to explore the various strategies presented by par 3s.

[Dan Herrmann]

I think a lot of it is dependent on a good green crew on a day-to-day basis.  Creative hole positions combined with corresponding tee locations result in a dynamic challenge that can keep a hole fresh even after hundreds of plays.

[Kyle Henderson]

Strategic elements of Par 3 play mostly come in the following forms, in my experience:

1) Aiming for the "fattest" portion of the green to avoid peripheral hazards.

2) Aiming for a slope away from the pin to feed the ball closer when the hole location is too inaccessible to attack directly with the tee shot.

3) Playing to miss on a certain side of the pin (even off of the green) when misses anywhere else yield more difficult recovery propositions or putts.

[Alex Miller]

Rustic Canyon #6.

Options:
Carry to the green and 2 putt from the back bowl.
Bounce it in but deal with the swale.
Play up to the right and let the sideboards feed it down onto the green.

Depending on the conditions any one of these strategies can be used by almost any skill level of golfer.

[Chris Shaida]

#5 at Streamsong Blue has to be in this mix (there's a Mucci thread somewhere about this but I couldn't find it).  Kind of staggering number of options depending on wind, tee, pin placement.

[Charlie_Bell]

Hotchkiss #8.  Raynor 170-185 yards downhill.  Green is large and round with a 3-foot high plateau covering the back left quadrant -- 9 o'clock to 12 o'clock.  Thin strip bunker edging the green from 2 o'clock to 6 o'clock position.   Woods OB within 10 feet of green in back.

Strategy varies widely depending on:

1) pin placement
2) where you stand in the match (9-hole course; are you up, down, or even?)
3) whether it's more important to make par or to avoid (yes) a double-bogey

Because the plateau is so severe, putting across it when the pin is either front left or back right is a LIKELY 3-putt, there are many options off the tee, including the lay-up right, the bounce-on left, using the plateau as a backstop, etc.  The plateau becomes even more important on your second shot, depending on whether you: 1) reached the green, 2) are in trouble , or 3) laid up short deliberately.

So, with each of 4 significantly different pin positions, there are 2-3 options for the drive, and 2-3 options for the second stroke, INCLUDING putts !  And the fact that the semi-circular strip bunker is shallow but contains hard sand with a low lip means that there are 2-3 options for playing bunker shots.

[Steve Lang]

   I was taught that par 3's were all about accuracy, as long as one had a club sufficient to deal with the hole's distance.  

Using 1-2 clubs extra and swinging under total control can yield some great results off a tee.. where you can control ball flight..

[Pete Lavallee]

Using 1-2 clubs extra and swinging under total control can yield some great results off a tee.. where you can control ball flight..

What does one do when the par 3 requires driver?

[Jim Nugent]

John, I haven't played it, and I think pin placements are not so much the key, but holes like #16 at CPC have differing strategies.  It shouldn't be so hard to repeat that basic theme -- go for the green or have a safety valve -- on other courses. 

[Sean_A]

I agree with Jim.  For the most part not much built in (meaning wind not factored in) happening for par 3s unless its a good long one.  You get the safety play with short holes, 12 at Augusta being famous as such, but any shot there is still quite demanding.  Kiawah's water par 3 offers a shorter carry to the left.  Portrush's Calamity Corner offers a safer, but still dangerous route to the left.  Its the same theme with a matter of dramatics being the difference.  That said, many of the best par 3s don't really leave any options.  Because the options are so limited for 3s and the archie gets a great opportunity for a set piece, there is no good excuse not to have a very good set of 3s.

I will say that the most interesting par 3s I have come across lately are #s 2 & 5 at Worlington. There is enough space at both to be short and play for the pitch and putt par.  

Ciao  

[Ken Moum]

3) Playing to miss on a certain side of the pin (even off of the green) when misses anywhere else yield more difficult recovery propositions or putts.

Having played it less than a week ago, I have to mention #2 at Royal Dornoch.  I saw the value of hitting it short and pitching on first hand.  

That yeilded an easy four while I had to get up and down from left of the green for four after being in the right front bunker, and my wife, who is a pretty good player made a big number.

If I ever play it again, I'll be laying up.

K

[Ally Mcintosh]

On this hole, the green is about 45 yards long by 23 yards wide. It is relatively flat at the front before rising steeply to the middle back-right plateau and high back-left bowl. There is approximately a 10 yard wide fall off (short grass) to the right. There is approximately a 15 yard grade level run-in to the front. Large hidden bunker front right placed just over the dune ridge.

Tees vary the angles more than the distance. Photo is taken from the two front tees set in the middle (150 and 143 yards). Tee set off to right (160 yards) makes the hole semi-blind and the green more angled to the approach. If the pin is set right, the approach needs to be flown in over the dune ridge (and the ball will disappear for a fraction of a second). If the pin is set left, the ball can be run in using the kicker plate on the back of the left-side blow-out. Back tee (180 yards) is set off to the left with a straighter approach that brings the front-left blow-out in to play. Back pin positions (especially if downwind) are best reached by landing a ball near the front of the green and chasing up to the rear. Short grass at rear not as steep as it looks so ball can run through if too strong.

Prevailing wind is left to right and slightly from your back so helps shape ball in to the green surface. General tilt of green near front also allows balls to be gathered to front right pin position. Fear of the open sand scar to the right of the green and hitting the ball blind over the near dune ridge (particularly on the daily 160 yard tee) plays mental havoc by pushing people left where an over-hit shot can easily be caught up on the dune.

Personally, I think a lot of strategy can be built in to par-3’s and if there isn’t different shot options thought about by the architect, then he isn’t doing his job.

Photo by Larry Lambrecht

[Frank Pont]

Great work Ally, really want to come to see the new holes at Carne soon, just need to find the time....

[Thomas Dai]

Using 1-2 clubs extra and swinging under total control can yield some great results off a tee.. where you can control ball flight..

What does one do when the par 3 requires driver?

This is not an unknown situation for me, and I suspect for a few others too, especially against the wind. I either hit driver or aim for a lay-up spot which'll give me the best chance of an up-n-down, hopefully there is such a spot, there normally is. As Ken says above about the 2nd at Royal Dornoch, going for the green even on a par-3 isn't always the best way to make a decent score. Billy Casper laid up regularly on one of the par-3's in the 1959 US Open at Winged Foot, and he walked away with the winners trophy. As to alternative shots, I have also developed the driver-down-the-grip shot to take some distance off tee-shots and lower the trajectory (I no longer carry a 3-wood...now go with an extra wedge instead).

The photo of the new par-3 at Carne posted by Ally is terrific. I've seen the hole with my own eyes and am really looking forward to playing it one day.

I posted a thread a few months ago, which I can't seem to find now, asking what if all 18-holes were par-3's. Some cracking examples were highlighted in response. Some great examples of strategy and the need for pre-teeshot thinking. Good par-3's demand respect.

All the best.

[Jud_T]

Wouldn't any Biarritz where both sides of the swale are maintained as green qualify?  Of course we all know pinning the front portion of a Biarritz is heresy  . The 16th at Kingsley can be played with any manor of shot/club/trajectory.  I've hit anything from a full 6 iron right at the flag to a knock-down driver 30 yards right.

[David Whitmer]

#3 at Ballyneal. With the slope left of the green and the bunkers away from the green, you have options to land your ball on, short-left, short, etc.

[Jeff_Brauer]

I have always thought that without the tee shot relationship, Par 3 holes were good places for "concept shots" like the Redan, or other cross slope concepts, the Biarritz, the precision green (although this one works almost as well on any shorter 4 or par 5 as well.  With multiple tees and the ball on the tee, however, the precision green make more sense on a three par), etc.

I tend to favor the precision/small green on par 3 over 210 yards from the back tee to challenge long iron play of better player.  I would even admit that an island green is pretty good precision test on a short par 3, even if wildly overused (I haven't done one in 20 years)

I also feel long par 3 (maybe over 240 from the back) holes are good places for partial cross bunkers 20-30 yards short of the green, if we can arrange the tees so most players are using fairway woods that need some roll out. (think Shinny No. 2 or similar)

A multi plateau green works well on par 3's simply because they get more ball marks, so the plateaus give you small targets within a bigger, easier to maintain green.  I occasionally do the ultra long or ultra wide  green on a par 3, as well, with shallow but wide seemingly another good green for a medium to short par 3, for reasons the plateau green is.  However, for some reason, the really big green, like 18 at Indianwood doesn't seem to hold interest on a par 3 as it might on another type of hole.

The "hit it for the fat part or go for the pin" strategy almost seems wasted on a par 3 as it is a basic staple of other holes.

Maybe I am like an old football coach, who over time starts to favor the down and out on third and long, based on experience.  But, I like the topic, since after many years of thinking about such things on airplanes, I agree that it seems that in theory, certain types of holes work best on par 3 (or short par 4, long par 4, etc.)  Also, in certain wind conditions.

[Josh Tarble]

In my opinion, no matter how many options an architect may design, the hole MUST be playing firm and or windy for their to be multiple options for me.  Otherwise, it's fly it as close as I can to the pin.  

[David_Tepper]

Ken M. & Thomas D. -

Yes, laying up on #2 at Royal Dornoch is a widely accepted way to play that hole, especially in medal play. Many double- and triple-bogies made when attempting to reach the green have taught me that lesson.

I also now lay up on #6 there as well. There is a small flat area just short & left of the green that is my target. If the pin is up front I can putt on to the green from there. If the pin is further back I usually chip on.

DT  

[Jason Thurman]

Josh, I recall some fairly firm greens yesterday. I also recall you utilizing a slope to work a ball to within a few inches on a par 3... that was pretty strategic.

[Patrice Boissonnas]

Here is one that I like : the 11th at Castle Stuart


I know Gil Hanse and Mark Parsinen did a lot of head scratching before they came up with this fantastic one shotter.
Depending on wind, pin position, skills, you have so many choices but in the end it all comes down to how well will you execute the shot you planned.

[Pete Lavallee]

Here's a good example of a long par 3 with strategy, the 6th at West Sussex. Playing around 200 yards there is a cresent of fairway to the right for those who can't make the carry over the pond. The green is long and thin which makes the second shot from the bailout right very hard to hold. Kind of a reverse 16th at CPC; an option for the bold play and room for everyone to finish the hole.

[Howard Riefs]

Wouldn't any Biarritz where both sides of the swale are maintained as green qualify?  Of course we all know pinning the front portion of a Biarritz is heresy  . The 16th at Kingsley can be played with any manor of shot/club/trajectory.  I've hit anything from a full 6 iron right at the flag to a knock-down driver 30 yards right.

Good call on Kingsley #16, which I thought of at first.  Fly it to the pin, aim 35 yards right and have it carom off the hill or even run it up from the front.

Here's a good description and photos from Choi's Template Hole Madness match-up in 2011.  

TEPaul Division, #9 Seed, Kingsley, Hole #16, 225 yards

From Tim Bert: From the tips, a low runner well right of the target works rather well.  Mike DeVries teed his ball up on this hole and hit his shot well right of the green.  It was far enough right that I recall thinking he must have really pushed it out there to the right.  He seemed pleased enough with himself despite what appeared to be a lackluster effort.  Well, we all learned the lesson of "architect knows best" as we watched his ball land well right, bounce and roll to the left, disappear from view behind a small mound, reappear on the green, and trickle left until it settled rather nicely on the green not too far from the pin.

[John Kirk]

I'm having trouble thinking of a simple par 3 design that encourages a draw for left hand pin positions, and a fade for right-hand positions.  There have to be some out there.

Special thanks to Ally and Jeff for their comments.

The early verdict is that par 3 strategy is limited, and that their function is often as a connector between longer holes, using land unsuitable for longer holes.

I like the 12th hole at Bandon Trails, which plays 225-250 yards.  Huge green, maybe 30 by 60 yards.  There's a big mound adjacent to the front right of the green, which makes getting up and down to front pins very difficult.

There are large bunkers on the left, but the carry distance over them is only about 130-150 yards.  A mid-handicapper with a reliable fade may see that as the best line of attack, which I believe is correct.  Pull ity left, though, and the ball is in the native and unrecoverable.

One time, when the fairway hadn't been watered and was brown, I hit a 3-iron about 8 feet high that rolled the last 75 yards to the green.  Fun, though the dry grass was an aberration.

To summarize, the left side looks intimidating, but a fade off the left side is the most reliable method of making par.  Good golf hole.



I don't know who too this photo.

[Steve Lang]

Using 1-2 clubs extra and swinging under total control can yield some great results off a tee.. where you can control ball flight..

What does one do when the par 3 requires driver?

Hit the hell out of it!

p.s. Pete, How's the home brew these days?

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