[James Boon]

Nobody has mentioned the Devil's Cauldron yet?

Nobody, apart from Forrest in his opening post?   Great picture by the way!

17th Manor House.

Designed by Clive Clark and Peter Alliss

Marc,

I've not played there so interesting to see what their 17th looks like. I recall it being mentioned somewhere by the club that its apparently one of the top 10 par 3s in the country???  

Cheers,

James

[Thomas Dai]

Two holes from the The Rolls of Monmouth.

The 13th is a droppy par-3 - http://www.therollsgolfclub.co.uk/the-course/gallery/
Plays 175 yd from the back tees, photo seems to be taken from partway down the hill.
Nice hole, plays tough, wicked green.

The 18th at The Rolls is a long slightly droppy 225 yd par-3 over water with the lovely stately home style mansion in the background. Photo taken from well left and partway down the hill. Evil green to putt.  - http://www.therollsgolfclub.co.uk/the-course/gallery/

Very nice course The Rolls of Monmouth worth playing if your in the area or passing by on the nearby M50. The Rolls used to be the home of one Mr Rolls, co-founder of Rolls Royce.

All the best

[Rees Milikin]

By no means famous, the side by side drop shot par 3 (219) and drivable par 4 (266) at Alfred Tup Holmes golf course in Atlanta.  It also happens to also be situated on a Civil War battle site.



Looking up from the par 3

[Dave McCollum]

This thread got me thinking about the most extreme drop shot 3 I’ve played:  hardly famous, the 6th at Blue Lakes CC in Twin Falls, Idaho.   Since the hole says 200+ yards on the card, but plays more like 155, I thought the drop was 150 to 200 feet.  Measured it on Google Earth and it was only 100-140 feet.  Visually, it looks like you’re shooting off a cliff.  I guess my point is that over a hundred feet it looks huge and that some of these estimated drops may be a bit high.

[Russell Lo]

The Valley Club of Montecito has a coouple of Par 3s that I'm not sure would qualify for "drop shot" par 3s. Would the 4th off of the first hill, and the 11th be considered drop shot holes?

[Matthew Petersen]

Not sure how I forgot this one, since it's where I last played golf ...

#3 at the Princeville Makai course on Kauai. No more than 130 yards or so. Steep drop shot hole. Pond in front, and death beyond. Hit a wedge and hope you guessed right.

[Tom Allen]

Not a famous hole at all, and not a great course either, but in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg Golf Course's No. 12, "Sky High," claims to have a 200 foot drop.  I played it, and it may very well be close to that.  Someone might be able to measure on Google Earth and confirm the actual drop.

[Mike Hendren]

Tom, here's the hole you mention at Gatlinburg Golf Course:



I often skipped law school to play there and as poor students we actually walked and carried!  Must have been relatively late in William Langford's career - 1955 I believe.  I haven't played there since Bob Cupp renovated it a couple of times (case in point - pot bunker in the photo).  Interesting that the drop shot par three is preceeded by three consecutive par fives played through very narrow valleys.   Some good quirk there, at least back in the early 80's when it was known as Gatlinburg Country Club.  

Bogey

[Chris Cupit]

No picture   but Atlanta Country Club (site of the old Atlanta Classic) has a nice drop shot--thirteenth hole.  About a 9 iron or wedge.  

[Tom Culley]

Number 3 on the Dukes at Woburn is a pretty well known drop shot hole with a difficult green.

[Rees Milikin]

Tom, here's the hole you mention at Gatlinburg Golf Course:



I often skipped law school to play there and as poor students we actually walked and carried!  Must have been relatively late in William Langford's career - 1955 I believe.  I haven't played there since Bob Cupp renovated it a couple of times (case in point - pot bunker in the photo).  Interesting that the drop shot par three is preceeded by three consecutive par fives played through very narrow valleys.   Some good quirk there, at least back in the early 80's when it was known as Gatlinburg Country Club.  

Bogey

My brother used an old putter off of this one year and made par.  Love the Smokies, but Gatlinburg & Dollywood...not so much.

[Garland Bayley]

Google Earth has Sky High at 175 feet.

[Steve Lapper]

Despite this thread's devolution into a test of elevation measurement, I'm shocked not a soul has mentioned what I think might be the very best drop shop strategic combo of greens and surrounds that test shot values of trajectory, skill and aim: the wonderful 170yd 16th at Myopia Hunt Club.

Here the golfer must precisely land the ball a few critical feet short of an oblong green that slopes away for the large part before pouring across the back of the green into the shaven edges of it's narrow back pit bunkers. There is but one very small concavity within this green that any full aerial shot has any chance of holding, and such a shot must either have the fully-lofted trajectory of an 7/8/9 iron or be buffeted by a stiff head-on wind. When down wind, its downright sphincter puckering! Add in the wavy shape of the firm approach surface that plays havoc with anything but a perfectly struck shot and you have drop shot par 3 nirvana. This is but one of 18 reasons this 6500yd course is diabolically difficult while oozing sugary charm.

With only one or two exceptions, none of the otherwise legitimate drop shots mentioned on this thread come close to the strength of this hole. It's that good. Otherwise good rounds come to this hole only to die like a ship wrecking on the rocks outside its home port. Cheers!

[John Kirk]

Despite this thread's devolution into a test of elevation measurement, I'm shocked not a soul has mentioned what I think might be the very best drop shop strategic combo of greens and surrounds that test shot values of trajectory, skill and aim: the wonderful 170yd 16th at Myopia Hunt Club.

Here the golfer must precisely land the ball a few critical feet short of an oblong green that slopes away for the large part before pouring across the back of the green into the shaven edges of it's narrow back pit bunkers. There is but one very small concavity within this green that any full aerial shot has any chance of holding, and such shot must either have the fully-lofted trajectory of an 7/8/9 iron or be buffeted by a stiff head-on wind. When down wind, its downright sphincter puckering! Add in the wavy shape of the firm approach surface that play havoc with anything but a perfectly struck shot and you have drop shot par 3 nirvana. This is but one of 18 reasons this 6500yd course is diabolically difficult while oozing sugary charm.

With only one or two exceptions, none of the otherwise legitimate drop shots mentioned on this thread come close to the strength of this hole. It's that good. Otherwise good rounds come to this hole only to die like a ship wrecking on the rocks outside its home port. Cheers!

Nice post, Steve.  Very inspired!

[KBanks]

Mid Ocean 7 and North Berwick 10?

Maybe less than famous in their own right, but good and useful holes on two famous courses.

Ken

[Max Sternberg]

How about 11 at Kapalua Plantation? Rivals Pebble 7th in terms of backdrop and is probably more difficult when the wind blows

[Mark Molyneux]

Maybe I'm still high from the Crump Cup but wouldn't #14 at Pine Valley have to be in the discussion, especially since a drop shot in the rest of South Jersey is anything that has a green more than 10 feet below the tee box?

Now, one of my favorites is #8 at Hideaway Hills in Kresgeville, PA with a 180 foot drop to the green.

Then we have the infamous #7 at Pocono Manor East, which is only 77 yards long and drops close to 80 feet. They've fixed it up some but its infamy is documented in America's worst golf holes, where it made the 18 worst holes... it's not though it is an acquired taste.

[Mike_Clayton]

Thomas

The course in Thailand - Blue Canyon. 14th hole - downhill 7 iron to green pretty much surrounded by water.
Tiger did play there - once as an amateur in 1995 and one year he gave Ernie 8 shots start after 54 holes and beat him in a playoff.

The 16th at Barnbougle off Mike Keiser's high tee overlooking Lost Farm is the biggest drop of any par three in Australia. It makes 11 at NSW look flat.
Most people don't even know the tee is up there.

[Mark Molyneux]

While we're talking about par 3 drop holes, I'm curious to know how people adjust distance if the change in elevation is known. If the par 3 is 185 yards and the green is 80 feet below, with no wind and within 100 feet of sea level on both ends, what's the adjustment? Say I hit 5 iron on the flat for 185, what would I hit to this theoretical par 3?

[Bob_Garvelink]

I will put Robert Trent Jones (Masterpiece # 6) @ Treetops against anything in the world.  It's the hole that put Northern Michigan golf on the map.  Play it on a fall day when the colors are changing and it's as good as it gets!  If I knew how to post a picture I would.  I encourage you to google it.

[Will Lozier]

I will put Robert Trent Jones (Masterpiece # 6) @ Treetops against anything in the world.  It's the hole that put Northern Michigan golf on the map.  Play it on a fall day when the colors are changing and it's as good as it gets!  If I knew how to post a picture I would.  I encourage you to google it.

It's the hole that put Northern Michigan golf on the map.  Bob, shouldn't you be citing this quote?!

[Mark Pearce]

Nobody has mentioned the Devil's Cauldron yet?

Nobody, apart from Forrest in his opening post?   Great picture by the way!

17th Manor House.

Designed by Clive Clark and Peter Alliss

Marc,

I've not played there so interesting to see what their 17th looks like. I recall it being mentioned somewhere by the club that its apparently one of the top 10 par 3s in the country???  

Cheers,

James

I used to play there quite a lot 20 years ago.  Actually not that great a hole, since the watery surrounds pretty much made it a question of hitting the green or re-loading.  Green was always soft, too.  Actually not a bad course to play but MHM would have hated it as long green to tee walks made a cart almost essential.  A course I often think I should get back to to see what I make of it now.

[Kris Spence]

Certainly not famous but one of my personal favorites, Roaring Gap's 6th hole  "Do Drop"

[Adam Lawrence]

Has anyone mentioned the seventeenth at Halifax GC in Yorkshire? I always loved Ogden, as it was called, when I was a kid, because of the many moorland streams that ran across the fairways - my Dad and his friends would often find them, while I was generally short.

The course is by Braid, later modified by MacKenzie, and it's a really good piece of routing work imo. You work your way up the valley for eleven holes or so, before playing up onto the open moor for a few holes. The seventeenth brings you back into the valley. It is a _long_ way down. I remember vividly the first time I played it; the four of us selected clubs ranging from wedge to 5 wood! It was very confusing.

Lovely course, Ogden. Must go play there again. But it's one for the summer.

[Josh Bills]

Michael,

Here is a photo of the same hole at Gatlinburg from Golfdom in 1962.  Other than the potbunker, and maybe the green is bigger, doesn't look like much has changed.

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