Does a Par 3 get more

[Patrick_Mucci]

interesting, more alluring, as it gets shorter and the consequences for missing get more dire ?

I think of holes like # 11 at Pacific Dunes, # 6 at NGLA, # 17 at Sand Hills and # 7 at PBCC and can't help thinking that while the golfer's expectations of hitting the green increase as the distance gets shorter, I also can't help but think that the mental turbulance created by the thought of missing the green has to heighten the interest in the hole since so much finesse is required, versus a 230-250 par 3 where the only option you have for hitting the green is a full wood.

[Bill_McBride]

interesting, more alluring, as it gets shorter and the consequences for missing get more dire ?

I think of holes like # 11 at Pacific Dunes, # 6 at NGLA, # 17 at Sand Hills and # 7 at PBCC and can't help thinking that while the golfer's expectations of hitting the green increase as the distance gets shorter, I also can't help but think that the mental turbulance created by the thought of missing the green has to heighten the interest in the hole since so much finesse is required, versus a 230-250 par 3 where the only option you have for hitting the green is a full wood.

Agreed. 

[Thomas Dai]

Difficult not to agree with these sentiments.

Wee, titchy par-3's with wee, titchy greens and severe penalties for missing them or getting out of position for your first putt are terrific. One of the reasons pitch-n-putt can be so enjoyable...........and sometimes so damn frustrating!.

atb

[Jud_T]

Yup.  Kingsley 2 & 9 are the poster children for this topic.  A bit of a love/hate affair and THE litmus test to suss out the died-in-the-wool scorecard and penciller from the true match play devotee.

[Joe Hancock]

The 17th @ TPC Sawgrass is on full display this weekend. I keep thinking, as I watch the pros play this with much trepidation, that the hole would be so much easier for them without the severe penalty for the slightest miscue. They should be eating that hole alive at 150 yards and shorter during this tournament, but they don't. Like usual, I expect it to provide great theater this afternoon.

Joe

[Mark Chaplin]

The Postage Stamp is surely the finest example, although I hit a 5 iron into a strong breeze.

[Bill_McBride]

The Postage Stamp is surely the finest example, although I hit a 5 iron into a strong breeze.

The hole formerly known as Sandy Parlour is certainly a devilish little hole!

[Mac Plumart]

Does 11 at Shinnecock for into this discussion or is it too long for what you are taking about?

[Tim_Weiman]

Miss the 7th at Barnbougle to the left and the golfer well probably face a great deal of frustration.

[Gib_Papazian]

My particular bugaboo is #13 at Spanish Bay, the site of more than one emotional trauma in my personal golfing history. It seems so innocuous, especially since the strong point of my game are the short irons - just a simple 125 yard pitch across a ravine to a hillside shelf.

The target is not really tiny relative to the yardage - and the left front of the green, a good bail-out spot - is only about 115 from the tee. To hit it in the back bunker, you've got to overcook the shot by a wide margin and the lower sand pits nudged into the hillside are only in play for a complete whiff 20 yards right of the target.

Yes, there is quite a bit of wind from right to left (or quartering against) and the hourglass green is set at a 45 degree angle, but any reasonably decent swing finds the putting surface and at worse a 35 foot lag putt.

So why have I made everything on this hole from 2 to 11?

The worst part is that my score on this little f*cker is invariably disproportionate to how I stand walking off the 12th green. The 11 - that is right, my eightuplet (jeez, is that even a word?) - occurred after rolling in a birdie on 12 to go two-under in a tournament.

It is a simple matter to butcher the hole, just change your mind in the middle of the backswing with the pin tucked back right, climb down into the ravine to play a recovery, have the ball roll back to your feet twice, hit it in the back bunker, catch it one tick thin coming back towards the pin, make your way down the ravine again, leave the next one short in the front bunker - under the lip - blast out, fall over backwards, try to wipe the sand out of your butt crack, skull it over the green and ask the cart tart to mix up a triple Bloody Mary.

Now, standing six over par on the 14th tee - with a three club wind racing off the ocean right in your chops - it is important to finish off the experience with a apres-puke duck slice onto Highway 68, thereby turning a 72 into an 82.

But let me stand on the 13th tee eight over par and I guarantee even a careless lunge at the ball will end up a foot away for a tap-in deuce - thereby proving again my long-held observation regarding the perversity of the universe.

      

[Gib_Papazian]

Mac,

#11 at Shinnecock is a difficult three, but as a practical matter, missing long and left (which most do) leaves the opportunity to putt up the slope and leave with a dignified bogey.

#13 at Spanish Bay is like that hottie ex-ballet dancer you meet that looks like a friendly spinner until you discover she's got broken glass in her muffin.

By then, it is too late.

   

[Thomas Dai]

Two splendid examples of wee par-3's.

The 8th/17th at Burnham & Berrow's Channel Course. Two tees, one at 110 yds, the other at 140 yds. The zoomed-in photo doesn't really do the hole justice. The green is both tiny and very slopey. Both evil and wonderful at the same time.


I recommend anyone going to the post-Buda day in Sept at Burnham & Berrow try to play the Channel Course as well as the Championship course if you have the time. If you do, you're unlikely to forget it, as the Channel is a terrific 9-holer, and the 8th/17th is a real little beaut! The other holes are all pretty damn good too.

and

the 3rd/12th at The Bann 9-holer at Castlerock, NI, photographed from the rear of the 2nd/11th green. Only 95 yds, but don't miss the green and if you do hit the green expect to take more than 2-putts. Again, it's both evil and wonderful at the same time.


atb

[SteveOgulukian]

interesting, more alluring, as it gets shorter and the consequences for missing get more dire ?

I think of holes like # 11 at Pacific Dunes, # 6 at NGLA, # 17 at Sand Hills and # 7 at PBCC and can't help thinking that while the golfer's expectations of hitting the green increase as the distance gets shorter, I also can't help but think that the mental turbulance created by the thought of missing the green has to heighten the interest in the hole since so much finesse is required, versus a 230-250 par 3 where the only option you have for hitting the green is a full wood.

Agreed.  There are many, but the 14th at Engineers is a fine example too.

I forget which pro was asked what makes a great par 3 and they responded that the 1st requirement of a great par 3 is one that is no longer than 150 yards.   Unfortunately, on the tour at least, short par 3's are becoming a thing of the past because of the modern day bombers leave themselves such short approaches into par 4's that lengthening par 3's is needed to offset this.

[Adam Clayman]

Gib, You mentioned the reason... the wind. Well, I suppose we should blame those spit and kleenex condominiums. They partially block the golfer from accurately gauging both it's direction and velocity.