Half Par HolesVariety is the very spice of life, they say, and variety is what makes half-par holes so much fun to play.
Half-par holes, whose length is somewhere in between par 3’s and 4’s, or par 4’s and 5’s (driveable par 4’s & reacheable par 5’s), are among the most popular holes that golfers enjoy. They are popular because “anything” can happen, particularly eagles. Eagles are exceedingly rare for “normal” par holes as the only way you can make them is by hitting an approach shot that ends up in the hole (<0.1% chance). In comparison, half-par holes are short enough that you have a reasonable chance at an eagle via putting.
The brilliance of half-par holes is not just that you can make eagles (if that was the case, we would just add a stroke to all pars), but that hole are long (and difficult) enough to produce bogies and double bogies in balance with birdies and eagles. Mathematically put, half par holes produce scores with higher standard deviation. Philosophically put, emotional highs are higher, lows are lower.
But they are not without controversy, and #12 at Chambers Bay, the most obvious half-par hole on the course, has plenty of detractors…
Tee ShotFrom the tee, this is a strange par 4. Most “driveable” par 4’s look just like any other par 4’s, just shorter. #12 at Chambers is a rare beast, a par 4 that looks like a par 3, just longer.
There is a narrow ribbon of fairway (A) that leads ever higher to the green, which is barely visible between two giant sand mounds. Every visual cue is telling you this is a par 3, but the card says this is a par 4. This dichotomy is jarring to many players. But there is no reason for despair; the visual cues are correct. This is a short par 4 that should be played like a long par 3.
Unlike many driveable par 4’s, laying up in the fairway is not necessarily the safest way to play this hole. The widest part of the fairway (A) is barely 20 yards wide (about 180 yards away). While the steep side slope effectively widens the fairways by bouncing wayward shots back to the middle, trying to hit this fairway is not necessarily easier than trying to hit the green with the driver.
 that guards the green’s entrance. Not that hitting that bunker is the end of the world. While the face is steep and you will be hitting a blind shot, you should have a very good uphill lie to extract your ball from it. Because of this, it probably makes sense even for short hitters to try to go at the green from the tee.<br /><br />[img]http://hhgpsa.bn1303.livefilestore.com/y2pHIS1Yf7xqpUnw4POXCwFMyEwBN3KGrvhT39RraG1VSRXdlU6PGaZaAvRQVMu5gVl4lJKU7RFnMEjD_H8fv0UczM1ZDLhJdhMiHDeScvtH_Tx6zQ0PuMkAfnvb4qrnZKLSVNuvIdsFdQjDw0AF0IBoSrDvvTXb7FNNgNfXPQmomU/Hole%2012%20-%20WP_20150419_16_44_25_Pro%20%28800x450%29.jpg)
You may think twice about hitting a driver off the tee is if your tendency is a miss to the left. The straight line to the middle of the green is over the bunker in the front. If you aim down that line and hit a hook, there is a very good chance that you will end up in the dunes to the left (H). If you are lucky. If you are not so lucky, you will end up in the OB area (C), one of the very few OB that is in play at Chambers.
While most of the green is hidden behind the dunes to the left, there is much more room to the right of the green than it looks from the green. Better yet, if you hit a fade or slice into this dune, there is a decent chance that your ball will bounce down from the dunes (F) and back towards the middle of the green. If your slice is bad enough, the ball will land on the other side of the dune (G, very likely on the cart path). Even this isn’t so bad, as long as your ball does not roll back all the way down to the tee on the cart path. The area has very sparse vegetation and you should have a lie to hit out of. With such a large and deep green, getting the ball back somewhere near the pin is a reasonable shot to pull off. Your drive should favor the right side, even if you hit a fade.
A straight drive to the opening is not necessarily ideal. With a very firm green, landing your drive past the bunker in the front probably means that your drive will bounce through the green and end up in the side slope in the back of the green (I). From there, you will not have any chance to get your chip shot near any pin in the back.
An ideal drive is a high draw that starts at the right edge of the green. This drive should bounce towards the middle of the green with ease.
Approach ShotIf you ignore the above advice and decide to lay up, you better have a very good distance control with your wedge. The green is very large, but is divided into five distinct sections. To have any reasonable chance at a birdie, you must hit the correct section with your wedge. This is easy for lower sections (front), not so for higher sections (back).
If your ball is on the side slope (B), depending on the lie, your only choice will be to advance it somewhere near the green, preferably the right side that has an opening from the fairway.
Around the GreenWith the punchbowl green, any miss is going to end up somewhere on the side slope. Some side slope lies are better than others. The side slope on the right (F) are the most ideal as the entire length of the green is accessible to you and you have side slope on the left (H) and right (I) to guide your ball towards various sections. While vegetation will provide some resistance, the covering here is thin enough that you should have a decent shot to get the ball back to the green.
If you miss long with your drive, you better hope that the pin is in the front bowl section. The back slope is the highest part of the hole and everything falls away from it. Any pin located on the top section will not be accessible. Most shots out of here, will require the side slope on the opposite side to bring the ball back to the green.
If you miss deep to the left (J), again, you have an entire length of the green to work with. However, since the green mostly runs away from you, the access to the pin will not be easy.
Putting
Each green sections have distinct challenges facing the putter.
The easiest section is the bowl within a bowl section in the front left (4). You have a sideboard to the left and a sharp ridge to the right that will dominate most of your putts. Since these slopes will direct the ball back to the middle of the bowl, most of the putt you have (as long as it is uphill) will be fairly straight and makeable. There is more slope than it looks to the front, but this is more of a problem if you have to cross multiple sections.
The second easiest section is the back left (2). Again, you have bow within a bowl situation where many approaches will end up somewhere near the middle part of the bowl. But there is less of a side slope here and you will face more side breaking putts. If you remember that everything breaks to tee, you should do okay.
The back right sections is very similar to the back left except that it is located higher on the green and has more back to front slope. Going to any other section from here will be very difficult as there is a lot of elevation going back down.
The right front (3) is not so bad as the pin is in the same section. If your ball is here and pin is anywhere else, there is almost no chance that you will even get the ball close to the pin.
The most difficult part is the middle back (1). This is the highest section of the green and such, everything runs away from it. There is also multiple slope at play as the spine running down from the back of the green intersects with the deceptive left to right slope that is located just next to it. There is no straight putt here.
The players will feel a great urgency to birdie here. As long as you can land your drive somewhere around the green, your chances of making a birdie will be reasonable. If not, you can easily end up with a bogie and leave the hole with desperation that may lead to some very bad decision on the next hole.