Par 3 openers

[Jeff_Mingay]

Royal Lytham and St. Anne's is obvious ... where are there other good examples of 1st hole par 3s that work well, and are fine holes?

[Thomas Dai]

Church Stretton. Uphill. Allegedly 180 yds. Take the headcover off your driver and don't expect to make par very often!


Yes, there is a green at the top of the slope and this is it and the view....



Ashburnham. Downhill. 180 yds. Railway line behind the hedge at rear. Toot, toot!


Atb


Photos per the club's websites.

[Bill_McBride]

Walton Heath Old.  Not a great hole and was bypassed when the Ryder Cup was played there 30+ years ago. 

[Sean_A]

I am firmly in the camp of the par 3 as an opener isn't ideal,  but I quite like Huntercombe's.  I think because its more about putting than anything else.  Hitting the green isn't seriously testing and the green is difficult enough to accept that no matter where the hole comes in the round (warmed up or not) par is a good score.  Though I had a soft spot for West Cornwall's brutal opener until the daily tee was shortened for safety reasons.  I think because I accepted that as an opening shot it was extremely difficult so I treated it as a par 4. 


Ciao

[Jeff_Mingay]

Thanks for the replies, found this too .. after I posted:


http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php?topic=52868.0

[Rees Milikin]

The only course that I have played with a par 3 opener is Arrowtown Golf Club and although I have nothing to compare it with, I think it is a fine opening hole. 

The hole plays 177 yards downhill and has punchbowl green characteristics, which helps steer any wayward opening shots onto the green surface.

[Marty Bonnar]

While it must be 25 years since I played it last, I seem to remember Kilspindie's Par 3 opener was a nice hole.

http://kilspindiegolfclub.co.uk/htmlk/gallery.html

The rest of the course is pretty good fun, too!

Cheers,
F.

[Phil McDade]

Jeff:


Boat of Garten in the Scottish Highlands might be distinct among courses with par 3 openers in that I think the hole might be the least distinguished on the course. It's not an awful par 3, but rather mundane for what follows, which is a bunch of very good holes laid out by Braid over some really interesting terrain. Great variety of par 4s there.

[Mark Chaplin]

Knole Park, Liphook and Royal Mud Surrey all have good long par 3s to start.

[Paul Gray]

One with more than a little home bias: Hayling.


Again, it's home bias and a produce of growing up at the place but I'm never sure why people are so anti the par 3 opener, particular those with higher handicaps who might be afforded a shot there. Surely you'd rather hit a five iron than a driver, no?

[Patrick_Mucci]

I believe that Westchester might have opened with a par 3 and that the nines have since been reversed

[Ken Moum]

I think the only par three openers I've played are at Boat of Garten and Kilspindie. None here at home that I recall.

Nevertheless, I have long ago concluded that if I ever manage to be in a position to commission a golf course I will begin my discussions by imploring my architect to PLEASE find us a workable par three to begin.

My reasoning is simple..... virtually every course I play suffers from cramming too many groups onto the opening par four, which guarantees a backup at the first par three.

With an opening par three the problem is eliminated.

Besides, I like the idea,of starting without having to hit driver.

K

[Kyle Henderson]

Pacific Grove Golf Links possesses the only par 3 opener I have played on any course that wasn't exclusively comprised of par 3 holes. More incredibly, as many of you know, the par sequence begins 3-3-4-4-5-5-4-4-3-3!!!

[Adam Lawrence]

Addington. The Shire, Seve's firm's only UK design not only starts with a par three, but has an island green. A bit mental, but the sort of thing that happens when you decide you are going 6-6-6 pars and no two consecutive holes will have the same par

[Jason Topp]

I have read somewhere that a par 3 opener significantly reduces the number of groups you can start on a busy day.  I am guessing it is unlikely you will see too many par 3 openers on new regulation courses.

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Southport & Ainsdale's opener is a good hole. The Grange (Braid design in Dublin) opens with two par-3s 

[Jeff_Mingay]

I have a project in the Master Plan/design phase where a change in routing/sequence of play could result in a par 3 opener, which could be a major improvement. Selling that idea could be a challenge. All of these examples are very helpful, thanks all.

[Colin Shellard]

Ones I can remember playing, several of which have been mentioned already:


Southport & Ainsdale - Tough opening shot requiring a mid-long iron
Kilspindie - Fairly straight forward 155 yards wihout too much penalty for missing - played a fortnight ago.
Boat of Garten - can't remember any detail so must be a bit bland
Walton Heath (Old) - Tough long iron / hybrid, but not a lot to see form the tee
Kintore (Aberdeenshire) - again mid-long iron with a green that's difficult to hold, slightly above you and running from left to right
Aboyne (Aberdeenshire) - 230yard par 3 with a large tree guarding either side of the green
Deeside (Aberdeenshire) - steeply downhill mid/short iron, at least ensures you'll get the ball in the air for your first shot
Hazelhead No 2 (Aberdeen) - mid/ short iron nothing special


It's not something I've ever seen on a "modern" course, I suspect most owners / designers wouldn't dare for battle accepted  wisdom of how a course should be laid out. Personally I quite like it, especially the ones that aren't too long, a solid 3i is a fair bit harder than a so-so driver...

[Thomas Dai]

And another .......


The Berkshire (Blue).


Atb

[Tom Kelly]

Nobody has mentioned Meyrick Park, it's a par 3 but plays more like a par 5...

[Chris Cupit]

Colin,


I played many years ago in the British Mid-Am at Walton Heath (back when they still had that championship).  Anyway, was the first at WH always a par three or was it a short par four that was eventually bisected by a road?  I have no idea why I think that may be the case but that "fact" seems stuck in my fading memory!

[Adrian_Stiff]

I have read somewhere that a par 3 opener significantly reduces the number of groups you can start on a busy day.  I am guessing it is unlikely you will see too many par 3 openers on new regulation courses.

Generally it is a bad idea as you tend to need 11 or 12 minute intervals, so a lot less £££. The upside is the course is less crowded. Only once did a par 3 start 1st on The Stranahan, because of the possible time problem, we actually went very short  (104 yards) and for an island green, you are either on the green/apron or in the water really and we keep the 8 minute tee times okay. The real no-no is probably a 200 yarder, though if you have a call through rule it could probably be ok.

[Mark Chaplin]

Chris you are quite right re 1 WHO.

[Matthew Rose]

I went to the Australian Open one year it was played at Victoria GC. The first hole there is actually a very short four (about 260 yards) and they played it as a three for the championship. That might be the only time I've seen a par four actually shortened to a three for an event.

[michael j fay]

Just played York Golf and Tennis in York, ME which opens with a 216 yard par three with a road down the left side and out of bounds less than 6 feet left of the green. Mt. Washington used to open with a three but that has been changed.

Southport and Ainsdale is my favorite par three opener.