It's a par-4. If the scorecard said it was a par-3, at 265 yards and with a tiny green, I would have been lynched. I saw every number from 3 to 7 made there at the Renaissance Cup, and heard about a couple of 2's ... but I would guess the scoring average was well above 4, and maybe closer to 5 if everyone had finished the hole.
Tom, doesn't this and your other input about this hole ..."only great because its called a 4"..."I would have been lynched"... make the precise case I've been making for quite a while... that an individual hole par is an unnecessary prism by which to experience or contemplate or, for professional designers, "push" architecture?
Is the 7th at PB all of a sudden a poor, less memorable, or less stirring hole, if we don't put a par on it and just say "107 yards?" Wouldn't that hole you're referencing be better received and enjoyed if IT had no par associated with it? You're "lynched" if it's a par 3, and thought silly if you call it a 4...otherwise you're telling us that one oughtn't to design a hole of that yardage. If you don't put a par on ANY of them, doesn't "that" part of it fizzle out...where people can get down to experiencing/imbibing the architecture for its fundamental value and its provocation of recreation?
I think you and others are right to surmise that the "toughest" yardage to design to good effect is this 230-280 and to my way of thinking, it's precisely the distance we need to see a bit more of...a hole that's "juuusssst" within reach of many players, but indefinitely so, according to the day and one's abilities...what is more fun for match opponents or a player trying to make a medal number than a hole like that? Same thing on the other, longer end of such types of (currently called half-par) holes...the 450-490 yard hole...again, just at the limit of reaching in two shots for a great majority of players...why would we needlessly spoil whatever the virtues of the hole by declaring what "par" standards are before a swing has been made?...and if the land should reveal a heroic feature or sanction with a penalty...more's the better in terms of that decision which is just at the cusp of many players yardage, but perhaps not execution THAT day, THAT match, THAT round...
Your anecdotal reports of the scores there tell me that it is a very, very good hole. It gives up scores; it flummoxes scores; it probably is amusing and I can't think it gives too much of an advantage to players who would be pitted against each other in a match, no matter what their differing styles and HCPs.
cheers
vk