Let me think about it for a couple days. I enjoy this sort of thing, but have grown hypersensitive to comments that intend to discourage or derail frank commentary.
It would be nice if others would contribute.
I consider the 3rd at Ballyneal the least interesting hole to play, partly because it's a par 3, but also because it's easy to make par, birdie is difficult, and if you make bogey, you screwed up. Now that our greens are maintained at a faster speed, this hole has a little more bite than it used to. If the pin is in the back half, you really don't want to miss short, because the first putt will be tough.
Compared to your description of HT #4, BN #3 strategy is more dependent on hole location, as opposed to the constant threat of the HT #4 water hazard, which will be the primary concern every time. When the pin is on the right side, I'll try to hit my one yard high fade, because it will land soft and not roll much. Very hard to make birdie on right pins. If the pin is front left, you must try to hit it in the front left bowl, which often yields a short putt for birdie. If the pin is back left, coming up short in the front left bowl results in a 3 putt bogey.
The green sits on a natural bowl, and is perhaps the easiest green to hit in regulation on the course. It's always a short iron shot, usually a 9 iron or pitching wedge for me.
Ben Littman's description of Harbour Town is a fine summary:
"A lot has been written about Harbour Town, so I'll keep my comments to a minimum. I was shocked at how wide the course is (it was also much greener/better-conditioned than the other courses we played, but I chalk that up to preparation for the Tour event). People have said that the narrow view from the tee down the 1st fairway is a harbinger of things to come, but I actually thought the opposite: the 1st fairway is by far the narrowest on the course (and it's not actually that narrow, as the trees give way to open spaces left and especially right after 175 yards or so). Every tee shot that follows feels much more open than the 1st one. (The two other tee shots I would classify as narrow--9 and 13--are rightly so, as they are short par-4s that require only an iron off the tee.) I typically hate road crossings and visible houses on courses, but neither--and there are many of both--bothered me at Harbour Town. In fact, I was surprised at how enchantingly beautiful the course is--the towering pines lining many fairways reminding me somewhat of what I see at Augusta on TV every year (minus, among other things, the elevation changes). I especially liked the tree-dotted waste areas on the corners of numerous fairways; they are not only pleasing to the eye, but playable. People say that the greens, though distinctively small, are flat and boring, but the green complexes as a whole (comprising the greens, their shapes, the surrounding bunkers, and, of course, the many overhanging trees) are some of the best in the world. The course's principal design features--u-shaped greens with intruding knobs/fringes and hidden bunkers--are very distinctive and very repetitive (for better or worse, I'm still not sure). To me, the course's tightness exists not off the tee but in the approaches to the greens, as many greens have either two low/wide trees or one tall/narrow tree guarding the front. Those green-guarding trees, and the u-shaped greens, are the course's main defenses to scoring--and what some people might deem unfair. But seeming unfairness on the first playing should yield to strategy on the second and subsequent playings, as those defenses simply ask the player to think and, as at any great course, optimize angles of attack. In no way did I feel that the course truly begins after the tee shot on 16 (16, to me, is overrated as a hole) or even back at 13 (though I concede that the stretch from 13-18 is the best on the course). The front nine is also a delight to play, with the stretch from 4-8 rivaling 13-18 for enjoyment and variety. In short, count me a fan and someone who can't wait to return and play Harbour Town many more times."