Benched Par 3’s

[Kalen Braley]

Does Aberdovey's 12th count?

Video Here

Apart from being a lovely hole, I think people praise benched par-3s as they provide for the hero opportunity.

Frank,

Hitting into a severely benched green as I understand it would be in the penal "hit it here or else" category as there may not be a viable safe alternative.

As opposed to say going for the green in two on ANGC 13 to get an eagle, which I would think is "heroic".

[jeffwarne]

205 uphill yards.
3 is a welcome score
9 at The Goat

Looks fake and good 💁.

Ciao

Personally, the above is what I consider a benched green: rudimentary / functional cut and fill (as per Marty’s diagram) on a consistent slope both below and above, not just a raised green at the bottom of a slope, as per many of the examples given after.


Yes it looks fake. Does it look good? Not to my eyes but there is a certain attractive simplicity… more importantly, does it play well? Generally no it doesn’t. A steep rise at the front giving no ability to land short. And a steep rise at the back meaning the play is often just to bang it in there and hope it comes back down.


There are plentiful examples in Ireland on good courses, always built by locals, sometimes to Hackett designs. Specifically there are two on courses I am working on: 4 at Strandhill and (old) 7 on the Hackett 18 at Carne. Neither of these are good green sites / complexes.

Fake?
I don't even know what that means.
Is there a golf hole anywhere that doesn't look "fake" in its landscape?
I guess that is the subject of a whole 'nother thread re: the importance of "tie ins".


As Ally, says, I admire the simplicity of the design and the demands of the shot in the context of the entire course.
In its original form it was a 257 yard par 4(that must have been a very long walk back from 8 green(It's already nearly 100 yards uphill from 8 green to 9 tee with the hole playing is current 205.


The benched green at the final hole at The Goat works perfectly as one has played  8 straight holes where there are various ways to run/bounce the ball onto the green, in fact I would argue this is one of "maybe" two holes on the course where the approach should land on the green on the fly.

[Brian Finn]

205 uphill yards.
3 is a welcome score
9 at The Goat

Looks fake and good 💁.

Ciao

Personally, the above is what I consider a benched green: rudimentary / functional cut and fill (as per Marty’s diagram) on a consistent slope both below and above, not just a raised green at the bottom of a slope, as per many of the examples given after.


Yes it looks fake. Does it look good? Not to my eyes but there is a certain attractive simplicity… more importantly, does it play well? Generally no it doesn’t. A steep rise at the front giving no ability to land short. And a steep rise at the back meaning the play is often just to bang it in there and hope it comes back down.


There are plentiful examples in Ireland on good courses, always built by locals, sometimes to Hackett designs. Specifically there are two on courses I am working on: 4 at Strandhill and (old) 7 on the Hackett 18 at Carne. Neither of these are good green sites / complexes.

Fake?
I don't even know what that means.
Is there a golf hole anywhere that doesn't look "fake" in its landscape?
I guess that is the subject of a whole 'nother thread re: the importance of "tie ins".


As Ally, says, I admire the simplicity of the design and the demands of the shot in the context of the entire course.
In its original form it was a 257 yard par 4(that must have been a very long walk back from 8 green(It's already nearly 100 yards uphill from 8 green to 9 tee with the hole playing is current 205.


The benched green at the final hole at The Goat works perfectly as one has played  8 straight holes where there are various ways to run/bounce the ball onto the green, in fact I would argue this is one of "maybe" two holes on the course where the approach should land on the green on the fly.

Isn't there a similar longish par 3 with a benched green at Gardiners Bay?  Perhaps the 9th?  Or am I mixing up my Shelter Island golf courses?  Always liked the look of such greens. 

[Sean_A]

The existence of bad examples does not and should not mean that good examples aren't worthy of comment.


I'll throw a par 4 example into the mix, the 13th at Elie, many people's favourite hole on the course, and one of the best green sites in Scotland, for me anyway.

13 at Elie is an absolutely brilliant hole.


I am curious about the definition and examples of benched Par 3s. I didn’t think of RD6 as one. Do any of the Par 3s at Ballyneal count? Number 8 at Castle Stuart?


Thanks.

Why don’t you think 6 Dornoch is a bench green? Seems like a classic example to me. Same idea as 3 Leckford Old. High side left, low side right.

Ciao

Well, yes, I guess that is a Sideways Bench. I was thinking more like the photo that Jeff W posted.

The most unusual type of bench green is when hitting down the slope to the green running away from play.

I take Ally’s point that many think of bench greens as crude, I just don’t agree. Colt built tons of bench greens and some are a work of art. But Colt often stuck to the sideways style and mostly visible.

Ciao

[Ally Mcintosh]

It really depends how far you want to cast the net on the term “benched”, Sean.


For me, it has to be created in to a consistent slope. I don’t count greens that use a natural landform when placed in your routing. You are not “benching” the green by my definition. You are finding a good green-site.


It can be done well. But it’s very hard to do well without significant earth movement.


I generally think of them as front on but side-on examples are plentiful. Returning to Carne, 17 is the ultimate in a severe - and created - side-on benched green.

[Sean_A]

It really depends how far you want to cast the net on the term “benched”, Sean.


For me, it has to be created in to a consistent slope. I don’t count greens that use a natural landform when placed in your routing. You are not “benching” the green by my definition. You are finding a good green-site.


It can be done well. But it’s very hard to do well without significant earth movement.


I generally think of them as front on but side-on examples are plentiful. Returning to Carne, 17 is the ultimate in a severe - and created - side-on benched green.

I think of benched greens which are part of a sharply sloped landform then usually heavily shaped to make them playable. The green being slotted between high and low ground. Often the low ground is the scooped out area whose spoil is used to stabilise the green. I rather like the obvious, earthwork style of this type of green. But w also like the more natural style which is softer looking. Sometimes bunkers are used to conceal the “join”. It’s a bit like the difference between a sharp stepped green and one that is more rounded…ala 8 at Huntercombe. It’s all good to me, just depends on where and how often.

Ciao

[Cal Seifert]

205 uphill yards.
3 is a welcome score
9 at The Goat

Looks fake and good 💁.

Ciao

Personally, the above is what I consider a benched green: rudimentary / functional cut and fill (as per Marty’s diagram) on a consistent slope both below and above, not just a raised green at the bottom of a slope, as per many of the examples given after.


Yes it looks fake. Does it look good? Not to my eyes but there is a certain attractive simplicity… more importantly, does it play well? Generally no it doesn’t. A steep rise at the front giving no ability to land short. And a steep rise at the back meaning the play is often just to bang it in there and hope it comes back down.


There are plentiful examples in Ireland on good courses, always built by locals, sometimes to Hackett designs. Specifically there are two on courses I am working on: 4 at Strandhill and (old) 7 on the Hackett 18 at Carne. Neither of these are good green sites / complexes.

Fake?
I don't even know what that means.
Is there a golf hole anywhere that doesn't look "fake" in its landscape?
I guess that is the subject of a whole 'nother thread re: the importance of "tie ins".


As Ally, says, I admire the simplicity of the design and the demands of the shot in the context of the entire course.
In its original form it was a 257 yard par 4(that must have been a very long walk back from 8 green(It's already nearly 100 yards uphill from 8 green to 9 tee with the hole playing is current 205.


The benched green at the final hole at The Goat works perfectly as one has played  8 straight holes where there are various ways to run/bounce the ball onto the green, in fact I would argue this is one of "maybe" two holes on the course where the approach should land on the green on the fly.

Isn't there a similar longish par 3 with a benched green at Gardiners Bay?  Perhaps the 9th?  Or am I mixing up my Shelter Island golf courses?  Always liked the look of such greens.

Yes that is correct.