Par 3 hazards

[Paul Payne]

I was just reading up on Hoylake in preparation for the upcoming British and it made me wonder something.

Something I like about #7 is the cop (O.B.) is directly behind the green. To me this introduces a nuance on strategy that is probably rarely experienced here in the USA. The idea of forcing yourself to come up short and let the ball hop or roll onto the green. I have seen greens with hazards or O.B. to ther rear but there is usually something to mitigate the disaster like trees (to deflect the ball) or very soft greens or a backstop etc.

I think it is interesting that we seem to put all our best hazards in front of the green, which creates a completely different strategy, yet rarely anyhting severe to the back.  

I am not proposing that either is better, I just wonder why we don't mix it up a little more. Do any of you know of any great holes here stateside with a severe penalty directly behind the green? What do you guys think of Hoylakes #7?

 

[Tom Jefferson]

The tenth hole at Pacific Dunes comes immediately to mind;
a firm green that allows balls to run off the back and down a slope towards the edge of the cliff, the gorse, the beach.

Simple, natural, demanding.


Tom

[Mark_Rowlinson]

There is a pretty brutal 201-yard par 3 at Stockport (Alex Herd and Peter Barrie ca 1908).  The green runs down from front left to rear right and OOB is close in on the right and through the back.  There is space between the green-front bunker and the putting surface to land slightly short and run it on, but it takes bravery!