[Michael Whitaker]

I know of a good number of private clubs that have a par-three short course in addition to their main full-length course. Many of these shorts courses are used sparingly.

Is having a short course built just a status symbol and/or another example of Augusta National "course envy?" Does this phenomenon predate the short course at ANGC or did it inspire a good number of these courses to be built?

[Tommy Williamsen]

Augusta probably made par three courses better know.  GB&I, however, have had them prior to AGN. 

[Peter Pallotta]

Michael -

I didn't know that, about a goodly number of private clubs having Par 3 courses and these used only sparingly. I think it's actually a great idea, and would've thought they'd be very popular, for a variety of reasons. But I don't know that world at all -- any thoughts on why they're not? 

Thanks
Peter

[Peter Wagner]

Hi Michael,

I have two par-3 courses to comment on:  my home course and the Quarry in La Quinta.

We used to have one at my home course, well I guess I should say we still do but the members don't own it any more.  Eight months ago the members negotiated to take control of the country club from the original developer.  Negotiations about this transfer of ownership went on for months and one of the biggest issues was who would get stuck with the par-3.  We didn't want it because the financial drain on our future business would have been crippling.  We projected the maintenance budget to be at least $600,000 a year.  Unfortunately it has it's own 16,000 sq ft clubhouse (not a misprint) that requires a minimum of 10 staffers to run.  Add utils, property tax, etc, etc and we were looking at expenses of 1.7 million per year.

The course averages 2 rounds per day.  Not two foursomes - two rounds.  Nice business model huh?

Looking back we made the right call to stay away from that financial drain.  When it first opened a few years ago I played the par-3 maybe 8 times.  I only had fun on it once when we played it as a 10-some late one afternoon while we discussed taking over the "real course".

The problem that we saw was that if you had a choice of playing a few holes on the "real" course versus 18 on the par-3 that 99.9% of the members picked the "real" course.  A 4 hole loop on the "real" course was a lot more fun.  As a result of the above we thankfully no longer own the par-3.

I have many friends at the Quarry and I've played as a guest many times.  The Quarry built a really nice par-3 course of I think 11 holes.  Luckily they were smart enough to not build a separate clubhouse but they still face some of the same issues we did.  Their maintenance budget has to be very high (you should see it!) and I'd guess they spend at least $600,000 per year on maint.  They see very little use even though they have very relaxed rules on the par-3.  Their lack of use is for the same reasons we saw - you'd just rather play a few holes on the big course.

Two courses is not much of a data sample and I'm sure there are cases where par-3's have worked successfully but I would guess that Augusta's par-3 gets very little use.

I would rather have a parallel 6-hole full sized additional course than a par-3.  The 6-holer would get used.  Oh, and no clubhouse please!

Best,
Peter

[Joel_Stewart]

This might be a case of private vs. public courses.  The public courses in the San Francisco bay area have good results with their par 3 courses.  They draw famailies and people new to the game. 

The private courses on the other hand have had mixed results.  At the Olympic Club they had this amazing piece of land on the ocean that they made into a par 3 course.  They had hoped it would encourage seniors to play and take some pressure off the tee times on the big course.  They made a HUGE mistake when they didn't put in cart paths and made it walking only which eliminated about 75% of the senior play. 

Lahontin in Lake Tahoe has a nice par 3 course which has a short season and gets little play.   

I would like to know the numbers for the short course at Pine Valley.  I played it once, probably wouldn't play it again.

[Michael Whitaker]

Peter - A number of clubs have had the same experience with their par three courses. Greenville (SC) Country Club, for example, just gave up part of their par three course property to create a new hole during a renovation of the "Riverside" course. The par three got very little use and was a constant drain on the maintenance budget.

I would think maintenance budgets are the biggest strain on keeping these private par three courses open. The idea looks good on paper, especially when the course at the Masters gets so much attention, but a clubs must spend a lot of money to keep them up to a standard that will keep members interested in playing them.

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