[Alfonso Erhardt]

In my home club (Puerta de Hierro, Madrid, Spain) we have two courses, both of which start with a par 3.

Although I know it is unusual, I have found that a par 3 as a first hole  is a great solution to avoid traffic in further holes and it is also easier a hole to start with, as people can warm up with an iron shot rather than their driver.

Why are opening par 3s so unusual? Does it have to do with routing requirements or is it avoided because of other reasons?

[Kalen Braley]

And the even more rare opening scenario.  Back to back par 3's at Pacific Grove on the MP.  It was a slow start but was smooth cruising after that.  For those that play here regularly, is this the norm, or did we just play it on a good day?

[John Moore II]

I am not sure why courses do not start with par 3's more often, or end with par 3's for that matter. It would all depend on the routing of the course and where a hole would fit on the property. Generally, clubs have the clubhouse on a hill and a downhill par 3 to start would not be very well received. However, as I say, I would assume (since I have never designed a course myself) that par 3's simply do not fit the land where the first hole would go from the clubhouse.

[Bill_Yates]

Kalen,
At Pacific Grove you probably noticed that the first hole was too short - causing you to wait on the second tee.  The second hole, also a Par 3, is stronger, providing a good separation of the groups that can last throughout the round, or at least through the front nine.

[Kevin Pallier]

I'm not a huge fan of them - proably haven't seen many that have really caught my eye. One though did - The Berkshire (Blue) !!

[Bart Bradley]

I don't know.  The idea somehow doesn't appeal to me.  Coming off the range, I am ready to hit a longer club.  Is there a great course that starts with a par 3?...I am unaware of one.

I don't see how it would help pace of play at all.

Bart

[Art Roselle]

Isn't the first hole at Lytham and St. Anne's a par three?  I have not played it, but I have heard generally good reviews.  I seem to remember Woosie having two drivers in his bag (making 15 clubs) and not realizing it until #2 because the first was a one shotter.

[Sam Morrow]

#1 At San Antonio Country Club is a neat little downhill par 3 that plays almost from the golf shop counter.

[Tim Bert]

Based on my one trip there to watch the tour, I seem to recall that Westchester CC starts with a 3 - or do I have my nines flipped?

I'm drawing a blank on others.

I think a very long par 3 could make for a dreadful start, but a mid-length or interesting short par 3 would make for a nice warm-up and a chance to get confortably off the tee with an iron.  Logistics could be tough depending upon what you follow it up with.

[Brad Klein]

For years, PGA Tour events at both Westchester CC and Pleasant Valley in Mass. started on par-3s -- in both cases (as I recall in the case of Westchester, I know in the case of PV) a change from the normal routing sequence by which members played the courses.

[Sandy Smith]

Yes Royal Lytham starts out with a very tough par 3 . The course is fantastic but I do think a par 3 is not the best way to begin a round .

[Sam Morrow]

The first at Westchester is a par 3 and isn't 10 a driveable par 4?

[Craig Disher]

The Addington begins with a par 3 but the routing is such that it could have been the 17th - or the 18th. It's a good hole and even though par 3s look strange as an opener on the card, it works well here. It's also well placed for an extra hole if you haven't had your fill.

[Art Roselle]

I think Great River in Connecticut starts with a par 3 also.  I played it when it first opened 8 or 9 years and do not remember it that well (maybe that means it was not that great), but it seems to be rated highly by some of the usual suspects.  I think it was designed by Fazio's nephew (Tommy or Jimmy or something).

[John Keenan]

Napa Valley Country Club opens with a Par 3. I am not sure if I did not like it because it is a par 3 or just that is not the way a usual round starts.  

John

 

[Jim Johnson]

Kalen,
At Pacific Grove you probably noticed that the first hole was too short - causing you to wait on the second tee.  The second hole, also a Par 3, is stronger, providing a good separation of the groups that can last throughout the round, or at least through the front nine.

Bill, from your work with pace of play, generally how many minutes does it take to complete a par-3 hole? (assuming a foursome of golfers).
With that in mind, I assume then that the tee-sheet would require tee-time intervals of at least that many minutes to succeed. No?

JJ

[Mike_Clayton]

alfonsoe

I played many - five or six maybe- times in the Madrid Open at Peurto de Hierro.It is a fantastic course and the first hole is terrific.
It is unusual to start with a par 3 but considering where the clubhouse is it was the only hole to build in order to get to the 2nd  (which is a very good par five)- unless they went backwards down the 18th as the 1st - or up the 9th and neither of those holes work because that land was needed to get the nines back to the clubhouse.
I think most architects when presented with that piece of land and that problem would have built that hole.

The funniest story about that hole is of John Bland - the fine South African player -  who is terrified of heights and could not walk across the bridge.He always walked down through the ravine and up to the green.

[Bill_Yates]

JJ
Without knowing all of the details of a specific hole, an approximation would be: a 125 yard hole would take 8 minutes, a 185 yard hole would take 9 minutes and a 225 yard hole would take 10 minutes.  That would represent the time from the first ball in the air of a foursome to flag-in.

[Michael Powers]

They used to change the normal routing of Pleasant Valley and start on a par-3 during the Tour event in Mass.  I remember thinking it was kind of strange watching Tour players hit 7 iron for their first shot of the day.

I think it's best to have a fairly open, medium length par 4 to start, just seems right.  That being said, if it worked out so that the ideal routing left no other options, then it would be the way to go.

[Adam Clayman]

One shotters require precision. Who feels close to precise on the first shot of the day?  
Playing Banff in the original configuration showed me the subtle greatness in saving the first one shotter until the 6th hole.

The opener as a par three is not my cup of tea. Having done the PG thang for years, it never bothered me. But now it does. West Wind starts with one shotters on each side. They can be a disaster being two of the more dreaded shots on the course.

[mike_beene]

One thing it might do is cut down on mulligans.
club rules dont seem to work.(I was once accused by the Old Course starter of hitting a mulligan. Not sure if the starter yelling at me or my caddie's defense that it was my third shot was more embarassing.)

[Alfonso Erhardt]

Bart,

Regarding pace of play (at least over here and assuming a congested course), people tee-off as soon as the preceding foursome is reaching the green. It usually takes less time, however, to get to your driver's ball than it does to the people in front to hole out and therefore it is not uncommon to wait in the first fairway until the people in front clear the green. If the first hole is a par 3, people start the round more spaced out and in our club, we never have fourballs wait in any hole thereafter, whereas in other places, it is not uncommon to wait when the first par 3 is reached...

Mike,

I agree that in Puerta de Hierro, opening par 3s in both courses were the only alternative due to the ravine and the hill that rises behind, but my question was more from a conceptual point of view than based on our particular case.

By the way, the bridge is no longer there, it was taken down when the courses were remodelled and a cart path was built.....Bridges are now limited to the lower course (which was never used for the Open)

[michael_j_fay]

Southport and Ainsdale (220)
Lytham and St. Annes
Ashburnan in Wales
Mt. Washington Golf Club in New Hampshire
York Golf and CC in Maine

I have never really preffered this type of opening hole but after a few holes, if the course is good, who cares. I think that most of these openers were designed at a time when changing the toppography was not done due to expense.

[Mark Pearce]

Huntercombe's is a good hole because it demands precision with a short iron, which isn't what we're used to with our first shot of a round.  The Blue at the Berkshire is hellishly intimidating, particularly if played after a good lunch!  It's a 220 yard hole with a deep valley to carry (though there is a bailout area to the left).  Anything right of the green is likely to be lost and anything short of the green will leave a blind, uphill second froma bad lie - if you can find it.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Par 3 hole openers dont make commercial sense since you cant play the hole in 8 minutes (the standard tee time interval), a normal tee shot with a group of 4 play their second shots in 8 minutes, but they do mean the course is not to cluttered after. Im working on my 11th course at the moment and for the first time we start with a 110 yarder, mainly because its a difficult land parcel. It may well be that a certain times, the group behind will hit their tee shots as the group infront get to the green. I am pretty sure most architects would avoid a '3' as an opener unless there was a very special case, or a very interesting landscape.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()