Short par 4 exercise

[Michael Dugger]

My region has a heck of a lot of undersized golf courses.  Not “executive” types exactly, just small.  Not everything built on 110 acres is the quality of Merion, that is for sure.

Considering that many architects refuse to abandon three-shotters, despite the fact that they take up a lot of land, it seems to me that where smallish courses often times comes up short is in possessing interesting two-shotters.

In particular, short two-shotters.  The 300-350 yard variety.

How does one make an interesting 325 yard hole??  

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to provide 3 examples and the reasoning behind why they are great short par 4s.  To make this interesting, the following holes are exempt.  We know they are great holes already.  

Cypress 8 & 9
PV 8
Riv 10
NGLA 2

This exercise is intended to flush out previously under-appreciated holes.

Images, of course, would be fantastic.    

[THuckaby2]

Michael:

This is tougher than it seemed at first glance.  I assume you DON'T want examples of driveable par 4's.. there are many of those, many of which appear in Paul Daley's great new "Favourite Holes by Design" book... If these can be included (that is, holes in the 300 yard range), I can cite quite a few, just taking them from that book.  But setting the lower limit at 325 makes it tough... Those seem to be harder to find...

I'm gonna have to percolate on this.

Or do you want mention of the 300 yarders?  Many seem to be in Australia.

TH

[Michael Dugger]

Drivable is fine......but nothing more than 350, please.

[Joel_Stewart]

7th at Olympic, uphill and I think its 298.  3 tier green, surrounded by traps.  Even if you drive the hole, depending on the hole location, par may be a good score.

[Bill Gayne]

The 13th at Lahinch. 279 yards.

http://www.lahinchgolf.com/13.shtm

[THuckaby2]

OK... here are a few in the 300 range, all taken from Paul's book.  I can't possibly describe them better than they are done so in the book, so I'll just refer to the page numbers.  Those who have the book can refer to such, those who don't can just use their imagination.  

Page 4-5:  Royal Adelaide GC #3, 270 metres - contributed by Neil Crafter

Page 42-43:  Royal Melbourne GC (West) #10, 279 metres - contributed by Michael Clayton

Page 57-59:  Holyhead GC #1, 277 yards - contributed by Ian Scott-Taylor

Page 64-65:  Victoria GC #15, 296 metres - contributed by Michael Cocking

Page 88-89: Kingsbarns GL #6, 337 yards - contributed by Brian Phillips

Page 89-90: Woodlands GC (Australia) #4, 251 metres - contributed by Graeme Grant

Page 90-91: New South Wales GC #14, 323 metres - contributed by Josh Taylor

Page 104-105:  Prestwick GC #15, 347 yards - contributed by Patrick J. Burton

Page 118-199:  County Louth GC (Ireland) #14, 332 yards - contributed by Tom Mackenzie

That's a lot of holes in this genre, especially when you consider the architects were asked to contribute a description of their "favourite" hole...

In any case I've only played the ones at Kingsbarns and Prestwick and they are both fantastic.  At Kingsbarns once faces multiple strategic options, at Prestwick one just faces the whimsy of tortured ground.  Each have wonderfully wild greens, a pre-requisite for holes like this.

TH

[Guy Corcoran, Jr]

Winged Foot West 6th hole 321 from the tips. Rumor has it Hogan would lay up @ 150 yards take out a 7 iron hit the green so it wouldn't spin off.
Fenway 15th hole 300 yards. Green size 2500 square feet....'nuff said
Garden City GC 9th hole 323 yards.

[Jimmy Muratt]

Three of the best short par 4's that I've played recently are as follows:

Crystal Downs #7, 330 yards
- From the tee you can either hit a long iron just over 200 yards to where the fairway ends.  This leaves you with a full wedge into a difficult green.  The aggressive player can choose to hit driver or three wood off the tee and leave yourself with a blind uphill pitch.  Not an easy shot.  The constant wind makes the hole that much more difficult.



Kingsley Club #13, 285 yards
- This hole has a huge fairway and a huge undulating green. You must put the ball in the proper spot off the tee, however, to have a chance to get the ball close with your approach.  Coming in from the wrong angle is a quick way to a big score.  The green is perhaps the wildest that I've seen with some terrific pin positions.  The last time that I played it, the pin was on the right side of the green  very close to the right greenside bunker.  I had about a 20 foot downhill put from left of the hole, thought I hit a good putt, and putted it right into the bunker!



Piping Rock #13, 300 yards
- From the tee, the smart play is to hit a long iron down the right side of the fairway.  This leaves you with a tricky downhill lie to an impressive "Knoll" green complex.  The aggressive player can opt to go for the green, but being in one of the deep greenside bunkers is no picnic.

[Donnie Beck]

The 3rd and 9th at Fishers Island are great short par 4's

[BigEdSC]

Of local courses in the Charleston area,

Wild Dunes, Links, #10.  The hole is straight 325 yard hole that goes uphill to a small severely sloped green.  If you try to hit driver and miss left or right, your recovery shot is uphill to a green that is 40 feet above you.  Best to try and hit the fairway with anything you can.

Kiawah, Ocean Course, #3.  Can't add much that already hasn't been said in the write up, even though it is 365 yards.

CC of Charleston, #11 par 3, 185 yards.  Before the green was renovated, the locals tend to say it is the shortest par 4 you'll ever play because the safe play was to layup short and pitch on.  People tended to gather around the hole during the Azalea and watch players play the hole, like people watch NASCAR to watch the car wrecks.  Since the renovation, the hole is much more playable.

[Pete Lavallee]

MD,

My answer to your question is: build a good green. Every golfer is going to be coming in with a short iron, if the green is flat and does not reward coming in from a specific direction it will likely be without merit. All the examples that preceed my reply have better than average putting surfaces; greens whose undulations encourage thoughtful play. Can anyone think of a great short par 4 with a flat green?

[Chris_Clouser]

Jimmy,

That photo is of the 7th at Crystal.  But it is a masterpiece as well.  Heck you could say 5, 6 and 7 from Crystal Downs and be done.  Throw in 15 and the controversial 17 and you have quite a quintet of short par fours.

The 7th at Old Town also springs to mind.  Maybe a tad too long for this discussion but in the mix.

The 13th at Kingsley was on my mind when reading this.  What a great hole!!

But the best I've ever played is at a local muni course.  The 6th on the East nine at Fox Prairie here in Noblesville, IN.  What a great hole!!!!  And I can play it anytime I want for less than $30.  Woohoo!  The best thing in the world is sitting up on the back tee with no groups behind you and hitting anything from 5 iron to driver and seeing how many ways to play the hole.  

[Jimmy Muratt]

Chris,

Thanks for catching my mistake, #7 was the hole that I meant and the one I described.  #'s 5, 6, and 7 are all wonderful short par 4's.  All three holes are birdieable by the average player yet a minor slip-up can yield a big number.  That's what makes a great short hole.

[Brian_Gracely]

Keeping it local and Ross-centric....

Raleigh CC #9 - Uphill (315yds) but the distance temps some to drive the green...downwind it is reachable...many reached it during the Nike Tour events of mid-1990s.  But cross bunker catches a slightly miss lay-up off the tee, and surrounding the green are bunkers short (40-50yds short) and front the green.  Green slopes severly from back to front and right to left.  Back right pin-placement is almost an automatic 3-putt

Tee shot doesn't seem that imposing...unless you decide to go for it.


Where are the greenside bunkers?


Oh, there they are...


Don't be long on this green, and hope the flag isn't back right on that slope...


The genius of Ross greens.  It doesn't look like it slopes back to front from behind the green?


Mid Pines #14 - It's hard enough to hold a drive in that sloped (left to right) fairway, but then hitting an approach that's below your feet to a severly undulating green is very difficult.  

Southern Pines #16 - drivable Par4 with nothing but trouble on a missed drive (OB right, trees, mounds left).  Laying up short leaves a blind pitch to a green that falls off in the back and has a large bunker cover the front.

[HamiltonBHearst]

17th at Maidstone.  Hope you will see it someday Dugger.  You, me, Pat, and you can pick the fourth.

[Mike Nuzzo]

Mike,
Here is a recent appropriate exercise of our own...
Beaumont CC sits on almost 150 acres, which includes the club, pool, tennis and range.  Just the core course tallys in around a generous 120 acres.  
The "old" course was 6500 yds.  The soon to open new course will be almost 6700 yds.
The first hole was 291 yds:

The play was to swing away, as the bunkers were maybe 1 foot deep.  No real penalty, or risk for going for the 3200 sft green.  An easy starter.

Baxter (and myself) just redesigned and oversaw a complete overhall to the course.  It may open for limited play this fall.  Fingers crossed.  We got the hole an extra 5 yards, 296 on the card now, but we made is significantly more penal if you miss the green:

The 3280 sft green, now has significantly deep bunkers and quite a bit more contour.  It looks to be a fun opener, with pleantly of room if you lay up.  I will have some images soon.
Another fitting hole, the new 15th is now 305 yds. down from the old 378 yds.  I can show those before and afters also if interested.
Note how we combined the 9th and putting greens into one big complex.
Cheers

[Michael Dugger]

Mike Nuzzo,

Thanks for adding the really cool graphics above!!

[Kevin_Reilly]

Harding Park in San Francisco has two par 4's under 350 yds from the blue tees...#7 (335 yds) and #16 (330 yds).  Of these, #16 is worth mentioning here.

Green is shielded by a grove of tall cypress on the right.  So if you want an unobstructed shot to the green, you must keep your tee shot to the left.  But not too far left, as it is possible to hit into a hazard that runs down the left side. Straight hitters are tempted to hit drivers off the tee so they can have a short pitch.  Many will hit long iron for placement.

If you go to the right off the tee (the fairway is very wide, so there is plenty of room to go right) you are left with the choice of going up and over the trees or hitting a punch shot through them.  In the old days it was almost impossible to carry the ball over the trees and get all the way to the green, but this morning I was able to get a PW up quickly and carry it to the back fringe.  Technology maybe.

The green rather ordinary...small and protected by a few bunkers.  Getting to the green is the fun part.

[A_Clay_Man]

Before getting to Mike N's post I thought of some of Baxter's shorter holes. Here at Riverview, the 13th(298 wht tees, 380 Black) has all the elements needed to be great. The tee shot  takes the prudent player away from the line of instinct. With much textured nastiness in-between,  But even the prudent shot, requires proper placement to ease the next. The humps bumps and rolls that comprise this fairway allow for many choice spots, depending on pin placement, and wind conditions. The green is separated into two sections with a vertical spine. Left is death with a 30 ft fall off into the same nastiness (but worse) and right has ob, albeit some 40 yds right. The 14th at Black Mesa utilizes a large rock out-crop directly on the line of instinct, also.

[mark chalfant]

Agree with  Maidstone  #17


U of  Michigan   6
Moraine              7
Dornoch              15
Mayfield (ohio)# 2

will supply details  later

[Mike_Golden]

One of my favorite holes in golf is the 16th at Lake Merced GC, which is about 325 yards-the fairway is elevated about 30' above the green and stays level until about 100 yards from the green.  You have the choice of trying to drive it to the bottom of the hill or laying up and leaving a full shot.  One of the things that makes this hole so good is that pin placement plays a big role in the tee shot decision-if you take it to the bottom of the hill with the pin in front it makes for a very difficult flop shot to a green that slopes severely back to front and right to left.  Additionally, laying up sometimes get you in a lot of trouble because of the bunker on the left and the fairly narrow, treelined fairway-I've attached a couple of aerial photos that don't do the hole much justice:

[Ken Fry]

The 5th at Crystal Downs.

How many different ways to play this hole can you come up with?  There's something about that tee shot that has my number!!

[Gary_Nelson]

K Fry,

I too enjoy #5 at Crystal Downs.  Don't you think the hole will suffer terribly if it ever loses the tree on the right side?  It seems like the tree makes this hole... so it isn't a "stupid tree" in my book.

Gary.

[Shane Gurnett]

I would like to nominate the 4th at Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania. 272 metres (299 yards give or take a yard or two Matt Ward   )



The photo shown above is taken from the clubs website www.barnbougledunes.com

At least three options off the tee - probably more depending on the wind. The direct line to the green (250 metre carry into the prevailing wind) is directly over the bunker in the middle of the photo. Safe lines to left and short right (with second shot blind over the bunker). Boomerang green turning hard left from front right to back left. In a continent of outstanding short par fours, many of which are mentioned above, this is right up there with the very best of them.

This hole alone is worth 10,000 miles of airtravel for you Northern Hemisphere players. You will not be disappointed. I have been fortunate enough to see it first hand - and I cant wait to get back there for another crack at this, and all the other holes.

Shane

[ForkaB]

MD,

My answer to your question is: build a good green. Every golfer is going to be coming in with a short iron, if the green is flat and does not reward coming in from a specific direction it will likely be without merit. All the examples that preceed my reply have better than average putting surfaces; greens whose undulations encourage thoughtful play. Can anyone think of a great short par 4 with a flat green?

Pete

The 1st at Dornoch.  Multiple tee shot options and possible results.  Firm and fast green.  Great green surrounds (lumpy approach, bunkers cut into the green, fall off areas--right, left and back), subtle contours to the putting surface.  Easiest hole on the course, which means that after you've taken 5 or 6 it's all downhill from there!