Sub 135-yard par 3s

[wsmorrison]

Which of today's championship quality courses (defined for this purpose as courses where majors are or can be played on them) have short par 3s?  Do they still have a place on championship golf courses?  How many have been lost to the quest for added length?  Why are only a few being built today and none on a championship quality course?

What architectural features (so as to disregard green firmness and wind) of short par 3s might keep them difficult for all classes of players?

For the architects in our group, how would you design a short par 3 for a championship caliber course?

Only a few come to mind:

Merion East 13th (130 yards)
Pebble Beach 7th (107 yards)
Royal Troon 8th (126 yards)

[Bill_McBride]

When I think about how to protect par on a very short par 3, I think of Mountain Lake's (Raynor) par 3 #9.  It is short, 135 max I think, with a large green close up against a pond.  The key to whatever difficulty it has is the "thumbprint" in the middle of it.  I wish I had a photo of the depression / thumbprint; here's an overall of the hole from Mike Sweeney's "In My Opinion" article:



The depression is pretty deep, maybe a 12" overall elevation change, and it's a semi-circle.   When the hole is located right by the thumbprint, it can be very difficult to three putt! I learned the hard way that putts across and along the slope can get away from the player quickly and disastrously.

[Phil McDade]

Wayne:

The ones you've cited, from what I know of them, seem to have the following characteristics:

Small-to-very-small greens;
Well-trapped;
Some severity of terrain/surrounds (aside of the traps) that makes for a difficult lie/position for the second shot in order to get an up-and-in for par.

Of the three you mentioned, I know the least about Merion's. Does it fit the bill of the above description?

One of the best-looking ones I've seen here on GCA is the "2 or 20" hole at.....Engineers? Somewhere on the East Coast, I think. It looks frightening.

[wsmorrison]

Phil,

I'd say you nailed it.  It is a pretty small green with interplays of slopes; beautifully bunkered around three portions of the green and a steep slope on the right.  The evolutionary sand splash from the front bunker created quite a kicker off the back side of the bunker.    I'll try to find out what the average score was for the US Amateur.  I presume it was under par.  I don't think there's anything wrong with that on a championship course.  When I read of the significant changes to Bethpage Black and noticed they were on holes that played under par, I do not understand the point of making such changes.  So what if they play under par?  Given the finishing five at Merion, you tend to feel the pressure to score here and that isn't a sure thing by any means.

[JNagle]

Wayne -

As a designer I think it would be interesting to design a new "short" hole for a Championship caliber course.  As we know the standard (not all but most) Short holes are plateaued greens with deep bunkers surrounding most of the green.  Todays players are so good with bunker play and accurate at short range that bunkers may be obsolete.  Raynor and MacDonalds work really comes to mind because of the internal contours.  If you can introduce wind in the scale of the 11th at Pacific Dunes and the short hole at the Sheep Ranch north of Bandon than you have something to work with.  I have to admit, I like the 7th at Lawsoina, the Boxcar hole and the two plateau greens at Bedford 4 and 11.  4 is long but the premise of a fall-off green wherein there are not many bunkers there to save an inaccurate shot.  So the combination of wind, steep plateau and a major internal contour, ala 10th at Chicago or the 6th at NGLA.

[Jeff_Mingay]

Wayne,

At Sagebrush, we've built a really neat two-hole sequence.

The par-3 12th will play no more than about 125 yards max., slightly uphill. The par-4 13th will play about 315 yards, significantly downhill. Essentially, these consecutive holes are back-to-back par-3s for better players.

Imagine, too, total yardage for the course on the scorecard will probably measure almost 7,400 yards, including the BACK TEE measurements noted above, for 12 and 13!

So, I guess you can design a "championship length" course featuring a sub-135 yard hole.

[Dave_Miller]

Which of today's championship quality courses (defined for this purpose as courses where majors are or can be played on them) have short par 3s?  Do they still have a place on championship golf courses?  How many have been lost to the quest for added length?  Why are only a few being built today and none on a championship quality course?

What architectural features (so as to disregard green firmness and wind) of short par 3s might keep them difficult for all classes of players?

For the architects in our group, how would you design a short par 3 for a championship caliber course?

Only a few come to mind:

Merion East 13th (130 yards)
Pebble Beach 7th (107 yards)
Royal Troon 8th (126 yards)

Wayne:
Great Question.  Not too many come to mind but Merion #13 and Pebble#7 are as good as it gets.
Best
Dave

[Phil Benedict]

Wayne,

At Sagebrush, we've built a really neat two-hole sequence.

The par-3 12th will play no more than about 125 yards max., slightly uphill. The par-4 13th will play about 315 yards, significantly downhill. Essentially, these consecutive holes are back-to-back par-3s for better players.

Imagine, too, total yardage for the course on the scorecard will probably measure almost 7,400 yards, including the BACK TEE measurements noted above, for 12 and 13!

So, I guess you can design a "championship length" course featuring a sub-135 yard hole.

Jeff,

This is off topic but won't back-to-back holes like this slow down play?  

[Peter Pallotta]

Wayne

JNagle raises an interesting point about bunkers. How do you think the holes you mentioned would change if, instead of the bunkers, they had mowed-grass depressions in the exact shape and size and depth and location of those bunkers?

Do you think this would do anything at all to help make those holes (or any new sub-135 yard Par 3s) 'better' championship tests?  

Peter

[Joe Hancock]

Wayne,

At Sagebrush, we've built a really neat two-hole sequence.

The par-3 12th will play no more than about 125 yards max., slightly uphill. The par-4 13th will play about 315 yards, significantly downhill. Essentially, these consecutive holes are back-to-back par-3s for better players.

Imagine, too, total yardage for the course on the scorecard will probably measure almost 7,400 yards, including the BACK TEE measurements noted above, for 12 and 13!

So, I guess you can design a "championship length" course featuring a sub-135 yard hole.

Jeff,

This is off topic but won't back-to-back holes like this slow down play?  

Jeff, you take a break, I'll field this one...

No, it's in Canada....

 

Glad I can help,

Joe

[wsmorrison]

Wayne

JNagle raises an interesting point about bunkers. How do you think the holes you mentioned would change if, instead of the bunkers, they had mowed-grass depressions in the exact shape and size and depth and location of those bunkers?

Do you think this would do anything at all to help make those holes (or any new sub-135 yard Par 3s) 'better' championship tests?  

Peter

Peter,

I think Jim's concept of grassy hollows might just make recovery relatively harder for low handicappers and relatively easier for high handicappers.

[Jason Blasberg]

One modern stand out is the 11th at Cuscowilla.  Cusco is certainly a championship course and at about 134 from the tips it's one heck of a 9 iron or wedge.  

[John Foley]

I love the sub 135 yard par 3. It's the right length to make you think anything more than a par is giving shots away.

As for features riasing the green above the recovery area I would say is a positive. Integral chipping area which leads to more trouble, smaller & deeper bunkers making recovery more difficult would help. I'd sugggest H20 as a hazard on these holes is a negative as the recovery option is zero..

How much slope is in #13? When I walked the course during the US AM I thought to myself that other than the front bunkers there was not much challange since missing long was most likely not happeneing or offering much of a problem recovering.

Could other holes (11 @ Shinnecock or 10 at Pinehurst #2 )from an up tee still provide the challange in a championship environement your looking for? I would say #17 at Sand Hills fits the bill, but I think the middle tee's are still longer than that.

[JNagle]

Wayne -

Yes, this would be hard for high handicappers, but the question posed was in terms of a Championship caliber course.  So, who cares about the duffers, me included

[Steve Lapper]

No sub 135 yd inland hole in North America rivals #9 at the Myopia Hunt Club. It is 9 yards narrow and 40 long, and surrounding by deep pit bunkers. H20 plays a less strategic, but more psychological role, with a beautiful natural pond fronting the hole.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/myopiahunt.html

This hole is way more severe than the others mentioned so far (with PV#10 ),  and though it dispenses disproportional pain over reward, it is eminently fair. Myopia, while short and vulnerable to modern technology, is still very much a legitimate championship course in every sense.

[K. Krahenbuhl]

Could other holes (11 @ Shinnecock or 10 at Pinehurst #2 )from an up tee still provide the challange in a championship environement your looking for?

I would think that the 14th at The Honors would be an example that could provide the challenge from the up tee.  It is a short hole to begin with, but it does not fit in the <135 yd category.  From the middle tee it would play about 135 and like the other holes listed above would challenge all levels of player with its small, sloping green and surrounding bunkers/trouble areas.

As for the 13th at Merion I think the green itself provides plenty of challenge for the golfer. I would hate to have to stop a putt/chip close to the hole to save par with the undulations and green speeds that are found there.

[Jeff_Mingay]

To elaborate on Grampa Joe's "EXCELLENT" point re Sagebrush being in Canada... the club is intended to be ultra-private, so there's no threat (at this point) for two consecutive holes as described to hold up play in this particular situation.

Good question though, Phil.

[Joe Hancock]

Jeff,

You can always count on me for a creampuff set-up.

 

[M. Shea Sweeney]

17th at Sawgrass

[Sam Morrow]

This is a great topic, I love the short par 3. I think it's because it gives all players (good and bad) a potential chance for greatness, while the good short par 3's have a great deal of risk built in.

[Dan Boerger]

This is a great topic, and I'll add a few thoughts about what makes the 13th at Merion East such a good hole for even the champion golfer. In 1971, Ray Floyd missed the green 7 consecutive rounds (practice and tournament), so it's not as much of a layup as one would think. The fact that the green is slightly blind adds to the difficulty of the shot.

Also, the hole is in perfect "context" to the rest of the course. (Some may simply call it routing, but I prefer context.) Unless you have Tiger Woods like mental strength, you really can't help but think this could be your last "easy" approach to a pin the rest of the round. I remember being 6 over at the 13th (which is really good for me) and then teeing it up on the 14th when the carnage started.

[Phil McDade]

Few of the holes mentioned so far are on championship courses, as defined by Wayne, and I think it's a fair criticism, given that most everyone views these holes as interesting and testing -- but increasingly rare on courses played for majors.

Wayne -- any descriptions on the size of Merion's green? Wider than deeper, or the other way around? Do the internal contours effectively create a smaller target area for certain pin placements?

One of the virtues, it seems, of both Pebble's 7th and Troon's Postage Stamp is that both have elevated tees, and (given that both usually play with the wind as a factor) club selection and the type of swing employed (I recall Tiger sort of hitting a half-wedge, knock-down shot here) would seem to be a matter of difficult judgement.

Absent a strong wind, is the shot to Merion's 13th largely one of precision? Or does the green allow for the sorts of shots you might see employed at PB's 7th or the Postage Stamp (half-shots, knock-downs, and the like)? It looks to be an ever-slightly uphill tee shot -- perhaps that adds a bit of uncertainty with the tee shot? It looks like a really fine hole.

[Phil McDade]

I have to admit, I like the 7th at Lawsoina, the Boxcar hole

The 7th at Lawsonia slightly exceeds Wayne's criteria -- it plays 146 from the white tees and 161 from the blues/tips. It doesn't quite fit the nature of some of the other par 3s described here, as the green surface (although deceptively so, a recurring feature of the Langford/Moreau designed/built course) is quite large, much larger than it appears from the tee. It also lacks any bunkers (although the original plans had one left of the green), but the penalty for missing the green is admittedly pretty severe.

[JNagle]

Phil -

What I like about the 7th at Lawsonia is the foundation of its design - a green with severe side slopes (3 sides) and elevated greatly above its surrounds with excellent internal contours.  Add wind to the 7th hole, drop it under 140 yards and add to the internal contours and you have the makings of a great "Short" hole.

[Bill Brightly]

I'll throw in Plainfield's 6th. Has all the features described above: You come to the hole, look at the distance, and think you have a breather. Til you look at the great menacing bunker in front, sheer drop off if you go over,  steep slope on right side of green, and lots going on on the green.