Garland-
How many holes on the course truly examine the driver/3wood? Meaning, how many holes require that the player make an excellent swing in order to find the correct part of the fairway? In my experience playing courses (somewhat limited I suppese, 50-60 courses total) I have witnessed very few holes where I really felt I had to hit an excellent drive in order to have a good chance on the hole. On most holes, the player is able to rip the ball out there in some 'field' 50-60 yards wide. Therefore, I think that playing a par 3 in the driver/3 wood distance range is good because it actually examines how well you can hit a driver. can the player hit a driver into a 25 yard wide area?
To the first point about long par 3's- they do exist, but on public courses, they are simply inpractical. Just as another person said, they slow up play too much. While I like a real long par 3 to test me, the reality is, they do not exist anymore at public facilities for pace of play reasons.