How do you play par 3s?

[George Pazin]

As I'm not long off the tee, I don't hit a ton of GIRs on par 4s and 5s.  I need to 'make up' or preserve strokes somewhere, and the par 3s are the best place to make that happen.

With a new laserfinder in hand, I've been taking aim at most pins.  It's working.  I've played the par 3s, on average, .3 strokes better than the other holes this season.

Interesting perspective, gotta think about it a bit more.

[Wade Whitehead]

A friend, who is quite a player, says "I love par threes.  I only have to hit one good shot to make birdie."

WW

[Greg Tallman]

  I've never had a hole in one and rarely play for score so I go straight at it.

  Anthony

Perhaps WHY you have never had a hole-in-one?

[Garland Bayley]

  I've never had a hole in one and rarely play for score so I go straight at it.

  Anthony

Perhaps WHY you have never had a hole-in-one?

It would have to be a pretty boring hole for going straight at it would be the best option for getting a hole-in-one.

[Matthew Rose]

Depends a lot on length, hazard placement, and how I am playing.

I play a draw with my mid and short irons, so if I have a left pin and a 6-7-8 in my hand, I'll flag hunt. My distance control is actually much better with these clubs than it is with wedges, and for whatever reason I have more success with these. (My two aces were a 6-iron and an 8-iron).

With wedges I will play the straight ball and hope I can hit it the right distance.

Long irons and hybrids I like to fade... if there is trouble right, I'll allow for it. 5-iron and above, I'm just trying to hit the green or leave myself a reasonable up and down. More than anything else, I just try not to short-side myself.

[Sean_A]

As Duncan points out tehre are many courses that have par 3s in which one shouldn't even be looking at the green to land a ball.  Then of course there is the wind and its relationship to serious trouble to consider.  Then there is the state of the match to consider.  I could never come up with a stock answer as to how I play par 3s. 

On my home course wind dramatically effects how I play the 5th, although my main concern is efective yardage to cover the very deep front bunker.

The 9th depends on the wind if I fly the green or try to bounce one up between the bunkers.

The 14th is a hit and hoper.  I don't have a clue what is going on there as the green is so narrow, but generally left is a better miss. 

The 17th one can generally fly one to the middle, but sometimes this won't work. 

BTW - Duncan is spot on about his par 3s. 

Ciao

[Pete Lavallee]

George,

A very good player in our Sun group entered his scores on an online tracker and it revealed he was not playing the par 3's efficiently enough. He then put your strategy into play, trying to aim for the center of the green reguardless where the flag was located. After several months his par 3 performance did indeed improve. It does seem to make sense as par 3's are always the toughest green to hit. They are always more severly bunkered and often are located on the parts of the property that have the most interesting topographical features. I believe that even Tour Pros have a higher average on par 3 holes than par 4's or 5's; so a conservative strategy seems prudent. Although I have to agree with Will that if you have 8 iron or less, take dead aim!

[Tom_Doak]

George:

Years ago, I posted something here expressing frustration over what type of par-3 holes people tend to like.  Nearly all of the holes which people postulate as great short holes -- with the notable exceptions of the Redan, the Eden, and the 16th at Cypress Point -- are just pretty-postcard short holes with the green surrounded by bunkers, and no strategy to them at all.

I am usually trying to build strategy into every hole, so on par-3's I often leave one side of the hole relatively undefended, to see if I can get players to bail out to that side, instead of just aiming at the middle of the green (or at the flag).  But, good players invariably see this as a weakness in a hole.

[Greg Tallman]

George:

Years ago, I posted something here expressing frustration over what type of par-3 holes people tend to like.  Nearly all of the holes which people postulate as great short holes -- with the notable exceptions of the Redan, the Eden, and the 16th at Cypress Point -- are just pretty-postcard short holes with the green surrounded by bunkers, and no strategy to them at all.

I am usually trying to build strategy into every hole, so on par-3's I often leave one side of the hole relatively undefended, to see if I can get players to bail out to that side, instead of just aiming at the middle of the green (or at the flag).  But, good players invariably see this as a weakness in a hole.

Given your affinity for green contours that comment just seems odd to me.

[Tom_Doak]

Well, if you combine the green contours so the hole is hard from the apparent bail-out area, then you've got the start of something. 

But a lot of players are still going to say the hole is no good ... they prefer par-3 holes surrounded by trouble, with no doubt of what you're supposed to do.

[Bill_McBride]

As Duncan points out tehre are many courses that have par 3s in which one shouldn't even be looking at the green to land a ball.  Then of course there is the wind and its relationship to serious trouble to consider.  Then there is the state of the match to consider.  I could never come up with a stock answer as to how I play par 3s. 

On my home course wind dramatically effects how I play the 5th, although my main concern is efective yardage to cover the very deep front bunker.

The 9th depends on the wind if I fly the green or try to bounce one up between the bunkers.

The 14th is a hit and hoper.  I don't have a clue what is going on there as the green is so narrow, but generally left is a better miss. 

The 17th one can generally fly one to the middle, but sometimes this won't work. 

BTW - Duncan is spot on about his par 3s. 

Ciao

Sean, is this Burnham?  I don't remember 17.  Is it similar to 14?

[Greg Tallman]

Well, if you combine the green contours so the hole is hard from the apparent bail-out area, then you've got the start of something. 

But a lot of players are still going to say the hole is no good ... they prefer par-3 holes surrounded by trouble, with no doubt of what you're supposed to do.

Yeah, don't mind the supposed good player... a shortish par 3 where one must really consider playing "safe"? Sounds ideal. What is the best such example from your own work?

[Mark_Rowlinson]

As I get older and my handicap gets higher I am pleased to hit the green on any par 3. However, I am always conscious of where NOT to go. All departments of my game are lacking, so I would never deliberately aim to miss a green, because I could not guarantee to get up and down from a difficult bunker (2nd green, front right bunker at R Dornoch comes to mind) or, possibly harder, a grassy swale. I do, on occasion, deliberately play short of a narrow entrance to the green if there is the possibility of putting from there.  

I do have a good memory for golf holes and I remember a lot of short holes with affection. Sometimes it is because of the setting (RCD 4th) added to the difficulty posed by so many bunkers. You don't easily forget the 4th at RW Norfolk with its sleepered defences. You don't forget the 7th at Hunstanton across a valley and a 'must carry' cross bunker. You don't forget the excitement of the back-to-back par 3s around the turn at Brancepeth Castle, although I doubt if could make the carry on either. You never forget any of the par 3s at Rye. And so on? And, of course, these holes change daily with the vagaries of the wind. Do you forget the short holes at Painswick? Surely among the most memorable of all, although they may not be great holes.

And, as Duncan says, holes you know well you may well play more intelligently, and what is the correct strategy for one player may be wrong for another. At Fairhaven the other day my elder son was hitting the tee shot on short holes at the flag. His strategy worked. I aimed at the greenside bunker on whichever side the wind was coming from. Largely that worked for me as my shot has far less energy. My wife, who was often hitting 3-wood into the short holes was looking to run the ball onto the green, her trajectory much lower and below the wind.

Designers are designing for all these categories of golfers and a short hole that offers options will please more punters than some all-or-nothing do-or-die confection. There are, after all, even bail out options on 16 at CPC or 11 on TOC. I am no longer too proud to accept that option.

[Kalen Braley]

Tom,

Interesting comments on par 3s.  For #12 at RCCC, was the intent for the fairway area to the right to be the bailout?  It seems with the bunker on that right side, even thats a tough bailout area to hit.

Thanks for your comments,

[Tom_Doak]

Kalen:

That's as close as I get to a green surrounded by trouble.  The extra turf is not really a bail-out area directly ... partly it was a construction issue, partly it was that we had to increase the area where a missed shot would be playable, as that was the rockiest area of the golf course.  So, a bad player might hedge right to give the rocks a wide berth ... that's where they tend to miss, anyway, but they are not really trying to land the ball there.

[Kalen Braley]

Kalen:

That's as close as I get to a green surrounded by trouble.  The extra turf is not really a bail-out area directly ... partly it was a construction issue, partly it was that we had to increase the area where a missed shot would be playable, as that was the rockiest area of the golf course.  So, a bad player might hedge right to give the rocks a wide berth ... that's where they tend to miss, anyway, but they are not really trying to land the ball there.

Thanks for that Tom,

Coincidentally, one of my rounds, I hit my shot a bit fat and was thankful for the grassy area to play from!!

P.S.  I think this hole is one of the under-rated ones as usually the par 4s get most of the attention on GCA.com.  I really liked it and it certainly was interesting with the right to left sloping green and being "visually stimulating".

[Mike Nuzzo]

George
If you aim at the middle of the par 3 greens at Wolf Point here is what will happen...

#6 - it a pretty big green, but it feeds to the left & creek - if you aim for the middle it may will most likely stay, but it may not
I aim right center - there is a bail out right side away from the creek

#8 - Do aim for the middle here, and don't use the front bunker as a depth gauge

#12 - if you hit the middle you will end up back right - I try to pitch it in low to the front left

#15 - if you hit the middle - no telling what will happen...  I've gotten some crazy looks after a player hits the middle and sees their ball karoom off into the semi-blind swale