John Low once wrote that "a short hole should not be long."
Low was being a wee bit facetious I'd guess. Even so, the point is hard to argue with.
Bob
I think that's part of a "short" hole too, but not the only part. A Short hole's strategy works best with a short iron in hand because the golfer can be more aggressive. If you are going after a Short with, say, a 4-iron (the club I use from the new back tee at Oak Hill (West)'s 4th), your focus shifts from trying to hit one subsection of the green to just trying to hit the green.
That said, a "Short" hole template is not just a short par three. To say that is to marginalize all of MacDonald and Raynor's abilities as architects and creators and strategic golf holes.
Kevin,
Yeah, the 12th at Leatherstocking is one inspiration for my essay. Is it a neat and unique short par three? Yes. Is it surrounded by bunkers? Yes. Is it a "Short" hole? No freakin' way. The goal of the golfer on that hole is to hit the green, and maybe get it close. No more, no less.
Mark and Bill,
I think you hit the nail on the head as to why the "Short" hole is misunderstood and maligned. Most people don't understand or appreciate the strategic decisions involved--they see a short par three with a monstrous, undulating green. A handful of those people know vaguely that the hole is a "Short," probably because that's hole name on the scorecard, and they appreciate it as an historical anecdote. But almost nobody sees how these holes are set up. Playing the 4th on the West on a day-to-day basis makes you appreciate how the hole plays out mentally. It's brilliant. Of course, most of the members don't seem to understand that, so they built a new back tee.
And yes, the "Short" hole seems to have been bastardized over the years. Yale's Short is a major travesty: they have construction photos of crews laying down dirt to create a horseshoe contour in the 5th green, yet this feature is nowhere to be found today.
Best examples I've played are Yeamans Hall (the bathtub!), Hackensack (even with the green altered, it's still a pretty neat green), and, of course, Oak Hill (West). Another par three that I like in this vein is 10 at Worplesdon, which has a green that is divided into six sections. Even the most learned of architecture critics rip on this hole for being too much of a signature hole without much substance. That's another sign that many don't understand the strategy of the "Short."