So as the thread starter, I figure I should go ahead and come clean with my favorite hole....
It's the "short" version of the par-3 15th at Lakeside GC in Burbank, California. It plays 60 - 75 yards. There are two reasons for the choice:
1) If I'm playing the hole, it means I'm playing in the Kelly Cup. The Kelly Cup, to me, is the highlight of my golf year. As an unwashed "Inland Empire guy," and someone who didn't start playing golf until he was 20 and competitive golf until he was 30, getting an invite to the Kelly Cup was a big, big deal to me.
Back in 2005 or so, I asked a friend how to get into the tournament, and he said to call the club. I did, and was directed to the tournament chairman, who asked that I submit a "golf resume," which I did. I was nervous and excited at the same time. It seems silly in retrospect but, to me, this was my chance at playing "The Masters" of SoCal amateur golf. I got in for the first time in 2006(?) and will play every year until they no longer invite me. For those of you that don't play competitive golf, all I can tell you is that there is just something about the Kelly Cup that makes me happy to be alive, and the 15th hole makes me even happier.
We arrive at the hole late into our round, and the second day of the tournament there is usually a large gallery at the snack shack by the 15th and 8th tee boxes. The atmosphere is fun and loose, and there are usually guys betting on whether each player will hit the green or not with resulting whooping and hollering after each successful (or failed) shot.
The shot is just a little chip lob wedge, but I can tell you that it gets the adrenaline pumping. The gallery; the tiny, pushed-up green; the two yawning bunkers guarding the front; the hot, bikini-clad girls
all combine to make the shot much more difficult than it actually is.
To me, that hole, at the Kelly Cup, is what golf is all about.
The second reason is really simple: I just love really, really short holes for some reason. I think it's how deceptively simple they seem, but how difficult they can play for both the good player and the average player. I've seen +2 indexes make 5 and 2 on the hole from 65 yards! One of my other favorite par 3's ever is the short 6th hole at my home course in Murrieta, California, Bear Creek. The hole plays from 110 to 150, but I've seen more 5's on that hole than almost any par 3 I've ever played! The wind swirls there, and standing on the tee box on a windy day can result in a very high sphincter-factor -- especially when the holes is cut in the front-right section of the green, which is no more than five paces deep at its deepest.
So there's my favorite.... :-)