Key Elements of a Short Par 3

[Cody Carroll]

What do you guys think are critical elements of a short par 3 115-140? What do you like to see in a hole like that?

[Bill_McBride]

While one might think a tiny green would pose the greatest challenge for a short par 3, Charles Blair MacDonald designed his "Short" holes with huge greens and wild interior contours such as thumbprints.   His concept was that the short par 3 was a test of the player's ability to get a short iron close to the target.  The wild contours defend par.  I vividly recall a four putt from 15' at Mountain Lake's Short ninth hole.  Something to do with negotiating that thumbprint.  The sixth at NGLA is equally challenging while a mere 140 downhill yards. 

[J_ Crisham]

10 at Chicago Golf is my favorite. Some nasty internal contours and surrounding bunkers which are death. In an area of the course where wind is always a factor. 11 at Plainfield is my 2nd favorite short.16 at Fishers, 15 at CPC , and 11 at Shinny round out my top 5.

[Adam_Messix]

I think the one key element of a great short par 3 is precision.  It doesn't necessarily mean a small green.  The shorts at both National Golf Links and Chicago Golf Club have large greens, but the effective target is pretty small and the chances of making a par if you miss the target is pretty small.  Short par 3's can be a bit more sinister than a longer hole given the short club that the player usually has... 7 at Barnbougle Dunes and the Postage Stamp at Royal Troon are definitely tough if you miss. 

[Daniel Jones]

I like when the greens on a short par3 have a great deal of depth, while squeezing the golfer on the width. The 11th on my home course can play between anything from wedge to 6 iron, and it's the one I have the greatest difficulty in hitting because it's a relatively narrow and elevated target.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bill,

The 6th at NGLA would seem to discard the small green theory.

Rather, I think having a small "target" is a more desirable feature since it allows for "greens within greens"

Angled greens also present an excellent defense.

Substantive internal contouring tends to work better on larger greens

[Ronald Montesano]

I hate to bring up another elite, hard-to-access course, but I love the 13th at Merion East. Great use of a smidgen of land. The club is wedge, there is no reason to miss the green, you will have a birdie putt, you won't make it.

I've played it twice. Day one, I pulled it into the left bunker and had to play out sideways. Third on green, two putts for five. Day two, hit green, about twenty feet above hole. Breathed on it to 18 inches and negotiated detente for a 3.

That's a cool hole with a medium-sized green.

[Mike_Trenham]

Very little room behind the tee so that a green chairman or tournament committee can never lengthen it.

[David Stamm]

Some examples of par 3 ' s of the OP 's yardage that I think are very good/great.

8th at Rustic Canyon
15th at Pasatiempo
15th LACC North
7th at Pebble Beach (of course!)
14th at Engineers (2 or 20 hole)
4th at Valley Club
7th at Wilshire


These vary in features, but they all convey the different ways that short holes can challenge all levels of players.

[Chris DeToro]

3 at Wannamoisett is one of my favorite holes anywhere and just so happens to be a short par 3.  I think the max it can play is around 140 (back tee and back pin), but typically plays around 125-130.  The green isn't small by any means, but the nature of the slopes make it a very exacting target and a miss of the green makes for a very difficult up and down. 

16 at Wolf Run is another great short par 3 and is totally different from Wanny's--the green has got to be one of the smallest I have ever seen. 

I think the key element is the penalty for missing the shot.  In both of these examples, the penalty for missing in the wrong spot can be huge

[Paul Gray]

Since it's my poster child of the week, plateau greens can work well, preferably, as always, when conditions are firm and fast.

[Jim Tang]

I think a key element of a short par 3 is making club selection difficult.

Black Sheep has three nines.  Their 25th hole is a great short par 3, playing roughly 120 yards.  The green is small and slightly elevated from the tee.  The true challenge there is pulling the right club, because the hole sits in a depression on the course.  It's really almost in a bowl.  There is a line of trees directly behind the tee box.  These factors serve to mask wind conditions, making club selection very difficult.

If you do miss the putting surface, the elevated nature of the green and bunkers make recovery a challenge.

[BCowan]

I like when the greens on a short par3 have a great deal of depth, while squeezing the golfer on the width. The 11th on my home course can play between anything from wedge to 6 iron, and it's the one I have the greatest difficulty in hitting because it's a relatively narrow and elevated target.

I don't think I've hit it in regulation yet out of ten tries.    I'm a poor short Iron player these days.  It is a very good hole

[Cody Carroll]

I agree with the big green small target philosophy. Also while 99 percent of the time I don't like severe back to front greens, I don't mind it used on short par 3s because a lot of better players I know have issues controlling spin. Also, I love the use of bowls and ridges that can be used to funnel the ball closer or propel it away. And shaved banks away to chipping areas are another element I enjoy in a short par 3. False fronts and edges make controlling spin a neccesity. I find that's the biggest issue with top tier players that isn't as much of an issue for the mid- high handicapper.

[RJ_Daley]

I'm hard pressed to cite a better set of par 3s than Wild Horse.  While at relatively diverse lengths on the scale of short to respectably long, and on 4 compass pts of wind, they have in common pretty large, very intelligently designed internal contouring, matched to shape of possible tee shots, with options of using side surrounds when evaluated correctly given wind conditions.  Their largish size, but terraced and segmented sections, further segmented by the location of surrunds hazards allow for smallish target areas, or use of ground play smarts to get to the best levels even if only hoping for a 2 putt due to green speeds.  Good variety of tee block set up yardages, and consistently firm and fast conditions that both play into the tee shot choices, as well as factor to demand great putting are all features that  demonstrate great design..  The placement of bunkers in relation to some false fronts, some false sides, and deception from green putting surface causing club indecision, along with slopes from the greens varying to some fall into-and some running wickedly away from the bunker blasts, all factor in my mind as a graduate course in par 3 design.  They may be the most under rated set of par 3s anywhere.  

[Bill_McBride]

Bill,

The 6th at NGLA would seem to discard the small green theory.

Rather, I think having a small "target" is a more desirable feature since it allows for "greens within greens"

Angled greens also present an excellent defense.

Substantive internal contouring tends to work better on larger greens

Please go back and read my post again.  Apparently you are suffering from that rare malady, "ND euphoria."

[Thomas Dai]

This kinda sums it up to me - 8th hole, Channel Course, Burnham & Berrow. 9-hole course so the hole plays as either 110 yds or 150 yds. No sand bunkers.


(photo per Scott Warren photo B&B photo tour).

See also - http://burnhamandberrowgolfclub.co.uk/channel-course/8/

atb

[Brett_Morrissy]

Cody,

Assuming you are asking what are the key elements of good/great short par 3?

A couple of elements that I think are crucial, are firstly, that it is a pleasant and exciting pause in the routing, and seems to be there not to bridge a gap between holes, but to offer the golfers something new at that point in the round.

The other critical element for me, is that it lures the golfer into thinking this may be a simple and straight forward hole, an easy scoring hole, so, filled with confidence, us golfers then confidently choose a shot that is not always standard, a little punch short iron, or a 'big' wedge, all of this improves even further with a little breeze

So, at what feels like the right place in the round, you feel tempted to take it on, I think these are both critical elements. the actual design and construction come next, for me anyway.

[Phil McDade]

A nifty little par 3 at Eau Claire CC in northwestern Wisconsin, plays to about 130-135 yards. Very small target, steep falloffs all around; the photos don't do justice to how small this target looks from the tee, even though it's just a short-iron away. Photos from a thread on the course from a few years ago.

As for the key elements, I like Adam's notion of precision, which could encompass small targets like this hole or the greens-within-a-green concept that others have mentioned.

Eau Claire CC hole #6:

A mini-volcano greensite, topped by a green surface that’s all of 2,000 square feet (if that), and sharply tilted from back to front. Misses left or right are punished by a blind chip back up to the tiny target.


Two closer looks at the green, and a third photo of what awaits the golfer who tugs his shot left. A wonderful short par 3 – why aren’t modern-day holes built like this?

[Mike Hendren]

Wind.  Ideally at your back.

[Mark Pearce]

Danger.  These holes are, almost always, seen as birdie opportunities and that is how it should be on a short hole.  However, to be great there. Needs to be danger, a missed green, or hitting the wrong part of a big green, should threaten bogey or worse.  The Postage Stamp and 16 at Wolf Run are two holes that have been mentioned here that have this in spades, as does the 9th at Silloth and the 7th at Muirfield (which is 140 from the member's tees).

[Brent Hutto]

It somewhat fails the large green criterion but the 8th hole at my new club (as of yesterday) Camden CC in Camden, SC is an outstanding short hole. Yardage ranges from 105 (senior tees, hole cut in front) to maybe 150-something from the tips to a back pin.



This photo does not do it justice as it shows the entire hole at the expense of foreshortening the green.

There is a meaningful intrusion of the back-right-corner mound into the putting surface. There is also a none-too-subtle ridge which makes the left half the green fall off to the left while the right half is flatter. And IMO the surface area is just right so that each section of the green can be hit and held, but only just barely so.

As for Mark's element of "Danger" there is quite a falloff on the entire left side as well as long and left. Smaller falloff on the right. But the slope of that ridge is severe enough that when chipping back up from the left the ball can easily come back to your feet even if you land it well up into the putting surface.

[Thomas Dai]

Here are a couple of little 'uns I'm partial too -

7th on the St Olaf course at Cruden Bay, plays about 125 yds

(photo by Frank Pont)

and

the 8th at Royal Aberdeen, plays 130-145 yds

(photo by Sean A)

I like this one too, in fact I did a thread just of this hole - http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,59207.0.html - the 9th at Dunfanaghy, plays 124 mts from the daily tees


The 6th at Cruit Island is pretty nice too. Easy to make a big score here.


atb

[Jason Thurman]

It somewhat fails the large green criterion but the 8th hole at my new club (as of yesterday) Camden CC in Camden, SC...

Hopefully the hole meets one of the most important criteria for a short par 3: there is no charge for a member to play it when walking.

I think it's been covered pretty well so far. The best short par 3s are, dare I say, penal in design. Recovery should be difficult if you miss the target, even if you have a putter in hand.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned that I nonetheless think most really good short par 3s have is elevation change. The best short par 3s (requiring a SW or less from the tee) I've played are virtually all downhill holes. There are two benefits to this: the view is improved, and what is usually less than a full swing becomes more difficult to dial in precisely. It helps if the hole is in a windy spot as well, as a half-shot is far more difficult to commandingly flight through the wind than a fuller swing.

As examples of a few of my favorites, I'll echo the 16th at Wolf Run and 7 at Pebble Beach along with a pair of Central Kentucky public holes that I played a lot in college: the 4th at Picadome and the 14th at The Bull at Boone's Trace.

[Patrick_Mucci]

I think a key element of a short par 3 is making club selection difficult.

At 120 yards, how is that possible ?

Black Sheep has three nines.  Their 25th hole is a great short par 3, playing roughly 120 yards.  The green is small and slightly elevated from the tee.  The true challenge there is pulling the right club, because the hole sits in a depression on the course.  


At 120 yards, there aren't a lot of club choices, are there ?
You won't be pulling out your 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 or 2-iron or hybrids.


It's really almost in a bowl.  There is a line of trees directly behind the tee box.  
These factors serve to mask wind conditions, making club selection very difficult.

Wouldn't those trees behind the tee only mask a following wind ?

And, wouldn't that wind be detected from:

A.     Previous play
B.     The flag

If you do miss the putting surface, the elevated nature of the green and bunkers make recovery a challenge.

Thomas,

Great photos