I've not been playing much golf since my daughter was born last May - and next to none in the past five or six months (toddler + a cold, wet winter!).
Without current games and courses to occupy my mind when my thoughts turn to golf, I've often found myself daydreaming about the courses I played in my "heyday" and going back through my memories and pictures of them.
It has struck me how often I think about some of the great long par threes I've played and, were I only able to hit a driver about 200-210 yards, what outstanding short two-shotters they would be.
Some examples:
Berkshire (Red) 10th
Ellerston 15th
West Sussex 6th
Woking 2nd
There are others of course: Royal Melbourne (West) 16th, Cypress Point 16th... I have begun to wonder whether holes such as these present the perfect inspiration for a modern architect looking for the ideal 270 to 300-yard hole.
Considering the above pictures from the perspective of a player whose best drive might just reach the front half of the green, there are all the options, space and alternate routes that we all love to see from a short four, but which are all too often absent from those holes.
Were I building a course myself, these holes would certainly be great inspiration for a 300-yard hole.