[Mark_Rowlinson]

Mike Trenham's post on the number of par 3s on a course set me thinking that one of the most important elements is where those holes come on the course.  #18 at Pasatiempo is an invigorating par 3 to end the round, but what a daunting prospect it would be to open the round!  The par-3 1st at Royal Lytham is not frightening, but what a start you get to your round if, through a poor opening shot, you begin by writing a 5 or 6 or even worse on your card!  I can think of several really good par 3s to finish the round (Lindrick, Killarney Mahoney's Point, even Forest of Arden come to mind).  I can't, for the moment, think of a good par 3 which opens the round - not too destructive for the handicap golfer, yet challenging for the good player and no pushover for the pro.  Any thoughts?

[Neil Regan]

Walton Heath
Westchester, when #10 becomes #1 for the tournament.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Neil,

Thanks for reminding me of Walton Heath.  It's long, probably out of range for me yet if I think of it as a bogey-4 I might just sneak a 3.  Sadly, the composite course the pros used to play started over the road and this hole was left unused.

[David_Tepper]

Mark-

One of the courses at Berkshire (I can never remember which is the Blue and which is the Red), starts with a very solid par-3.

Pacific Grove muni (next to Pebble Beach) starts with two par-3's!

DT

[Mark_Rowlinson]

David,

It's the Blue course, the one with with the more usual disposition of holes (4 each par 3s and 5s and 10 par 4s).  It's a fine hole but somewhat indimidating, 217 yards almost all carry over a heathery slope leaning steeply to the right, severely punishing the slightest push or slice.  I as a left-hander have the option of slicing into the clubhouse windows!

Good to hear from you.

Mark.

[SPDB]

Misquamicut finishes with a par 3. When the Lightpath was held at Meadow Brook, they swapped nines making the par 3 ninth the finishing hole. Pretty remarkable for a tournament course (and quite puzzling given the brutal 18th on the ordinary routing)

[ForkaB]

My home course, Aberdour, starts and ends with a "par" 3.  The 1st, sitting out on a peninsula over the Firth of Forth can be a card wrecker, and the last at 197 is a very hard 3.

[Adam_Messix]

Green Spring Valley Hunt Club outside of Baltimore starts and finishes with par 3 holes.

The first is a middle length 190 yarder that starts out in front of the golf shop.  I think there are bunkers protecting both sides of the green although the one on the right sticks out in my mind.  

The finisher is a short pitch of about 125 yards to small, severly pitched green that is surrounded by bunkers.  It's an interesting way to finish because it requires such a precise shot between the green rejecting all but a perfect shot and the bunkers are a difficult recovery.  

I don't know if anyone else on this site has seen Green Spring, but it is a unique course coming out of the Trent Jones portfolio, it does not look like anything else he has done.  

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Adam, Rich, SPDB,

These are the sorts of information that we'd never come to know were it not for GCA.  They may not be important in themselves, and the statistics are probably irrelevant, but the collected information available (for whatever purpose) on this site is amazing, and I am privileged to be a part of it occasionally.

Mark.

[Tags:]

Tags:

[Tags:]

Tags:

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()