nickjdavis
Head Pro
How do folks feel about playing a course (a normal full 18 hole course, par 70 with 5 pars 3's albeit short by most standards at 5900 yds) where there may be consecutive par 3's or even 3 par 3's in 4 holes?
Would it put you off? Would you view the course in a negative light because of this?
We had a par 3 green built a few years ago that was never brought into service. The land it is on was previously woodland where several trees came down in a storm, the land was eventually cleared and a company came in and built a new par 3 green, I believe to demonstrate their prowess at such things. What with all that has gone on in the last few years the hole was never bought into service, but with the club under new management there is a desire to bring this hole into play. There are discussions as to which hole to remove from the course layout. The stretch of holes in question are at the beginning of the back nine and could potentially result in 4 of the 5 pars 3's being on the back nine.
The current layout back nine starts with the 10th (surprise!)....its a short 110yd hole at pretty much the highest elevation of the "far side" of the course. The green is tiny and it plays anything from 7 iron to gap wedge depending on player and wind conditions. The hole does not have a bail out area, trouble lurks everywhere lots of little pot bunkers....its an iconic little hole.
Then we have a short tree lined narrow par 4 of 322yds...a pretty hole if ever there was one with great visuals from the elevated tees.
The 12th is a slightly uphill 172yd hole, its pretty featureless with one small pot bunker front left and a larger rarely visited bunker back right. The only thing to note about the hole is that the green is one of the slopiest on the course and putting from 2ft across the slope can be a nightmare.
The new hole, when a tee is built, has the potential to be roughly 145yds long, with a carry over a lake...the carry is not huge...possibly 80 yards and then a further 65 to the green. This would sit between the existing 12th and the 13th (a 456yd par 4).
The discussions are largely about whether to lose the 10th or 12th hole....losing the 10th would see the course length increase by 30-40yds and wouldn't result in an excessive walk from the 9th to the next hole...but is is an iconic little hole which has wrecked many cards. If we got rid of the 12th then it creates a long walk (close to 400yds mostly uphill) from the 11th to the new hole (which would become the 12th) as well as robbing the course of a little bit of distance...but the hole itself is a bit....meh.
I personally would rather lose the uninspiring 12th than the 10th but acknowledge that the long walk between 11 and the new hole might be off putting for many (indeed I see many complaints around places about any course where you cant just step off one green straight on to the next tee....any walk of more than 50yds seems to be taboo in some circles!!).
I personally have an alternative idea but this would result in keeping the 10th, 12th and the new hole, resulting in three pars 3's in 4 holes.
Just wondered about folks general thoughts about having too many par 3's in a short space of time and how they feel about walks between holes in general.
Would it put you off? Would you view the course in a negative light because of this?
We had a par 3 green built a few years ago that was never brought into service. The land it is on was previously woodland where several trees came down in a storm, the land was eventually cleared and a company came in and built a new par 3 green, I believe to demonstrate their prowess at such things. What with all that has gone on in the last few years the hole was never bought into service, but with the club under new management there is a desire to bring this hole into play. There are discussions as to which hole to remove from the course layout. The stretch of holes in question are at the beginning of the back nine and could potentially result in 4 of the 5 pars 3's being on the back nine.
The current layout back nine starts with the 10th (surprise!)....its a short 110yd hole at pretty much the highest elevation of the "far side" of the course. The green is tiny and it plays anything from 7 iron to gap wedge depending on player and wind conditions. The hole does not have a bail out area, trouble lurks everywhere lots of little pot bunkers....its an iconic little hole.
Then we have a short tree lined narrow par 4 of 322yds...a pretty hole if ever there was one with great visuals from the elevated tees.
The 12th is a slightly uphill 172yd hole, its pretty featureless with one small pot bunker front left and a larger rarely visited bunker back right. The only thing to note about the hole is that the green is one of the slopiest on the course and putting from 2ft across the slope can be a nightmare.
The new hole, when a tee is built, has the potential to be roughly 145yds long, with a carry over a lake...the carry is not huge...possibly 80 yards and then a further 65 to the green. This would sit between the existing 12th and the 13th (a 456yd par 4).
The discussions are largely about whether to lose the 10th or 12th hole....losing the 10th would see the course length increase by 30-40yds and wouldn't result in an excessive walk from the 9th to the next hole...but is is an iconic little hole which has wrecked many cards. If we got rid of the 12th then it creates a long walk (close to 400yds mostly uphill) from the 11th to the new hole (which would become the 12th) as well as robbing the course of a little bit of distance...but the hole itself is a bit....meh.
I personally would rather lose the uninspiring 12th than the 10th but acknowledge that the long walk between 11 and the new hole might be off putting for many (indeed I see many complaints around places about any course where you cant just step off one green straight on to the next tee....any walk of more than 50yds seems to be taboo in some circles!!).
I personally have an alternative idea but this would result in keeping the 10th, 12th and the new hole, resulting in three pars 3's in 4 holes.
Just wondered about folks general thoughts about having too many par 3's in a short space of time and how they feel about walks between holes in general.
