Do I not like that....

[simsini]

I bet that's a decent hole off the Reds.....

You would think so, certainly about the right distance for the hole considering the slope.

 

[C7usk]

I’ll stick some links to some oldish drone footage to our par 3’s
We wouldn’t normally play them off the blue tees but even off the whites they can be challenging.
8th is uphill - add at least ten yards to your clubbing, and it’s into a sloping and tiered green that can be brutal when cut short in the summer.
I don’t have an issue with the length of them - laying up on a par 3 should always be part of your strategy if you’re not a big hitter.

Not shy of a forest or 2 on your track Mel... I'd need to up my golf ball stash...

 

[sjw]

Very clever hiding the face so we can’t see who it is what you look like

FTFY

 

[Mel Smooth]

Not shy of a forest or 2 on your track Mel... I'd need to up my golf ball stash

We've got water on 8 of the remaining holes, and it's very much in play - not just there for aesthetic reasons - I can lose half a dozen on a bad day no problem...

 

[Backache]

One other thing that annoys me is clubs that cannot be bothered to maintain bunkers, so they fill them in.

And make some ridiculous excuses as to why it is for the benefit of the course rather than simply saying that bunkers are expensive to maintain and we need to cut costs on, in some cases, increase profit.

To be fair the R&A in their campaign to speed up golf have been encouraging courses to remove bunkers as they penalise lower skilled golfers more particularly fairway bunkers and significantly slow up play as well as being more expensive to maintain.

 

[BubbaP]

The first at Churston in Devon, par 3 239 yards flat off the whites, stroke 11, I seem to remember it has a fairway bunker. Dreadful way to start a round of golf.

Not defending it, but imagine it naturally spaced the groups out

 

[D-S]

Not defending it, but imagine it naturally spaced the groups out

Or bunches them up on the first tee!

Just to say, in all fairness, that I enjoyed the rest of the course and the highlight of the day was Ray Reardon greeting us on 18th tee, asking us if we’d enjoyed it - charming man.

 

[KenL]

To be fair the R&A in their campaign to speed up golf have been encouraging courses to remove bunkers as they penalise lower skilled golfers more particularly fairway bunkers and significantly slow up play as well as being more expensive to maintain.

Exactly 100 bunkers on my course.

 

[sunshine]

I've played this hole before and it's pretty pointless. If they put the pin back left it's impossible to get anywhere near it as everything runs from left to right from around 100 yards out.

View attachment 52444

What’s wrong with this hole? I imagine a scratch golfer would settle for par, most handicap golfers would settle for bogey.

 

[Mandofred]

Exactly 100 bunkers on my course.

Just did a quick Google maps search, I think Ripon has mid 40's on the bunkers.....that's enough. I've never understood why people think you need a lot of bunkers. There are other things you can do to a course (humpty bumps) that create a hazard, but are fairly easy/cheap to maintain.

 

[simsini]

What’s wrong with this hole? I imagine a scratch golfer would settle for par, most handicap golfers would settle for bogey.

With the pin back left, it's almost impossible to get within 40 feet of the hole.

 

[simsini]

To be fair the R&A in their campaign to speed up golf have been encouraging courses to remove bunkers as they penalise lower skilled golfers more particularly fairway bunkers and significantly slow up play as well as being more expensive to maintain.

I'd suggest bunkers speed up play. Nobody ever lost a ball in the bunker after spending 3 minutes looking for it.

 

[cliveb]

If we're talking about idiotic par 3s, I give you the 17th at Pinner Hill.
(Amazingly it's not even the stupidest hole on the course, which is the par 4 12th)

 

[Backache]

I'd suggest bunkers speed up play. Nobody ever lost a ball in the bunker after spending 3 minutes looking for it.

Well by and large bunkers are not in positions where if the bunker was not there the ball would likely to be lost.
Management of the rough is clearly important as well.

 

[Mel Smooth]

With the pin back left, it's almost impossible to get within 40 feet of the hole.

Doesn't that make it a good hole then?
Having the option to make it very difficult to make birdie on would suggest the design was thought through.

There does seem to be this notion in golf that everybody should be able to reach a par 3 in regulation, while accepting that reaching long par 4's is not always attainable.

 

[Orikoru]

What’s wrong with this hole? I imagine a scratch golfer would settle for par, most handicap golfers would settle for bogey.

You're going to say this is the wrong attitude of course, but I think most golfers see "par 3" and expect to have a chance of hitting the green. When you have no choice but to lay up, chip on and two-putt for a bogey it just doesn't feel very enjoyable. It also means you have no room for error at all or you're looking at a double.

 

[Burnsey]

Regarding long par 3's - normal people want to play holes like they see on the telly and long par 3's are part of that.

If I can't reach, I'll hit a 7 iron or similar, wedge on, putt and move off with a par. No need to stress over it...

(doesn't always work of course).

 

[Bazzatron]

Regarding long par 3's - normal people want to play holes like they see on the telly and long par 3's are part of that.

If I can't reach, I'll hit a 7 iron or similar, wedge on, putt and move off with a par. No need to stress over it...

(doesn't always work of course).

I'd be very surprised if "normal people" want to play a par 3 where they have to take driver and Rory hits his 6 iron.

 

[BiMGuy]

Lay up to your favourite yardage. Then wedge on and two putt at most.

Thats how it’s done right if you aren’t long enough to reach a hole?

 

[garyinderry]

For every guy standing with a driver there's another guy standing there with a 5 iron.