Long Par 3's - How long is too long?

[DelB]

Morning all.

Played in a club outing at West Linton yesterday in horrendous conditions - it rained pretty much all the way round and there was a 1-2 club wind to take into account too. Anyway, the 17th and 18th at West Linton are both long Par 3's - the 17th being 190 yards, into the wind yesterday, and the 18th is 220 yards uphill, with the wind across and behind yesterday. I hit a 3 wood into the 17th and was three yards short of the green. Both of my playing partners hit driver - one went right of the green and one went left, but both well short.

Of the 15 of us who played at the outing yesterday, not one person hit the green at the 17th, so the nearest the pin prize went 'un-won'.

On the 18th I again hit a 3 wood and was about twenty five yards short. My playing partners again both hit driver - one right and one left (again!) and both well short.

Chatting with the group during our (excellent) lunch in the clubhouse, it transpired that all but four of us had hit driver at both 17 and 18. Now, I'm not a long hitter by any stretch of the imagination and most of our group are, shall we say, more mature gentlemen, but my opinion and also that of others there yesterday is that if you need to hit driver of a Par 3, then it probably shouldn't be a Par 3!

I should point out that this is no slight at all on West Linton which is a really lovely course, but what's the longest, in your opinion, that a Par 3 hole should be before it should really be a Par 4??

 

[virtuocity]

Easy 180 yards.

Cos that's as far as I can hit a ball straight.

 

[Birchy]

I think any par 3 over 200 yards defeats the object of being a par 3 for most amateurs imo.

 

[patricks148]

We have a 220 yard par 3 that could be either driver or 5 iron depending on the wind. I like a very short par 3 myself 120 or less. But no reason not to have the odd long one after all most should be able to hit the ball at least 200 yards off the tee.

A Local club up here has a par 3 thats 248 yards, but it is down hill.

 

[duncan mackie]

given that you had a shot at both holes what's the problem?

more seriously I agree that the game (amongst such groups) is more enjoyable overall if players can realistically make the greens in regulation - and tees should be provided that enable that.

whether the groups will use them (ours won't), and whether using them supports a downward spiral in distance ability (I think it does) are of course other matters.

at West Linton there are also 2 par 4 holes that many can reach in one (obviously not in your group) - but so what?

the secret in making this game enjoyable is appropriate teeing areas IMO

 

[Imurg]

We have a nearby course with a 240 yarder, slightly uphill - madness.

Most people can hit 210 with something - that seems to be a sensible limit..
I can't really see any reason for having one longer. The vast majority of players are never going to hit the GIR and will have to rely on a chip'n'putt to get a par.
Simpler to make the hole 180-190 yards and give most a chance.

 

[One Planer]

Four of our Par 3's are around the 200 yard mark.

The other 2 are 108 and 156.

To be honest I think anything over 200 is a bit extreme and kind of defeats the point of it being a par 3.

I prefer shorter par 3's (100-160 yards) with hazards (Water, sand etc) in play.

 

[drutz]

Got a quite a few par 3's on my course ranging from 101yds up to 189yds. Was having a lesson yesterday with my pro and he suggested the 189yrd par 3 18th plays like a par 4. he said the difficulty needed to get on the green as it tight they should make it a par 4. So not sure how these holes are decided.

By the way I did get four on the hole, drove my 6 iron about 140 yds into wind, pitched it just off the green. Used my 8 iron to chip it on, that is what my lesson was for short game approach shots and then putted it in for about 3 feet.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I try not to let the par dictate how I play a hole, instead look at what I have in front of me, any hole of the yardage of 210 and above is a lay up and pitch on. I am probably going to be given a shot so a par is a good score, tbh most players would consider a 4 a good score on any long par 3 so I am happy to walk off with that number too.

I think anything around 230 is pushing it but acceptable, any getting on for 250 is too far for the club golfer.

 

[pbrown7582]

I would be in agreement that for most players 230yards is pushing the limits for a par 3, but then so are 475 yard par 4's and 600 yard par 5's. On the other hand some 300yard par 4 are easy it's all about mixing it up and taking each challenge as it comes. Be mundane if all holes were the same length and had to be played the same way.

 

[CliveW]

As already said, the SI on 17 and 18 is 15 and 12 respectively. I think they are a great pair of holes, but I'm not a fan of par 3 finishing holes especially if they are involved in a play-off.
As for the nearest the pin, whoever picked them is daft. There are three other great par threes which I think are more suitable and leave alternatives if the first one isn't won, namely the 2nd (143 yds), 9th (162 yds) and 12th (191 yds).

 

[Lump]

I've never played a club longer than a hybrid to a Par3 but that would be because I've not played one longer than 230yrds (In still conditions) Our longest just about plays 200yrds with the pin in the back position. IMO that is long enough, you should be able to hit a long iron/hybrid to a par3 or they are just too long.

 

[One Planer]

Come to think of it. Before our course layout was changed we did have 1 par 3 that played very fractioanly down hill at 235 yards.

That was a bonkers hole at the best of times.

 

[fundy]

Our 8th tends to play about 225 yards form the backs and invariably always plays into a 1 or 2 club wind. On a still day its either a 3 iron or a hybrid, into the wind can be a 3 wood and even downwind it still plays a 4 or 5 iron at the least. In the winter into the wind somedays it is pretty much simply unreachable for all but the very longest hitter.

Is it a good par 3? imo no its a slog and its pretty rare to see an iron hit at the hole from the backs, personally think a lot of long par 3s fall into the "lazy design" category

 

[Imurg]

Our 8th tends to play about 225 yards form the backs and invariably always plays into a 1 or 2 club wind. On a still day its either a 3 iron or a hybrid, into the wind can be a 3 wood and even downwind it still plays a 4 or 5 iron at the least. In the winter into the wind somedays it is pretty much simply unreachable for all but the very longest hitter.

Is it a good par 3? imo no its a slog and its pretty rare to see an iron hit at the hole from the backs, personally think a lot of long par 3s fall into the "lazy design" category

That hole doesn't need the back tee at all.......
Still a decent length from the Yellows.

 

[fundy]

That hole doesn't need the back tee at all.......
Still a decent length from the Yellows.

Strangely Ive only ever played about 3 or 4 times from the front tee, definitely a better hole from there, albeit could probably do with a bunker front left corner of the green

 

[woody69]

I have heard of a par 3 at Luton Hoo that is 261 yards off the whites. That seems rather long!

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

To me, par 3's should be all about fun so I think they should be reachable with an iron under normal conditions. Once they get silly long it's more a question of just trying to get somewhere close then see what happens with your short game. And every course should also have a very short par 3, a flick with a wedge or 9 that gives you a great birdie chance.

 

[fundy]

I have heard of a par 3 at Luton Hoo that is 261 yards off the whites. That seems rather long!

We played that hole on the H4H day year before last i think it was. Another pretty poor hole for me, it was reachable to the longer hitters but for such a long hole there wasnt much space to miss with a bank a tree and then some heavy rough close to the green. Like most that day i missed the green pitched on and made what felt almost like a par 4 lol

 

[Tiger]

I think our first should be adjusted. On medal day it's 216 yards off the whites. If it came midway through your round it wouldn't be so bad but first hole! Gorse left and right, trees on the left, kidney shaped bunkers left and right narrowing the front of the green and slopes back to front and they often put the flag on the top tier back left. Majority of golfers play for a four but it's just not a fun hole