Buckjob
My Friend's Call Me Drew
250 yards my favorite local has a 242 yard par 3 on 17 if you play the tips.
Longest Par 3 you've played?
Mango Smash
Active member
Longest I have ever played was about 240, but downhill so it played closer to 215 or 220.
arydolphin
GTHC!
- Thread starter
- #53
Haven't played it but I thought I saw a par 3 being played in the US Amateur this week that is playing ~263 yards?
Did anyone else see this or am I just blowing smoke?
Edit....
Atlanta Athletic Club, Highlands course, hole 15, par 3 playing 260 from the Championship tees.
Spoiler
Yeah, I saw it, I mentioned it in my opening post of this thread. Nice skimming. :wink:
gr8dryv
Big Boned
Southern Dunes in Haines City FL. 3rd hole, 221. Played it 4x in a weekend, best I could do was a bogey. A little uphill, surronded by sand, OB to the right. Oh and the greens were like linoleum. IMO, anything over 200 for us mortals is just punishing.
- Staff
- #56
With the smallest green on the course. Such a stupid hole. Driver wedge baby.
#12 at Bandon Trails plays to 235 from the green tees (6200) yards. I'm not a fan. If you choose to play a course at a reasonably short overall distance it doesn't seem right to have an extremely long par 3 in the mix.
I have to gratuitously mention #13 at Claremont Country Club, which officially measures 223 but was playing about 15 yards back from that on the day I aced it with my 3h for my only hole in one.
I have to gratuitously mention #13 at Claremont Country Club, which officially measures 223 but was playing about 15 yards back from that on the day I aced it with my 3h for my only hole in one.
staticline
New member
UNM South - Albuquerque, NM
#8 - 267 from the backs. Played NM State Amateur at this course.
http://www.unmgolf.com/championship_course/
#8 - 267 from the backs. Played NM State Amateur at this course.
http://www.unmgolf.com/championship_course/
kevincgolf
New member
My home course in high school had one at 235 from the tips. The hole was very flat and wide open with no trouble in front of the green. We usually played up a tee to make it around 205 but when I played the tips would usually just try and hit something that would go about 210 to 215 and go from there.
- Moderator
- #60
That I've actually played, I think is the 5th hole at my home course. 238 yards to the middle, but potentially nearly 250 when the pin is buried and the tees are back.
I say 'that I've played' because I'll usually tee it forward on any course that thinks it's smart to have a par 3 more than 210 yards. That's just way too long for amateurs.
I say 'that I've played' because I'll usually tee it forward on any course that thinks it's smart to have a par 3 more than 210 yards. That's just way too long for amateurs.
- Staff
- #61
Agreed and I'm not against just playing from the forward tees on a hole like that while playing the normal tees on the rest of the course. I just don't understand why you don't make that a short/driveable par 4. In the case of the one I'm referencing I think it becomes a much more enjoyable hole to play. Add a bunker or two greenside and it becomes a risk/reward hole.
- Moderator
- #62
It's 205-215 from the tees forward at my course, which play around 6,600. They are the tournament tees, so a majority of the membership plays them, and often hit driver on that hole as the wind is 85% of the time dead into our face (open area behind the green).
If I ever have to hit driver on a par 3 regularly, and I've not teed it forward, ugh... I can't even imagine.
ATLGolfer
#ATLClive75
My usual course has a Par 3 that's between 240 and 250 from the tips. It's downhill, but it's still pretty darn long.
On top of that, the green is massive with tons of undulation. If you're on the wrong spot of the green, it's nearly impossible to two putt.
On top of that, the green is massive with tons of undulation. If you're on the wrong spot of the green, it's nearly impossible to two putt.
staticline
New member
Great idea! You walk up to a 250-260 par 3 and start thinking, "WTF is this carnival ride". But, if you add 20-30 yards to it, make it a par 4, you walk up and start thinking, "Sweet, a carnival ride!" :angel:. That par number on the scorecard really screws with people's heads.
- Staff
- #65
I hit driver last night and was playing from the 'white' tees. Uphill and 240 yards pretty much requires that if I want to hit it in regulation. That's dumb, especially considering the green is
the smallest on the course.
Another local course is short (5500 from the tips) and has one that plays just as long. What's really stupid is that the hole preceding it is a 267 yard par 4.
LOL I know it's just semantics, but it does change the way people approach the hole for sure. Thinking you can get a par with a hybrid/wedge just gives a different mental outlook than thinking you're bringing bogey into play.
- Moderator
- #67
hahahahaha that is ridiculous. I like to call that 'artificially' difficult. If a course designer has to hide behind distance, they have done a very poor job.
- Staff
- #68
If I remember right it was about 235 and I hit 3 wood hoping and praying to hit the green!
Playdough
Hi.
I guess maybe I don't understand why you want to make a 250 yard hole a driveable Par-4? At what tee do you make it driveable? 250 from the tips or 250 from the middle set of tees? I understand the angest against long Par-3's, even I think they are little silly once they hit 230, but making a Par-3 into a driveable Par-4 isn't the answer either. Because at some point that Par-4 is going to be less than 200 yards especially if you are basing your max yardage off the tips.
I've played a par 3 that's about 210, but plays like it's 230-240 because there always seems to be a 15+ mph headwind, no matter when I've played. Last time out I took my 4w, hit it square, and ended up 10 yards short. Brutal.
In the "stupid design" category, there's a muni near me that has a par 3 and par 4 next to each other that play about the same distance - the par 3 plays uphill, while the par 4 plays downhill. If it were my course, I'd lengthen the 4, make it a slight dogleg, and shorten the par 3. The backup on the 200+ yard par 3 is always absurd.
In the "stupid design" category, there's a muni near me that has a par 3 and par 4 next to each other that play about the same distance - the par 3 plays uphill, while the par 4 plays downhill. If it were my course, I'd lengthen the 4, make it a slight dogleg, and shorten the par 3. The backup on the 200+ yard par 3 is always absurd.
arydolphin
GTHC!
- Thread starter
- #73
The longest par 3 has the smallest green? That's just silly course design, IMO, the greens should be built to accept shots hit with longer clubs. But design issues are an entirely different discussion.
- Staff
- #74
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On contrary to what I mention earlier I don't think an average course shouldn't have one of its four par3's play long. Imo 200ish should be quite sufficient to cover that but what you say in red above I don't really agree with when it comes to these real long ones. I ask what is there really to manage and how is it just another hole?
A basic par3 will leave managing decisions based on a number of factors in one's hands towards making par but not these real long ones. Its a matter of usually one club only and then the execution of getting it on or very close. That's not exactly any kind of management imo. The difference between these and "normal" p3's is that there is no real management imo and the misses are not really going to leave most people that close. Even better players such as yourself I would assume are not really managing much of anything on a 255 yard P3 other than blasting one at the green with a 3wood or something close to that or perhaps even driver for many people.
Its not like making a management decision for a second shot on a P5. And if one were to talk of purposely coming up short in order to best manage the hole that is not really managing for a par either is it? , but is really managing to hopefully do no worse than bogey with a chance at scrambling for par. At least on the P5 one would be doing it for good chance at par with a decent chance at bird or even eagle. So these very long 3's (unlike other P3's) are not imo "just another hole". Your either there or your not with not much choice at all about how to do it for most people and even many better players too imo.