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**asivisepo** · 07-29-2011, 12:48 AM

Luke_Donald Luke Donald by TimJVickers
"Why do architects insist on these 240+ yard par 3's. No thought, not fun and unimaginative" Twitter quote

This got me thinking, are designers getting out of control with the length of this Par 3s? Is 240 plus too long? What is an exceptable distance? Whar features would you add to enhance the hole?

One of the most intimidating par 3s in the #17 (TPC Sawgrass) and it plays 145. Or #7 at Peable Beach or the Postage stamp of in the UK. All short by current standards but all very challenging. So what is too long?

Luke Donald's comment on Twitter was in response to Stewart Cink, who is playing a practice round today at Atlanta Athletic Club. He posted a picture of the 15th hole, which has been lengthened to 260 yards from the back tee! Here is the picture that Cink posted of the view from the tee:

For the pros, I'd say anything over 230 yards is getting a little long for them, but then again some guys are able to hit irons over 200 yards. Sergio Garcia, John Daly and Davis Love III just played a 212 yard par 3 at the Greenbrier tournament and all of them hit 7 iron! They play a game that is completely different than all of us.

For me, anything at 200 yards or above is a hybrid or fairway wood, and that gets pretty difficult at times. There are definitely ways to make shorter par 3's difficult with sizing of greens and trouble around the greens. One of the courses I play is only about 120-130 yards to the center of the green based on tee location, but the green is very narrow with a deep bunker on the left and a dropoff on the right. It's a pretty challenging hole, but what is interesting is that I played that hole one time with the assistant pro, and he said the course has trouble keeping the green in good shape because so many people are hitting high-lofted clubs into that green and not fixing pitch marks all that much, so the green is never in good shape. Who knows if that's a reason that architects are getting away from building good short par 3's.

One other thing: most courses will have 4 par 3's, and I like when a course makes me hit different clubs off of all of those holes. It's silly if I'm hitting the exact same club or very similar clubs on all of the par 3's.

07-29-2011, 12:48 AM	#21
asivisepo Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 456 Senior Member	Luke_Donald Luke Donald by TimJVickers "Why do architects insist on these 240+ yard par 3's. No thought, not fun and unimaginative" Twitter quote This got me thinking, are designers getting out of control with the length of this Par 3s? Is 240 plus too long? What is an exceptable distance? Whar features would you add to enhance the hole? One of the most intimidating par 3s in the #17 (TPC Sawgrass) and it plays 145. Or #7 at Peable Beach or the Postage stamp of in the UK. All short by current standards but all very challenging. So what is too long? Luke Donald's comment on Twitter was in response to Stewart Cink, who is playing a practice round today at Atlanta Athletic Club. He posted a picture of the 15th hole, which has been lengthened to 260 yards from the back tee! Here is the picture that Cink posted of the view from the tee: For the pros, I'd say anything over 230 yards is getting a little long for them, but then again some guys are able to hit irons over 200 yards. Sergio Garcia, John Daly and Davis Love III just played a 212 yard par 3 at the Greenbrier tournament and all of them hit 7 iron! They play a game that is completely different than all of us. For me, anything at 200 yards or above is a hybrid or fairway wood, and that gets pretty difficult at times. There are definitely ways to make shorter par 3's difficult with sizing of greens and trouble around the greens. One of the courses I play is only about 120-130 yards to the center of the green based on tee location, but the green is very narrow with a deep bunker on the left and a dropoff on the right. It's a pretty challenging hole, but what is interesting is that I played that hole one time with the assistant pro, and he said the course has trouble keeping the green in good shape because so many people are hitting high-lofted clubs into that green and not fixing pitch marks all that much, so the green is never in good shape. Who knows if that's a reason that architects are getting away from building good short par 3's. One other thing: most courses will have 4 par 3's, and I like when a course makes me hit different clubs off of all of those holes. It's silly if I'm hitting the exact same club or very similar clubs on all of the par 3's.
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