Golf Course Architecture - Issue 59, January 2020

53 a short par three you are guaranteed at least the illusion – when standing on the tee – that you can actually play the hole as it should. Therefore, I personally believe that many golfers actually enjoy playing courses with an overall par of less than 72 as these courses have less transportation shots. Some often ridicule short holes. It is very difficult to design a good short par three, and I find that they work best when they are supported and defined by the constraints of the overall landscape. Take the seventh at Pebble Beach: it is super short, but it is obvious to all that the hole cannot be longer as the landscape does not allow it. And it is equally obvious to all that the hole has to be part of the routing, as the experience is so special. This is again the same with Himmerland Hill where the overall features of the landscape dictate the location of tees and green. A short par three on an open piece of land with less overall defining features will be extremely difficult to create. They have a tendency to look like ‘par-three course holes’, which is not a desired look or feel for any hole on a golf course.” Legendary architect Bill Coore is another who is fond of a short three. “Ben and I have, throughout our careers, been enamoured of pitch shot par threes and short fours. We think they provide interesting golf across the ability spectrum. It so equalises the game, and strength is no longer the priority,” Coore says. “Both of us grew up playing par-three and nine- hole courses that had short holes. But I don’t mind admitting that we look for opportunities to include short par three holes just because we like them. They come in two basic forms, one when you need to link two interesting holes and there is broken ground between them. The other is when there is just a small area of dull ground to cover. Obviously the first example gives you visual drama, and while the second needs to be built, we have always taken the view that if we can’t build a short par three of interest, we should probably look for a different kind of work.” A fine example of this second sort of hole was the eleventh at Coore & Crenshaw’s Sugarloaf Mountain course in Florida, now no longer in existence. A tiny par three on flat ground, the architects put doubt into the players’ minds by pushing up the front of the green slightly so the back was not visible. Photo: Peter Corden The new short par-three fifth hole on the Himalayas nine at Prince’s has a large green with severe slopes. Top, the ninth hole at Old Sandwich in Plymouth, Massachusetts was short by necessity. “We wanted to get from here to there,” says architect Bill Coore Photo: GCA Photo: Jonathan Cavalier/@LinksGems