A Tribute to the Short Par Three

The golf world is lost in distance. We focus on the long ball so much that the USGA and R&A have spent millions of dollars to figure out a way to shorten how far everyone hits the ball. Well forget the long ball!!! Forget the proposed rollback- let’s focus on the short ball for awhile, and more specifically the short holes.

I am enamoured by short holes- I just can’t love them enough…and I will be honest…the shorter the better. Is there anything in golf so good as a short par three? So good that when you bogey it or God forbid worse, you lament your own existence on this earth! So I thought I would dedicate this newsletter to a couple of my favorites.

Pine Valley’s 10th Hole

I won’t call the 10th hole at Pine Valley my favorite short par three in the country, but booooy it’s close! It’s certainly one of the best the United States has to offer and with a front right bunker called “Devil’s Arsehole” (sorry kids), it sticks in your brain forever. I have been lucky enough to play Pine Valley six times and I have never had the pleasure or displeasure of finding my ball in one of the most difficult bunkers in America (but I have dreamed of it).

USGA Caption:

“The hole here illustrated and described is one that is designed to inspire fear in the heart of the player on the tee.

The wide expanses of sand bunkers almost completely surrounding the green make the latter appear a small target. In reality the green is unusually large for a hole of this length, measuring as it does 6,500 square feet, approximately 70 feet wide and 95 feet deep. The tee is perhaps 15 feet higher than the green, the land in the middle between the two about 15 feet lower than the green and covered with rough grass that does not look inviting.

The “mental hazard" of this hole is exceptionally great, even if the green is unusually large.”

The Short Hole: Brancaster’s 5th Hole & National Golf Links of America’s 6th Hole

Another British/American Twist was the adaptation of Royal West Norfolk Golf Club (also known as) Brancaster’s 5th hole by CB Macdonald & Seth Raynor. In the US, this Ideal hole is known as the “Short Hole.” Macdonald first introduced this hole at his famed, National Golf Links of America.

Caption:

“This interesting hole runs due east, and the photograph shows the residence of the designer, Charles Blair Macdonald in the distance on the ridge. The teeing ground is about 15 feet higher than the putting sward and large enough to permit considerable variation in the length of the hole. Originally the putting sward was much smaller, but extensions were added on the right and at the back. While the total area of the sward is large (approximately 10,000 square feet), the form is such that the shot from the tee must be well played to reach and hold. A small area of fairway to the left permits one to play the hole in two shots if he so chooses. The two elevations in the lower left corner were near the center of the original green, and when between the ball and the cup make the putt a trying one.”

As you can see Macdonald’s original Short Hole design at NGLA had more of a resemblance to the 5th hole at Brancaster. It has evolved over the decades to the hole that exists today.

I, for one, would love to see this hole restored perhaps with a crushed shell pathway to the green for easier access.

You can find CB Macdonald’s Short Hole at any of the courses designed by CB Macdonald as well as his protege, Seth Raynor.

Belleair’s Restored 4th Hole

I would be remiss if I didn’t share another one of my favorite short holes… Belleair’s 4th hole.

Belleair CC in Belleair, FL opened in 1897, making it the oldest golf club in the state of Florida. In 1914 Donald Ross traveled to Florida and renovated Belleair’s then #1 course (known today as the West Course). As part of that renovation, Ross created his own version of the Short Hole, a hole he only designed three times in his entire career.

This 150 yard, short par was entirely surrounded by sand, but over the decades the hole morphed into a less interesting golf hole. (See below).

Fortunately, for Belleair Country Club and the amazing restoration work of Fry-Straka Design, Belleair’s West Course was restored and the 4th hole was brought back to life.

The last image of Belleair’s 4th hole was taken by a true artist - Evan Schiller. Not only is this image my favorite photograph of Belleair’s 4th, it’s honestly one of my favorite golf images in my entire collection.

Royal Troon’s Postage Stamp

In the upcoming weeks the world once again will turn its focus to the Links of Royal Troon. And of all its famous holes, its shortest hole, the Postage Stamp, which measures a mere 123 yards, will be serve as a beacon to the universal truth that a hole doesn’t have to be long to challenge the greatest golfers in the world.

In the words of a member of Royal Troon:

“The wee Postage Stamp at Troon.  Hole number 8 which is a maximum length of 123 yards and can be as little as 114. Surrounded by 5 devilishly deep bunkers it has broken many a heart and ruined far more scorecards. It does , however ,  give me my earliest memory of watching golf aged 6 years old.  I was 65 years younger than Gene Sarazen who, resplendent in plus twos, holed out with one crisp 5 iron into the wind. It may have brought down the curtain on his wonderful career but it ignited my love of the game and I am still playing 52 years later.”

Stephen Smith, Chief Psychologist

Thank you for reading this newsletter and sharing it with your friends.

Until next time…

Yours in Golf History,

Connor T. Lewis