Anyone play a course that has a par 3 opener?

[EatingASalad301]

Every course starts with a par 3. Hit 3 times, go home, cry, and take up tennis.

[bhj83]

Hillcrest Country Club in Kansas City, MO. Donald Ross design (only one in Missouri) and opening hole is 243 yard downhill par 3 with traps all around the green. Very tough start to your round. 

[GooseHook]

On 5/12/2021 at 1:13 PM, davep043 said:

My father-in-law played at Cumberland CC in Maryland.  That course starts with a downhill 220 yard par-3, possibly the toughest par on the course.

 

Cumberland CC also has a par 3 10th and 18th. It's a fun course to play with really tiny greens. 

[davep043]

6 hours ago, GooseHook said:

 

Cumberland CC also has a par 3 10th and 18th. It's a fun course to play with really tiny greens. 

Amen, I always enjoyed playing there, got my first ace on that 10th hole, about 3 months before I got married.

[AP76]

Played a nice little course in Ireland a few times called Greenore which has a par 3 to start. Close to 200 yards if I remember right so not a handy start!

[ColinKelvin]

I can think of a few here in Scotland:

 

Kyles of Bute

Whitecraigs

Boat of Garten

Carradale

[Vinnieluvv]

Not in my neck of the woods but I remember a couple of courses in and around London UK that did.

 

On a semi-tangent, I remember chuckling with my other American buds when we showed up to play a course in the London area and saw players wearing boots/galoshes. Then we found out why when our golf shoes became skates from the mud that accumulated on them. Fun memories.

[ChipNRun]

Two come to mind.

 

Guthrie Country Club is a nine-hole par 35 located north of Oklahoma City. From back tees, No. 1 is a 200-yard par 3... and No. 9 is a 190-yard par 3. On dry August days, trick on No. 1 was don't bounce the ball over the green.

 

Also, the Columbia Golf Club Bridges Course is located in Illinois just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. From the back tees, No. 10 is 229 yards long and No. 18 is 233 yards long (but, on 18 you hit from an elevated tee).

[UKGolfer86]

My home course, Thetford Golf Club, in the UK starts with a par 3, 186 from the whites, 176 from the yellows.  2 tiered green, trap front left, tree lined teebox on both sides.  Not an easy start at all. I know if i hit the green with a solid iron that im going to play well that day, but a weak push or something worse really can set the tone.  Number 3 sees another par 3.  Course finishes with a really tough 472/464yard par 4 which turns right and heads up hill to the green which sits right in front of the clubhouse.  Easily the hardest hole on the course and can often kill a score.

[7ironDave]

Juniper Hills Lakeside in MA. 

 

175 Pat 3 uphill. 
 

Funny thing is the 18th is a par 3 too. 

[North Butte]

Huntercombe, designed by Willie Park Jnr

 

 

 

[sevenfourate]

Beccles Golf Club:

 

1st hole is 169 yards Par 3: semi blind tee shot - and over an old bomb crater from the Second World War - to a minuscule green on a plateau.

 

2nd hole is then 215 yards Par 3  - with a completely blind tee shot - over gorse bushes: with a carry of perhaps 150 yards needed to clear those bushes and OOB all the way up the right.

 

About as tough a start as you’d ever not want 🤣

 

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by sevenfourate

[TurnDog69]

On 5/1/2021 at 5:09 PM, mizuno player said:

Played a course that stared and ended in 3 pars. Very interesting. 

I kind of dig that

[Monstermack]

yeah, there is a mom & pop track I play here in Michigan that starts with an elevated tee box 180 yard Par 3. 

And they have the house they live in on the course as well...the 1st tee box is close to the back patio on the house so at times there will be people relaxing on that patio as I am teeing off.

They always reassure me they've seen worse.

[JimmyC59]

On 5/2/2021 at 1:32 PM, manku said:

Westchester Muni next to LAX does...

 

As does Westchester CC (former PGA stop) in Westchester NY.

 

That is where is similarity ends!

I believe the Westchester CC switched nines for the tournament. That opening par 3 is actually the tenth hole.

[the bishop]

On 5/1/2021 at 6:55 PM, Moonlightgrm said:

Ludlow Country Club located in Ludlow, Massachusetts opens with a par-3 from an elevated tee. If you play it from the middle of the tee box back to the tips, you cannot see the green. From the tips, the hole plays 225 yards. From the middle of the tee box, it plays 195 yards. The tee box is very long and the player cannot see the green until he moves closer to the front of the tee box where the hole plays 165 yards. 
 

The course is a Donald Ross design built in 1921. 

So a blind tee shot on a par 3 opener.  Right.

[Paddy_2_Iron]

Sawgrass, stadium course Friday.  89, first 4 holes from the Blues, which were a disaster cart path only.  Sucked up my pride played 6,100 and had 5 pars in a row and finished with 8.   Those first 4 were killer.  Even carrying 220 - 230 isn't enough for 6700.

[Moonlightgrm]

3 hours ago, the bishop said:

So a blind tee shot on a par 3 opener.  Right.

That’s right.

[Roejye]

I've played several courses with opener par 3's. The caveat being they've all been par 30 9 hole courses. Most of the longer courses in the area start out with par 4's or par 5's.

[grm24]

On 6/7/2021 at 6:02 PM, Paddy_2_Iron said:

Sawgrass, stadium course Friday.  89, first 4 holes from the Blues, which were a disaster cart path only.  Sucked up my pride played 6,100 and had 5 pars in a row and finished with 8.   Those first 4 were killer.  Even carrying 220 - 230 isn't enough for 6700.

Stadium Course @ TPC Sawgrass doesn't open with a par 3.

[Paddy_2_Iron]

12 hours ago, grm24 said:

Stadium Course @ TPC Sawgrass doesn't open with a par 3.

No joke?!?!  LOL   It starts off with a par 4 that runs parallel with main drive.  I obviously posted in the wrong thread, I was actually trying to post in the performance thread.....  

 

With that said, I've seen newbs start off on 3 (which is a 3) who have never played TPC stadium course. 

Edited June 26, 2021 by Paddy_2_Iron

[garyt]

Only when playing a shotgun start, not a fan. I prefer an easy par4 to ease your way into the round

[milesgiles]

On 5/5/2021 at 3:42 PM, leftygolferessex said:

The Shire, just outside London, designed by Seve. Rather nasty par 3 start with water all round. Always tends to be wind into as well!

 

not unusual in the uk at all..

 

first at the shire, brutal

 

Meyrick Park, Bournemouth might take the biscuit:

 

the photo is the first, 220 to a small green trouble everywhere.. but check the scorecard. The fourth is also a par 3 at 240, trouble left, right, long, short (dont have a photo or map take my word for it).. 

 

The story used to be that when they had a professional tournament the pro's insisted on starting on the second..

Edited June 28, 2021 by milesgiles

[mttrout]

The Napa Country Club starts with a 120 yard par 3 from the clubhouse down into a canyon. Gorgeous opening hot at sets the stage for a gorgeous round through wine country. 
 

Our pro at our private club was able to get us on with reciprocal and it was a treat for us Montana hillbillies.  🤣

[LeftDaddy]

I play a course in my beach town called Country Club of the Crystal Coast (in Pine Knoll Shores, NC). 
 

Both 1 and 10 are par 3s. 1 is about 130-150 yards depending and a tiny green with a lot of movement in it. 10 is more like 155-180 and also tiny. Both are tough holes. 
 

Even worse, they don’t really have a driving range. It’s a small little area where you can only hit your shortest wedge off mats. So for your first shot either way to be a 9 iron or 6 iron approach, after you’ve not really found your swing yet, to a small green is tough…

Edited July 11, 2021 by LeftDaddy

[danglingangler]

A friend of mine belongs to a club that has a 190 yard Par 3 opening hole. I don’t play there anymore haha. 
 

It’s the strangest thing because the 10th hole is a good starting Par 4. It wouldn’t be anything to switch them around but who knows what they are thinking. 

[nosedive32]

I've played some courses that have #10 as a par 3 and had to start on the back on some of those before.

 

My current home course is one of them.

 

It's a 185 yard par 3 at that. From the white tee. It's about 200 from the blue. Slightly downhill.

 

I usually play the white which is a 5 iron for me. Normally I hit green pretty frequently on this hole playing it as the 10th. The last time I had to start on it I almost cold topped it and had about 50 yards in.

[RichieHunt]

Skaneateles Country Club.  It's about 215 yards long.  Not exactly an easy starting hole.

 

 

 

RH

[RickK]

There are 2 that I am familiar with in the Greater Houston area.  Both of those courses have 3 9s.  One is the previously mentioned April Sound in Conroe and the other is Gleannloch Pines.  The Gleann 9 starts off with a par 3.  

 

My memory may be/is failing but I think there was a private club on the North side of Houston that at one time started with a par 3 but the routing changed several years ago and I think that hole became #3.  Can't remember the name of it right now.  

Edited July 14, 2021 by RickK

[TheBiles]

On 5/1/2021 at 3:34 PM, puresurfr said:

Pacific grove in Monterey had  a opening Par 3 but im not sure if they rerouted it after the remodel.  The Back 9 is known as poor man's pebble Beach

PG has not one, but two opening par 3s. It actually alternates 3-3-4-4-5-5-4-4-3-3 for the first ten holes.  #4 is also a drivable par 4, so the first few holes can really get backed up when it’s crowded.