Capelle On Golf

Some of the greatest holes in golf are short par 3s. Take number 12 at the Masters. This 155 yard tester over Rae’s Creek played a central role in this year’s event. Lefty Steve Flesch came to 12 in the final round at -8, and very much in contention. A water soaked double bogey took the heart out of his quest, and he subsequently bogeyed 14-17 to finish 5t, six back of Trevor Immelman.

What makes the 12th such a treat is that it forces everyone to play a precise short iron to a green surrounded with trouble. There is no laying up like at the par 5s. They have to go for it. And even the conservative routes to the green are fraught with peril. Anything is possible. Consider the stats from this year:

Par 3s at Augusta - 4 vs. 12
#—B—D—O——Ave.—-Yards
4—17—3–0—-3.2338—-240
12–40–9–3—-3.0939—-155
B = birdie, D = double bogey, O = dreaded others

Number four, at 240 yards, was the toughest par 3, but was low on drama as shown by the relatively few number of birdies and double bogeys. On the other hand, number 12 gave up 40 birdies, but was the scene of 15 double bogeys or worse.

Now let’s look at the results of golf’s most infamous short hole, the water guarded 17th at the TPC at Sawgrass, the scene of next week’s PLAYERS Championship. In 2006 the 17th was the hardest par 3 on the course even though it played 100 yards shorter than the eighth hole. That bloated average of 3.251, a quarter stroke over par, is made up of lots of birdies, pars, bogeys, doubles, and those dreaded others.

#—Yds.–Ave.
3—177–3.177
8—237–3.131
13–181–3.069
17–137–3.251

Good News for the U.S. Open
This brings me to some good news about the upcoming U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. The course was set to offer the typical menu of medium to long (or very long in the afternoon wind) par 3s with yardages of 195 (#3), 177 (#8), 221 (#11), and 225 (#16). Then Mike Davis, the USGA’s senior director of rules and competition for the USGA, discovered another tee box, one from which the third hole would measure only 142 yards, or 53 yards shorter. Here’s what Davis had to say in an article by Doug Ferguson for the Associated Press:

“It not only sits at a different angle, it sits up in the air even higher,” Davis said. “It should be dead into the wind. That puts them up in the air with a wedge shot, dead into the wind. We plan to use it a couple of days. And when we go up, we’ll be more aggressive with the hole location. It’s not going to be a real easy hole with a wind into you.”

I then realized that this is the tee that was used back in the 1960s when Torrey Pines was my home course. Sure enough, the yardages on an old scorecard showed that is used to play 133 to 154 yards. With the tee in the shorter position, number three presented me with countless anxious moment on many a windy afternoon, especially with a deep canyon just left of the green.

From the front tee number 3 will be the shortest par 3 in the U.S. Open since it was played at Pebble Beach in 2000. Let’s hope that Torrey Pines’ short version of the third will provide the same level excitement that we’ve come to expect from golf’s other great short holes.