2nd Hole at Wentworth's West Course
Tournament: BMW PGA Championship
Length: 154 yards
A subtly undulating green – shallow from front to back and boasting a large valley in front for any tee ball not making the sufficient carry. Ones, twos, threes and more besides are likely to find their way on to the scorecard here, and with its stadium sloping, it is also a fine place for fans to take in the action. Miguel Angel Jimenez made his third ace of the 2015 season here back in May. Thomas Bjorn described it as “a great, tricky little short hole."
2nd Hole at Golf du Palais Royal
Tournament: Trophée Hassan II
Length: 208 yards
This is the only hole on our list that features on a private, Royal golf course. The Golf du Palais Royal course is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed course built within the grounds of the Royal Palace in Agadir. Its doors open once a year exclusively for the Trophée Hassan II in March. The second hole is a brute. 208 yards up hill to a green designed like an upturned saucer. In 2015 it yielded just 28 birdies compared to 27 double bogeys or worse!
4th Hole at Clube de Golfe do Santo da Serra
Tournament: Madeira Islands Open – Portugal – BPI
Length: 202 yards
Offering what is surely one of the most spectacular panoramas in all of The European Tour International Schedule, with views over the Atlantic Ocean and the craggy coastline below, the fourth at Santo da Serra has been aced four times since the tournament began back in 1993 – the most recent of which coming from Chilean Mark Tullo in the fourth round two years ago. Niclas Fasth said “if you miss it long you are in the sand and if you miss it short, you're gone. If you're not going to walk off there with four pars, you have to work for them. It tends not to be a hole you bogey either, it's either a par or a double bogey or worse.”
4th Hole at Royal County Down
Tournament: Dubai Duty Free Irish Open
Length: 229 yards
Quite simply, one of the most breathtaking holes on one of the most breathtaking courses in the world. The fourth hole at Royal County Down plays downhill, back towards the clubhouse, and often back into the wind. At 229 yards it typically requires a long iron or hybrid for the pros. Shane Lowry said “if you hit the green two out of four times you’re doing better than most!”. At the 2015 Irish Open here 21 birdies were made on the fourth hole, compared to 127 bogeys or worse.
5th Hole at Hong Kong Golf Club
Tournament: UBS Hong Kong Open
Length: 192 yards
There are no tricks on the fifth hole at Hong Kong Golf Club. The mid range par three plays downhill, through a corridor of trees, to a wide, perched green guarded by bunkers. During the Hong Kong Open this hole is surrounded by fans and players require a steady hand to select the correct club and not miss right. Anything right of the green demands the best of short skill to save par.
11th Hole at Black Mountain GC
Tournament: True Thailand Classic
Length: 211 yards
Typically, island green par threes are short holes built to intimidate players with a wedge in their hand. The 11th hole at Black Mountain Golf Club has the same effect, but puts a four or five iron in the player’s hand. Playing slightly downhill, the challenging ‘short’ hole plays to a green surrounded by water and bunkers. Even when players find the green, their next challenge becomes navigating the fast two-tiered green. Unsurprisingly it played as the toughest hole during the 2015 True Thailand Classic.
12th Hole at Abu Dhabi GC
Tournament: Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship
Length: 186 yards
Water. Green. Rocks. That is what the players see on the tee at this testing short hole in Abu Dhabi. Playing relatively flat, club selection is the number one challenge here each year. Players must carry about 170 yards of water and get the ball to stop on the narrow green. In recent years, course designers have even moved the green closer to the water, bringing it more into play.
12th Hole at Augusta National
Tournament: Masters Tournament
Length: 155 yards
Possibly the most famous of all the fine holes at Augusta National, this is the shortest par three on the course yet probably the most feared. With swirling winds always a factor, club selection can vary from six iron to nine iron. Rae’s Creek guards the front of the green while three bunkers – one in front and two at the rear plus numerous azalea plants – make landing your tee shot on the putting surface a necessity, otherwise a nightmarishly fast and thorny chip down the green could be the penalty. Only three holes-in-one have ever been made here at the Masters and not one since Curtis Strange in 1988. Lee Westwood said “this is probably the most famous par three in the world. I don’t think anyone complains if they get through here with a three, which is amazing to say for a hole which is only 155 yards long.”
13th Hole at Crans-sur-Sierre GC
Tournament: Omega European Masters
Length: 195 yards
Modified greatly in recent years, with the green lowered at least a metre or so, there is plenty of water permeating the eyeline of players from the tee, while the banked stadium, amphitheatre-like seats encircling the putting surface provide ample room for spectators to enjoy some golf as spectacular as the surrounding Swiss Alps. “It’s one of my favourite places on earth,” says 2014 Omega European Masters winner David Lipsky.
15th Hole at Chambers Bay
Tournament: US Open Championship
Length: 139 yards
Named “Lone Fir” after the tree that sits behind the green, the only one on the entire course, this short par three provided plenty of drama during the 2015 US Open. The hole plays downhill, over a huge bunker, to a green perched about the Puget Sound, the lake that borders the course. Despite most players having a wedge in their hand off the tee, it played over par for the week and was the site of Rory McIlroy’s first bogey on Sunday having reached the hole six under par for the day.
15th hole at Kuala Lumpur G&CC
Tournament: Maybank Malaysian Open
Length: 199 yards
A hole that is visually beautiful but strategically difficult. The 15th hole Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club features a large pond from the tee to the green and a man-made hill behind the green, complete with the course’s initials. Whilst it can be a difficult hole, it was mastered not once, not twice but three times at the 2015 Maybank Malaysian Open as Paul Waring, Gregory Bourdy and Jake Higginbottom all aced the hole.
15th Hole at Kingsbarns
Tournament: Alfred Dunhill Links Championship
Length:212 yards
Considered one of the finest par threes in links golf, the 15th hole at Kingsbarns plays across a rocky bar, hence its name “Rocky Ness”, and challenges the best of ball strikers. The trees to the left often block the wind, making picking a club and a starting point difficult. Just hitting the green is not enough for par on this short hole, as the green is 55 yards long!
16th Hole at Leopard Creek CC
Tournament: Alfred Dunhill Championship
Length: 208 yards
Some par threes are guarded by bunkers, or water, or forest. The 16th hole at Leopard Creek is guarded by a hippo. Harry, a local hippopotamus, lives in the water on the outskirts of Kruger National Park and can often be seen from this downhill par three.
16th Hole at Le Golf National
Tournament: Alstom Open de France
Length: 175 yards
You may not know this hole now but you will after 2016. This will be the third to last hole during the 2016 Ryder Cup. The hole plays over water to a natural amphitheater, typically packed with fans at the Alstom Open De France. The green play almost like three greens in one with a range of testing pin positions and tiers. Robert-Jan Derksen made the only European Tour hole in one on this hole back in 2008.
16th hole at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort
Tournament: Made in Denmark
Length: 128 yards
As The European Tour returned to Denmark for the first time in 11 years in 2014, it was Himmerland’s short 16th that really captured the imagination. With its steep banks horseshoeing a postage stamp, two-tier green, the natural amphitheatre has space for around 3,000 fans, creating a cauldron of noise for the players making the short journey from tee to putting surface. “Walking up to the green last year, it was like the ground was shaking with the noise and I could feel the goosebumps all over me,” said Irish Open winner Soren Kjeldsen. “It was a career highlight, certainly.” Bjorn added: “The 16th could be an iconic hole on this Tour in the future.”
17th Hole at Jumeirah Golf Estates
Tournament: DP World Tour Championship
Length: 195 yards
This island par three is the penultimate hole on The European Tour season at the DP World Tour Championship. Standing on the tee players see an ocean of water and a small island green with four bunkers guarding its corners. Henrik Stenson bravely took on the pin with a five iron here at the 2014 DP World Tour Championship, made birdie, and went on to win his defend his the title with another birdie on the 18th hole. No event here is over until a player has survived the 17th hole.
17th Hole at Whistling Straits
Tournament: US PGA Championship
Length: 23 yards
One of revered course designer Pete Dye’s most fearsome short holes. 220-plus yards, a 20-foot drop to sand dunes on the left side with a further 40 down into Lake Michigan just beyond. The right miss is little better, pot-marked by a 20-foot high pulpit bunker just staring into the blue yonder with barely 18 yards of green in between at which to aim. "It’s amazing that this golf course is man-made,” said Graeme McDowell “It just looks like it's been there since the beginning of time.
18th Hole at Diamond Country Club
Tournament: Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity
Length: 184 yards
Originally the closing hole for the front nine before they were switched around, Diamond Country Club is now one of the rare championship courses to close on a par three. All over water, with the boathouse to the right, it has become one of the most iconic finishing holes on Tour.
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