2022-02-15 CC Agenda - Additional Information related to Item #11 -TOP GOLF - Par 3 Courses popularity at top golf resorts1 /25/22, 11:21 AM
Par 3 courses hit the big time with surge in popularity at top resorts
Par-3 courses hit the big time with surge in popularity at top golf
resorts
Courtesy of Bandon Dunes
11 Jason Lusk follow
December 2, 2020 12:00 pm ET
The great distance debate in golf rages on, with the game's governing bodies postponing until 2021 any further announcements about
the sport growing too long and too slow for its own good. Sorting out how fast and how far a golf ball should travel is no fun at all.
Instead of growing the game with ever-expanding distance, many destinations have thought smaller. Tiny, in fact. It's a search for a
faster loop, fun with friends and family, bigger laughs and bolder contours. And there isn't a single 500-yard par 4 in the rota.
Bandon Dunes, Cabot Links, Pinehurst, Forest Dunes, Big Cedar Lodge, Sand Valley — the list goes on and on. They all have
something in common besides world -class, full-size courses that draw golfers from around the globe.
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Par 3 courses hit the big time with surge in popularity at top resorts
They also have world -class par-3 courses.
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1 /25/22, 11:21 AM Par 3 courses hit the big time with surge in popularity at top resorts
The Sandbox at Sand Valley in Wisconsin (Courtesy of Sand Valley)
No, not the dirt -track afterthoughts that many of us of a certain age circled repeatedly as kids, racing the sunset to get in as many
holes as possible. These top -tier resorts are part of a rapidly growing trend in which good terrain — sometimes spectacular — is handed
over to experienced architects to construct par 3s that, in many circumstances, are more fun to play than the famous courses next
door.
"I'm getting a lot of messages from people on social media and stuff like that, and they're like, this is the most fun I've had playing golf
in a long time," said course designer and noted shaper Keith Rhebb, who partnered with Riley Johns to build the new Short Course
at Forest Dunes that opened in August in Michigan.
With 10 holes ranging from a tidy 65 yards all the way up to a whopping 110, there is no need for a driver at the new Forest Dunes
foray into fun. Grab a sack of wedges and a putter, and have at it. Much more than a diversion from the resort's two main tracks, the
namesake Forest Dunes by Tom Weiskopf and the reversible Loop by Tom Doak, the Short Course was an opportunity for owner Lew
Thompson to put an even greater focus on what really matters in any game.
The Forest Dunes Short Course in Michigan (Courtesy of Forest Dunes)
"Lew was just looking for a place where he could play with his grandkids and have fun, have some excitement," Rhebb said. "We got a
text from Lew that said he had never heard so much hootin' and hollerin' and excitement and energy around Forest Dunes until this
opened. People are having a blast out there. You don't have to worry about score or about rules, and just go out there, enjoy it."
But don't confuse short with meek. This new brand of par-3 course often features extreme contours, false fronts, deep hazards and
crazy rollouts that surround creative greens that never could work on most long par 4s. Simply put, course designers can let their
imaginations run wild on an 80-yard hole in ways that wouldn't be playable for amateur golfers swinging hybrids and fairway woods.
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Par 3 courses hit the big time with surge in popularity at top resorts
"It gives you a lot of freedom to just think outside the box, be very creative and not worry about how a normal regulation course needs
to be," said Rhebb, who with Johns also redesigned the short and popular Winter Park Golf Course (known far and wide as WP9) near
Orlando.
Frequently dramatic slopes are created on many of these par-3 courses to bounce balls toward — and frequently away from — the
flagsticks. Of course, holes -in -one are always fun, and these courses give players plenty of chances. By utilizing the contours correctly
on many of these holes, players can stand back and watch as their shots roll ever closer to glory.
"Certainly, you have a great opportunity on these short courses to build in some cool rolls and dips where you could bump it along the
ground or even putt it," said Rod Whitman, who designed the newly opened Nest at Cabot in Nova Scotia. "And that's always fun.
People get a great charge out of that."
Whitman also has his name on the resort's full-size Cabot Links, which, along with sister course Cabot Cliffs, give the destination the
top two courses in Golfweek's Best ranking of modern Canadian courses. And unlike backwater par-3 courses of yesteryear, the Nest
was given a stunning ocean -view setting that makes it a must -play.
The Nest at Cabot in Nova Scotia (Courtesy of Cabot)
Just don't think of it as a pushover. Unlike some of the newer par-3 courses that require nothing longer than a pitching wedge to play,
one of the 10 holes at the Nest stretches beyond 200 yards.
"We tried to build a golf course that was a challenge out there, too," Whitman said of the course that opened in July. "Everybody says
they want it to be short and be fun, and we certainly wanted that, but we wanted it to be real golf, too.... You don't need to be a
muscleman to get it around out there, but at the same time, you need to golf your ball. That's the philosophy we were taking."
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Par 3 courses hit the big time with surge in popularity at top resorts
None of this is exactly new. Great par-3 courses have dotted the landscape for decades. Augusta National's famed par-3 course is a
highlight of Masters preview television coverage each year, but don't bother searching for a tee time there on GolfNow.
Great par-3 courses aren't new at resorts and high -end daily fee courses, either. The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama
features several short courses that shouldn't be missed, as does Treetops resort in Michigan. Options are plentiful from the Palm
Beach Par 3 Course in Florida to the lit Angel Park Cloud 9 course in Las Vegas.
Top of the Rock at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri (Courtesy of Big Cedar Lodge)
But the trend is rapidly expanding as course operators commit premium sites to short courses in search of boosting the fun. Tiger
Woods just built the 10-hole, par-3 Playground at Jack's Bay in the Bahamas, and David McLay Kidd's 14-hole Quicksands is
slated to open this fall at Gamble Sands in Washington. Woods also is working on a revamp of the Peter Hay Golf Course at Pebble
Beach.
For players who don't want to play a second full-size round in one day at a top destination, or for those looking to introduce kids and
new players to the game, these short courses offer a tiny oasis of fun.
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A goat caddie at Silvies Valley Ranch in Oregon (Courtesy of Silvies Valley)
And their small size offers another advantage. Many of these par-3 courses sit on less than 15 acres, compared to well above 100
acres required for a typical 18-holer. That makes it possible for some operators to commit premium land that might not be large
enough for a traditional course. Their size also allows players to get around these courses quickly, making them a perfect pit stop
before or after a full round.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort's 13-hole Preserve in Oregon is a preeminent example. Designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, who
also laid out the resort's Bandon Trails and new Sheep Ranch courses, the Preserve sits atop glorious cliffs overlooking the Pacific
Ocean. The winds often howl as groups — as large as eightsomes — loop around a snack and cocktail stand. After 18 holes or even 36
on the resort's big courses, the Preserve is a quick and breezy chance to chill out, have a drink, make a few crazy bets with friends
and try for a hole -in -one with a putter on the downhill 13th.
The vibe is much the same at Pinehurst's tiny, nine -hole Cradle by Gil Hanse. The routing features no hole longer than 127 yards, and
perhaps more importantly for some, it includes a cocktail stand that resembles a miniature Airstream trailer named Pinecone. A green
fee is good for all day, and players should be forgiven if they forget all about their tee times on the larger courses because they're busy
laughing as balls roll around the crazy greens.
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Par 3 courses hit the big time with surge in popularity at top resorts
The Cradle at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina (Courtesy of Pinehurst)
And while Bandon Dunes steals much of the spotlight in Oregon, another resort in that state took things to the surreal level in search
of fun. At Silvies Valley Ranch, architect Dan Hixson built the McVeigh's Gauntlet short course atop rugged, high -desert hilltops where
players launch balls from one impossible crest to the next. Not technically a par-3 course, as the seven holes include a 275-yard par 4,
McVeigh's Gauntlet is another example of short courses bringing the fun — you simply can't go all the way to eastern Oregon for golf
and not take one of the goat caddies (yes, really, goats as caddies, with little leather golf bags) up and down those hills.
"It's just kind of become the new thing," Rhebb said of packing the fun into par-3 courses. At Forest Dunes' Short Course, "We just
said we wanted a place where people could kick off their shoes, play some music, have a good time. It gives you some freedom."
In line with the par-3 courses, many destinations have built giant and extreme putting greens where players can hang out after their
rounds, chatting and maybe sampling a cocktail. It's all an effort to pack more laughs and options into any golf experience.
What could be more fun than that?
Related
Tiger Woods' Playground par-3 course opens in the Bahamas
Forest Dunes adds fun, par-3 Short Course in Michigan
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