can a blind hole be a par 3? Cancel The title field is required!

1. Jennings Dustin T

   
   2/28/2013 12:02 PM

   Hole # 12 is shaped in such a way that from the front tee area you are hitting down to the green and can see the green fully at about 110 yds away but from the back tee you cannot see the green or the top of the flag from about 145 yds away because the tee is situated much lower in elevation than the front tee. Is this still considered a par-3? or should the hole play as a par 4 from the back tee. (golf course is being rebuilt and some design changes have taken place. Scorecards have yet to be printed).
   
   by definition, a par 3 is any hole that its effective yardage is less than 250 yds for men and 210 for women, so my instinct says to keep it as a Par 3

   
   
   
   
2. Clay Putnam

   

   33 posts
   
   2/28/2013 12:02 PM

   Yes, a blind shot hole can and should be a par 3. Par is determined by effective playing length of hole. Blind approach shots, although not the norm, are not unusual.

   
   
   
   
3. Edward Doda

   

   0 posts
   
   2/28/2013 1:02 PM

   Forty years ago I was changing a cup on a par 3 blind hole that we had. Almost finished I noticed a well struck ball rolling onto the green right beside the still unfilled old hole..thinking I didn't want to wait for the group to get to the green I quickly filled the old hole and took the ball and put it into the new cup I had just made, replaced the flag and started cheering as I walked off to my cart (62 VW bug with AM/FM radio bought for $25)..I figured everyone was happy.
   
   Try using the old fashioned 10 foot flag poles otherwise someone will get killed.

   
   
   
   
4. Mark Novotny

   

   0 posts
   
   3/1/2013 8:03 AM

   Back home had a course with the similar situation. Behind the back tee they installed a pole with a mirror on it to view the green.
   
   The players arrived to the green turned around looked at the mirror to see how far back the flag was and if it was clear to hit.

   
   
   
   
5. Ronald Conard

   

   4 posts
   
   3/1/2013 9:03 AM

   All these years around this silly game and I'm still trying to figure out why par matters. Call it a par 3, par 4, par 10 it doesn't really matter does it? Are they going to lay up on 145 yard par 4?

   
   
   
   
6. Melvin Waldron

   

   43 posts
   
   3/1/2013 11:03 AM

   If they keep their heads down when hitting like they are suppose to, all holes are blind.
   
   I say it is still a par 3.
   
   Mel

   
   Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO
   
   
7. Peter Bowman

   

   11 posts
   
   3/1/2013 11:03 AM

   Ronald Conard, CGCS said: All these years around this silly game and I'm still trying to figure out why par matters. Call it a par 3, par 4, par 10 it doesn't really matter does it? Are they going to lay up on 145 yard par 4?

   
   
   I think it was Willie Nelson I saw being interviewed on TV several years ago when the reporter asked him about the golf course he owned, I think in Texas. The reporter asked him what par was on a given hole, and Willie answered "since I own this golf course, today this hole was a par-7, and I birdied it."