
10 Courses with Great Collections of Par Threes
Nearly 30 years ago in the pages of LINKS Magazine, author/broadcaster Ben Wright opined that the Golden Horseshoe’s Gold course in Colonial Williamsburg, Va., featured the best set of par threes on a single course of any he knew. Bentley was a shrewd, well-traveled judge—and a designer himself—so I’ll give him his due. I also thought that perhaps that wasn’t even Robert Trent Jones’s best collection, which in my view, belonged to Spyglass Hill.
Some three decades later, I’ve had time to research and reflect. Here are the 10 North American courses with the best collection of par threes that anyone can play.
Chambers Bay—University Place, Wash.
Hewn from a 100-year-old commercial sand and gravel pit, this Robert Trent Jones II links-like design features dramatic undulations and equally dramatic views of the Puget Sound. Home to the 2015 U.S. Open and the 2022 U.S. Women’s Amateur, the layout bursts with fresh, original, flexible holes, including the four par threes. The 167-yard 3rd hole ranged from 148 yards to 207 at the U.S. Open. It demands a shot over an enormous sand feature front-left but sloping ground will help funnel shots that are played short-right of the green. The 227-yard 9th introduces a dizzying, 200-foot plunge over another massive sand sprawl to a wildly undulating green. A mound to the left can help direct a shot onto the green, but often will propel it right off the green. Most memorable is the 15th, which played as short as 123 yards in 2015 and can get as long as 246 yards. The hole is called “Lone Fir,” as the green is backdropped by not only the gorgeous Puget Sound, but by the only tree on the golf course. From an elevated tee, the shot must carry yet another vast sand expanse in its drop to one of the smallest greens on the course. That same sand feature extends to the right and behind the green. To the left is helpful sloping ground and one insidious pot bunker. The 17th, measuring 172 yards to 218 for the U.S. Open (with one day at 122), also dips downhill over another gigantic sand bunker, with an active railway line edging the right side.