Golfers eye drivable par-4s as chance for shot of a lifetime.
By Russ Pate
Drivable par-4s present some of the most breathless, exhilarating targets golfers encounter. The prospect of reaching the green with one majestic swing stirs the soul and awakens the inner Tiger.
Yes, they are the stuff of dreams, albeit fleeting ones, of tee shots so towering and true they leave short putts for eagle; or, better yet, of tee shots as precise as modern weaponry, rocketing off the sweet spot of the clubface with no alternative other than to seek the pin and disappear into the cup.
Several ClubCorp properties feature small jewels — drivable par-4s on which members and guests can unleash 460cc of fury with the expectation that the next club they pull will be their putter.
Reality bites, however, with the realization that short par-4s also yield large numbers. The counterpoint to the accessibility of drivable par-4s is that these holes typically are defended vigilantly by such sentinels as overhanging trees, gaping bunkers, babbling brooks, and demanding greens either the size of tabletops or with the contours of Humpty Dumpty.
There’s also the distinct possibility a drivable par-4 will engender the dreaded sensation golfers instantly recognize as carpe larynx … in other words, choking.
Trust me, few experiences in golf are as deflating to the ego or as debilitating to the psyche as arriving at a drivable par-4, hitching up your britches in Palmer-esque fashion in preparation for a mighty clout, then proceeding to cold-top a tee shot that travels a mere 100-125 yards.
What follows is a collection of drivable par-4s culled from the ClubCorp registry. Each of these gems gives golfers the opportunity to execute a shot of a lifetime. Or not.
16th Hole
Haile Plantation Golf & Country Club
Gainesville, Florida
Although the hole appears benign and innocuous from the tee box, the view, alas, is illusory. Notes head golf professional John Reger: “It looks like a calm, peaceful hole, but there is danger everywhere. A lot of people walk off the green with bogey or double bogey.”
Part of the problem is a petrified oak on the left side of the fairway. Many players use the tree (struck by lightning around the time the course opened in 1993) as a target for left-to-right power fades, only to ruefully discover the oak acts as a ball magnet. (It’s also a repository for head covers, golf towels, and assorted bric-à-brac.)
Closer to the green loom a pair of pine trees that protect pin positions on the left, as well as a drainage collection area in the front. The putting surface, small and slightly elevated, repels all but the most precise tee shots. Adding insult to injury, out-of-bounds stakes lurk beyond the green.
All things considered, par is never a bad score on this tiny terror.
17th Hole
Diamante
Hot Springs Village, Arkansas
On the plus side, this picturesque hole plays slightly downhill. And, for most of Arkansas’ golf season, the prevailing wind is at the golfer’s back.
On the minus side, driving the green is an all-carry proposition, no thanks to the large lake that extends down the right side before snaking in front of the green.
Brad Martin, head golf professional, says the course’s penultimate hole has a significant say in tournament results: “In almost all of our stroke-play events, someone will have a nightmare scenario where they ‘Tin Cup’ it, and empty their bag of balls into the lake in front of the green.”
For example, Martin reports, at this year’s couples championship, the leaders saw their chances undone by several rinsed shots that ultimately added up to double digits (10) on the scorecard. Game over.
By contrast, in the club’s annual Pinehurst qualifier, the winners drove the green each day, made birdie, and secured the team title and a trip back east.
5th Hole, West Course
Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa
Rancho Mirage, California
Shades of Diamante, the principal peril here is water that extends down the entire right side of the hole (which begs the question: What grudge do course designers carry against slicers, anyway?) then wraps in front of the green.
The saving grace for any all-or-nothing attempt to drive the green is that the putting surface, surrounded by palm trees and lush vegetation, is large enough to hold tee shots that succeed in finding terra firma.
“It’s my favorite hole on the property,” says Brenton Rice, head golf professional, noting the picture-postcard setting. “The hole showcases the grill swimming pool, the lobby … basically the entire resort.”
A word of caution: Don’t let the hole’s overwhelming beauty distract you from the business at hand.
2nd Hole, Dye Course
Stonebridge Ranch Country Club
McKinney, Texas
As head golf professional Joe Menton is quick to mention, this drivable par-4 is something of an anomaly. It’s a virtual oasis, surrounded by 17 brutal and demanding holes that have earned the Dye Course its reputation as one of the toughest layouts in Texas.
Not that the hole is an absolute pushover. Trouble can be found on the left — in the form of a natural area from which tee shots are not retrievable — and on the right with out-of-bounds stakes and a series of small grass bunkers stitched together to form one large one.
The fairway is no bargain, either. It has all the humps and hollows commonly associated with its noted creator.
“It looks like Pete [Dye] had a tractor break down while he was constructing the course,” Menton says. “Instead of moving it, he buried it, leaving a large mound where the ball likes to roll up halfway, resulting in an awkward uphill, sidehill, or downhill lie.”
Further complicating matters, the putting surface slopes front to back, running away from the player and making a delicate touch with the short game mandatory.
Dave Woollums, an engineering executive, turned heads at the 2007 Dye Course member-guest tournament by making an ace from 304 yards. He flushed a drive that crept over the huge mound fronting the green, then disappeared from his view. When Woollums reached the green, he asked the players putting out if they’d seen his ball; he was greeted with this unforgettable reply: “Yeah, it’s in the hole.”
5th Hole, Bayhead Nine
Countryside Country Club
Clearwater, Florida
Adding degrees of difficulty to this dogleg left hole is a claustrophobic tee shot, which, from either of two sets of back tees, must be negotiated through a chute of trees.
Still, big hitters may be tempted to go directly at the green, roughly 255 yards away on a straight line. The blind tee shot must clear a cluster of pine and cypress trees (some upward of 45 feet) at the corner of the dogleg. The green, protected by bunkers front left and right, is slightly elevated.
“Yes, it’s drivable, as long as you have the right conditions and you can hit a big draw,” says head golf professional Tom Champine Jr., whose natural left-to-right shot shape takes away the option of his going for green.
7th Hole, Ironwood Course
Anthem Golf & Country Club
Anthem, Arizona
Attention, golfers, here is a green-light special. Your basic grip-it-and-rip-it par-4.
“The only deterrents are the bunkers,” observes Jay Ford, head golf professional, referring to a quartet of cross bunkers that infiltrate the fairway. “If you have some confidence in your sand play, and can accept the fact that a less than well-struck tee ball might leave you with a semi-awkward bunker shot, somewhere in the 40-to-80-yard range, there’s no reason not to go for it.”
Ford estimates he tries to drive the green 80 percent of the time. “The hole lends itself to an aggressive play,” he says, “and the reward of reaching the green definitely outweighs the risk involved.” There’s even a collection area to the right of the green to keep wayward shots from bounding into the desert.
A bronze plaque embedded near the 7th tee box commemorates the first hole-in-one at No. 7, registered on Jan. 30, 2007 by reigning club champion Kent Tiedeman.
12th Hole, Fazio Foothills
Barton Creek Resort & Spa
Austin, Texas
This Hill Country hole can yield low numbers, but distance control is paramount.
Phillip Marburger, head golf professional, says the preferred shot shape is a draw. The prevailing wind, from the left and slightly helping, often pushes, fades, or slices too far right and sends balls hurtling down a ravine. Likewise, shots over the green are goners.
Marburger adds the preferred miss is short and right, leaving good sight lines for chips or pitches. The most difficult pin position is back left, an area protected by a deep bunker and severe undulation in the green.
Frequent Private Clubs contributor Russ Pate recalls that the last time he drove the green on a par-4, he proceeded to three-putt.
ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
One of the highlights of early season play on the PGA Tour each year is seeing golf’s elite attack the drivable par-4 17th hole at the TPC Scottsdale course.
Listed at 332 yards, the hole gives all but the shortest hitters in the FBR Open field an opportunity to reach the green and putt for eagle.
Andrew Magee went one better than that during the 2001 tournament, registering what is believed to be the first (and, as of this writing, only) ace on a par-4 in tour history.
Having drained a 40-footer for birdie at 16, Magee had honors on the 17th tee. Still miffed about making a bogey on the relatively easy par-5 15th, Magee put some extra heat into his drive and watched intently as the ball accelerated off a downslope and scurried up on the green.
In the threesome ahead, Gary Nicklaus sidestepped the incoming Titleist, which, incredibly enough, proceeded to roll between the legs of Steve Pate (no relation to this writer) and then ricochet off Tom Byrum’s putter before disappearing into the cup.
From Magee’s perspective, it simply appeared Byrum had made his putt — until a buzz from the greenside gallery rippled its way back up to the tee box.
“What I remember is that a tour official raised up his arms, like he was signaling a touchdown. I thought, ‘OK, I made six,’” jokes Magee, whose wit makes him a natural for his gig as a Golf Channel commentator. “Then he held up his hand and signaled it’s a one.”
Magee grew up in golf at Brookhaven Country Club near Dallas, the flagship of the ClubCorp fleet. He still honors his roots by returning to Brookhaven each September to host a charity golf tournament.
Off the tour for the past two seasons, Magee, 45, splits time between Phoenix and Gozzer Ranch, a high-end development in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, that he represents. He’s awaiting a 2012 debut on the Champions Tour. — Russ Pate