Variety is the spice of life when it comes to Par 4s in golf, with distance not necessarily being the factor that makes the hole famous. There are Par 4s that are great because they have risk reward options and there are some that are famous because they require a golfer to hit four great golf shots to make a par 4.
11th at Augusta National – 505 yards
The 11th at Augusta National is the beginning of the famous amen corner. At 505 yards in length it is a beast of a par 4, teeing off through a shoot of trees to a fairway that is off camber from right to left when the hole is a slight dogleg from left to right, along and accurate tee shot is needed to enable a shot at the green in two. After the tee shot the hole just gets more demanding with a pond guarding the left side of green, a large bunker to the right along with huge mounds that guard an easy layup to the right. Also the fairway and green slope towards the pond so any ball with right to left spin will move that way. Any 4 on this tough par 4 will be greatly earned.
8th Pebble Beach – 428 yards
A 240 yard blind drive over a small rock in the fairway will leave you facing arguably the most daunting approach shot in all of golf, with 5 deep bunkers guarding the tiny green. the mid iron approach will need your sunday best and nerves of steel to pull off the shot. Strong winds can whip across the hole from the sea making thia already difficult shot even more so.
Tiger Woods said about the heart-in-your-mouth second: “That second shot is one of the most daunting second shots in golf. I know one of the things that (caddie) Stevie Williams and I have, you hit that second shot and you don’t say a word. You don’t know whether to say ‘get up’ or ‘get down.’ It’s just up there forever.”
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17th St Andrews – 495 yards
The 17th on the Old course, St. Andrews, nicknamed the Road hole. Requires a blind tee shot over the corner of the famous Old course hotel to reach the fairway. The green shed that is the corner of the hotel that the players drive over has the words ‘OLD COURSE HOTEL’ and an old saying is that the braver you are the further right the ‘O’ that becomes your starting line, but the strong winds that come off the north sea can make this tee shot one of the most challenging in golf.
However the dangers of this hole do not end at the tee shot, if that is successfully negotiated then a very challenging second shot awaits. An hour glass shaped green, which is very long and slightly raised making a long iron shot difficult to hold on the green. The infamous Road Hole bunker guards the left side of the green, many an Open Championship bid has ended in that bunker. Most notably in 1978 Open Championship when Tommy Nakajima was in contention and made a quintuple bogey 9 on the hole after taking 4 attempts to get out of the bunker that ended his chances of winning.
1st at Oakmont – 482 yards
The first at Oakmont is one of the hardest holes in golf and most possibly the hardest opening hole anywhere around. Out of bounds lines the right side of the hole for all you slicers and deep lush rough down the right for all those hookers. Eight deep and penalizing fairway bunkers guard the side of fairway, 5 on the left and 3 on the right finding these bunkers will almost certainly lead to a dropped shot if not worse. If you do manage to find the very narrow fairway then you face a blind approach shot with a mid to long iron downhill, and to a green that slopes severely away from you and once on the green there is no guarantee of a 2 putt due to Oakmont having some of the most undulating greens in America. Making a par 4 here will certainly put you one up on the field.
18th at Augusta National – 465 yards
Two cavernous bunkers, trees left and right, this is one of the most demanding tee shots in golf even more so when a major championship maybe on the line. Extended in 2002 to a lengthy 465 yards from the back tees this previously simple par 4 took on new challenges, before players could blast there tee shot over the bunkers into the fairway beyond, now players either have to carry the bunkers at 335 yards uphill off the tee, not possible even for the longest hitters on tour or shape their ball left to right to match the shape of the hole. Once a player finds the fairway there is still a long way to go before par is secured. A dramatically uphill second shot with a mid to short iron faces the player, and an elevated green that is guarded by two deep bunkers in front and to the right. To win the Masters a player needs to stand up and hit two great golf shots to make a 4 or even a birdie 3.
10th at Riviera – 315 yards
The tenth at Riviera is dubbed the ‘greatest short par-4 in the world’ and it is easy to see why. An impossibly small awkward angled green that sits away from the player, two enormous bunkers that prevent an easy layup. Eagles are very difficult but not impossible to get and double bogeys are only a poor shot or approach shot away.
If you decide to take on this hole with the big stick you have to favor the left side otherwise a miss to the right of the green requires a miraculous chip to somehow stop out of the rough and on to a down slope of green that is less than 10 yards wide.
Even a lay up to your favorite yardage will not guarantee the hole to be any easier two large bunkers are needed to be negotiated. The ideal layup would be down the left side of the fairway and coming up just short of another bunker short of the green this will leave a short pitch depending on the flag, this line also opens up the green for the approach. A left to right spinning approach will be needed to stop the ball rolling into the bunker left or at the back of the green.
This hole can make even the best players in the world look silly if they don’t give it their full and deserved attention.
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