One of my favourite moments on a golf course is stepping up to the tee and seeing a hole that takes me by surprise.
This is particularly true for par 3s, when your accuracy is really called into question.
I love par 3 holes, mainly because there is less chance of me blobbing.
There are thousands of wonderfully unique par 3s, but which ones have made our list of the quirkiest par 3 holes in the world?
9. Whistling Straits, USA, Wisconsin, 17th Hole
The 17th at Whistling Straits isn’t the shortest to say the least. The hole measures 249 yards and is appropriately named ‘pinched nerve’.
Anything short and left of the hole would make it nearly impossible to get up and down with the green having a sudden drop with numerous bunkers lining the left hand side.
However, anything right of the green and you’re either faced with a tough bunker shot or a chip in heavy, thick rough.
Imagine having the lead on the final day of a major on this tee box?
8. Royal Troon, Scotland, 8th Hole
The 8th hole at Royal Troon, commonly known as the Postage Stamp due to the small green, is one of the most famous par 3’s in the world of golf.
It plays 123 yards on the Championship tees at the course and should you find a bunker from the tee then a bogey is one of the better scores that you will manage.
The green is around 40 yards long and 14 yards wide. You’ve got to have your game dialled in by the time you get to the 8th.
7. Pebble Beach, California, USA, 7th Hole
The 7th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links is 106 yards of beauty. A stunning view on Monterrey Bay and the Pacific Ocean from the elevated being one of the first things you notice before you even consider the hole itself.
You then play down towards the green in what can only be described as an intimidating tee shot. Anything too right and you’ll be in the water and anything slightly short will end up in the bunker that guards the front of the green.
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6. Cypress Point, California, USA, 16th Hole
Just down the road from Pebble Beach you will find Cypress Point Club that has a number of stunning holes.
However, the par 3 16th is one that will stick in your mind. Similar to the 7th at Pebble Beach you are hitting into a green that it is on a peninsula and any stray shot will more than likely find a bunker or the water.
The hole is a tough one and to keep your ball dry to must carry the ball around 200 yards.
5. Chardonnay Golf Club, California, USA, 8th hole
You are unlikely to have ever encountered a more unique green than the one found at Chardonnay Golf Club in California’s Napa Valley.
It is home to a green that is 125 yards wide with six tiers and a right-to-left dogleg.
The number of different pin positions makes this an impossible hole to preempt heading to the tee box.
4. Ventana Canyon Golf and Racquet Club, Arizona, USA, 3rd hole
The Tom Fazio-designed Mountain Course at Ventana Canyon Golf and Racquet Club in Tuscon, Arizona, plays host to a special piece of theatre.
The dramatic par 3 starts off on a elevated tee box. Players must play their shots over a ravine to a small green 100 yards away tucked between boulders.
Many would happily pay the price of admission just for this special moment.
3. Punta Mita Pacifico Golf Course, Mexico, hole 3B
Designed by the great Jack Nicklaus, the Punta Mita Pacifico Course in Punta Mita, Mexico, is a stunning place to enjoy a round.
Holes running alongside the Pacific Ocean and the Sierra Madre Mountains as a backdrop, it’s a game of golf you won’t be forgetting in a hurry.
It’s made even more special by the breathtaking hole 3B, dubbed the Tail of the Whale, which is understood to be the world’s only natural island green.
It’s a massive carry over the ocean – a minimum of 170 yards depending on the pin position.
However, if you don’t fancy the challenge then there is a standard 3rd hole you can choose to tackle. Honestly, who would do that?
2. Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course, Idaho, USA, 14th hole
The most notable challenge at this beautifully manicured course in Idaho is the incredible floating green on the 14th hole.
It is claimed that this is the world’s only movable green, computer controlled to daily distances.
To add to the theatre, golfers are ferried across to the green by an electric boat.
1. Legend Golf & Safari Resort, South Africa, 19th hole
The Signature course at the Legend Golf & Safari Resort, north of Pretoria in South Africa, is one of the most unique layouts on the planet.
Firstly, every hole has been laid out by a different golfing star, including Padraig Harrington, Bernhard Langer, Justin Rose and Colin Montgomerie.
But if that wasn’t enough to whet your appetite, the course also features the Extreme 19th.
Golfers have to take a helicopter up Hanglip Mountain and then face a 361-metre shot down to the green below.
There are currently 14 golfers tied at the top of the Extreme 19th leaderboard with a score of two.
No one has bagged a hole-in-one to date.
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