The best par-3 holes in Great Britain and Ireland
The Machrie – 9th
One of several new holes that DJ Russell has created in his sympathetic re-imagination of The Machrie, on the Isle of Islay. It’s a gorgeous 143-yard hole from a slightly elevated tee played to a bunker-less green with an ocean backdrop. Minimalist and unadorned. DM
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Moortown – 10th
Dr Alister MacKenzie was so confident about the merits of Gibraltar, as it became known, he constructed it as a test hole to sing the praises of his upcoming course. The ‘build it and they will come’ approach certainly worked as no one who saw this short hole, moulded out of a rocky slope, failed to be amazed.
More than a century on, the 172-yarder still thrills. Whether that’s the quartet of bunkers ready to take the poorly struck shot or the feel you get when you hit the right part of the green and watch it slide, slowly and deliciously, across the contours to the hole, it’s just epic. SC
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Okehampton – 12th
A tiny par 3 at just 94 yards played not only over a natural Dartmoor cliff face to a picturesque green surrounded by the Okemont river, but over the 13th tee too.
Everyone who plays at Okehampton spends 11 holes looking forward to this tee shot. Wonderful imagination. AP
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The European – 12th
One of the 20 holes available on this stunning links. The green is nestled 205 yards away within some colossal dunes and protected by a railroad sleeper-lined bunker to the front. The views of the sea add to the beauty. HH
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Royal Birkdale – 12th
183 yards of both beauty and menace. The green looks tiny from the tee, the bunkers sweep up anything that’s short or slightly off line and the rough grass on either side only adds to the mental torture – and the exhilaration if you manage to escape with a par or, dare I even say it, better. SC
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Hollinwell – 13th
A testing 182-yard donkey drop where working out how the elevation will affect your shot is crucial if you wish to avoid the six bunkers which guard all angles of the green. The tall tree to the back of the green and the heather frame your target perfectly. HH
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Burnham & Berrow – 14th
A wonderfully tough hole that slopes away at every side. Miss this two-tiered green and par is unlikely. The 192-yard Old Mill is named after a nearby derelict mill made famous as the site of a murder many years ago. And you’ll be happy to survive with par. AP
Portmarnock – 15th
Arnold Palmer played his first links golf back in 1960 at Portmarnock and described this 204-yard hole as the best par 3 he had ever played. He wasn’t far wrong – with the beach to the right and a green protected by bunkers and run-offs, it’s close to perfection. DM
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Dartmouth (Championship) – 18th
You either love or hate a par 3 with a dramatic change in elevation. And you either love or hate a par-3 finishing hole. I love both.
I am, however, not a fan of long par 3s, but I’ll make an exception for Dartmouth’s 204-yard 18th because it’s as fun as it gets. AP
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So, which of the best par-3 holes in Great Britain and Ireland did we miss? Let us know in the comments below, or you can tweet us.
Don’t forget to check out our NCG Top 100s rankings to see where your favourite course comes.
