There is a nice little par 3 course close to me. Holes range from 100 to 190 and it's the perfect place to walk 9 or 18 in the spring and work on your iron play, rather than just beating balls on the range.

Goat Hill Park GC in Oceanside, CA. Maybe not a classic in that sense, but this is a 65 year old course that was "saved" from extinction by John Ashworth and friends.

The original name was Center City and it was a ragged Par 3 course that was fought over by different factions that wanted it to become things other than a golf course. John stepped in and with a groundswell of Oceanside support and volunteers has transformed this place into an amazing par 3 course.

"Save the Goat" became a rallying cry for those that played the course and residents that wanted to preserve the bit of oasis near the freeway, business area. The nickname of Goat Hill was made official in the beginning of 2016 after much sweat, hard work and volunteer work. John could often be seen working on the big machine moving dirt daily with his team of staff and volunteers.

Recently, Charley Hoffman, Xander Schauffele, Dean Wilson and Chris Riley volunteered their time and had a persimmon wood exhibition 18 hole match called the Wishbone Brawl to benefit Reagan, the daughter of Ryan Donovan, the men's golf coach at SDSU.

If you ever get a chance and want a workout (it is not called Goat Hill for nothing), they have a grass range, friendly staff and a challenging little course. www.goathillpark.com

Here's Charley playing in flip flops with a persimmon club

Cathi,

Love....Goat Hill Park is pretty awesome!!!
Great people build great places...Goat Hill comes with a great story and vibe.
Anybody that visits SoCal has to check it out.

Cheers,
Dr. K

I have played Goat Hill Ranch, about 20 miles from my home, and play The Preserve on most of my annual trips to Bandon Dunes. Both are pretty special. Bandon also has a nice 9-hole Par 3 called Shorty's that is free when you stay there.

I learned to golf at a par 3 course, like so many others. Quaker Heights, in Sewickley, Pa. A lot of fond memories of our Thursday night league. Sadly it’s now a housing development, for quite some time.

Good to see another ohioen. I live down in Columbus and love to play a super short 9 hole par 3 course near me. I'm currently playing compotion high school golf as well as other junior tours and actually see a huge improvement in my short game after playing these courses. Would it be antiquit for a substitution for the standard champion par 72? No but it's a easy and fun way to practice.

Branson Missouri top of the rock is excellent. I am also fortunate that there are a few options available near me. Ben Hawes in Owensboro ky has a nice par 3 course as well as their championship 18 hole course. But my local Club (Central City Country Club) has an executive par 3 incorporated into the course which is really nice when limited on time or wanting to work on short game.

Oh, and I hope to play The Cradle at Pinehurst next summer.

One of my pet peeves is the loss of many of our Par 3 and 9-hole courses. For example, I lived in a small town that, up until a decade ago, had three 9-hole Par 3 courses. Today, there is only one, the others are slated for condominium development...
Not only are they great places to play, but they're great places for newer (and older) golfers to learn and practice. They open up our sport to the masses, folks who might not be regularly able to plonk down eighty bucks for a round, still have a place to enjoy the game. One of the great things about our sport is that, on the course, the guy on the factory floor has every chance to beat the CEO, it's about talent, perseverance, and determination. Well, that is, if that guy has a place he can learn and practice, maybe teach the kid...
This thread had me thinking, if we're not patronizing these places, we ARE the problem. We owe it to the next generation the chances we had to head down to the local Par 3 and, for some pocket change, play like we were Ben Crenshaw, or Tiger (or Arnold Palmer, for me, as I'm always in the rough, lol). "Sir Walter" Hagen showed everyone how golf was the sport of every man nearly a century ago (Famously asking King Edward VIII to tend the flag by saying, "Hey, Eddie, grab the stick, will ya?"). We owe it to every man to make sure it always is.
Great subject, Scotty, thanks for posting.

I too love the different mindset and fun that a good par 3 course provides. I miss all the ones that closed down around me. Thanks for sharing!

Haven't played a par 3 course in probably 15 years but probably should. Fond memories of my dad taking me to a little, plain, pedestrian public track in Manheim, PA aptly called Evergreen. I'm sure we'll reminisce about that at Christmas as dad is now wheelchair bound but he keeps his clubs in the corner of his bedroom!

Hey ScottyC50,

I'm the manager of a par 3 course in Virginia, and for the last few years I've been building a database of all the par 3 / executive courses in the US (Par3NearMe.com).

I've come across some unique courses in my research, but I'd be most interested in playing the short courses on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail down in Alabama.

Have played The Loma Club near the San Diego Airport. Was really fun. Also have played the Palm Beach par 3 course and would highly recommend that, especially if you are playing PGA National.

Also several nice ones connected on a lot of the RTJ courses in Alabama

About 4-5 miles from my house is Briar Bay, a par 31 executive course. It's great fun to play, always seems to move quickly, has a bunch of friendly people there who make you feel genuinely welcomed and it's the only course around Miami I know of that was actually designed by some famous names, Bruce Devlin & Bob Von Hagge.

Here's a link to copy/paste... www.teeoff.com/.../briar-bay-golf-course-miami-fl

Okay, this tread has been around a while and yes, I did get to play The Cradle at Pinehurst. Pretty special. I also just got back from Sand Valley where we played the 17 hole Par 3 course, The Sandbox. Great little track and lots of fun to play, especially as a warm up to the following two days on the big courses.

My daughter lives in Cary, NC, about an hour from Pinehurst. I hope to get there one day. The closest I came was Anderson Creek, a Davis Love 3rd designed course in the Sand Hills area.

I played a Par 3 course in Bermuda last year, Turtle Hill which is part of the Fairmont South Hampton.

It was a really neat course. There was lots of undulations, plenty of water, a fair amount of wildlife and certainly some of the most beautiful views of the Atlantic Ocean. We played the course 2x's in competition and I think at least 2 more "get even" games, but at that point, I think the Dark&Stormy's may have taken over. Also got to see a course record set by Simon Lilly.

Anyway, it was a great trip, very short travel from Boston. Just about 2 hours and the weather was amazing. While we were there, we also got a chance to play 2 other great courses, Mid Ocean and Port Royal. It was a fantastic trip, got to meet another Team Titleist member and his Dad and got to play with one of the Best teaching pro's in the world....I think he just might like having the option to photo bomb once in a while too!

As for Par 3 courses, I would have said they are not for me, but after getting the chance to play Turtle Hill, I think I have a different opinion. As someone mentioned above, they seem to be on polar ends...Either really good, or really not worth the time.

Great topic and I hope you all get a chance for a trip to Bermuda to check out a beautiful island with plenty of golfing options.

as one who just checked out the thread, I will add CROSSWINDS in downtown Greenville SC. each hole designed by a different world class architect ...a fun stop when I come to Greenville on business. The name comes from its location...the downtown airport is just across the highway. Wednesday evening skins game....