Ever since eight competitors first encountered Prestwick’s 167-yard 3rd hole—called Tunnel (Red)—at the inaugural Open Championship in 1860, par threes have played a significant role in the outcome of golf’s oldest major tournament. Only 12 holes then, Prestwick expanded to 18 holes in 1882, then fell off the Open Rota after 1925, but its challenging one-shotters established a noteworthy precedent: To win the Open, the champion would have to conquer some of golf’s greatest short holes.
Of the current courses on the Open Championship rotation, here are the nine best par-three holes.
Royal Portrush (Dunluce)—16th hole, 236 yards
Called “Calamity Corner,” or more commonly, “Calamity,” the hole spent most of its infamous existence as the 14th. In either placement, this is one of earth’s most challenging one-shotters. Clenching the club with a death grip when the wind is howling off the Irish Sea is a mistake, because if you don’t release the club, you’re destined for a fade or slice, into a yawning, 75-foot chasm short and right of the hole. A “safe” play to the left is no bargain, where the terrain is dotted with heathery hillocks. The innocent-looking green holds its own brand of terrors: Tom Kite three-putted here in the 2004 Senior British Open and eventually finished one shot behind the winner.
Royal Troon (Old)—8th hole, 123 yards
Of all the holes on all the links that make up the rotation of Open Championship courses, the shortest of all is the par-three 8th at Royal Troon. It is also one of the most dangerous par threes in the world. From an elevated tee box atop a seaside sand dune, the “Postage Stamp” asks for an all-carry shot over a valley filled with tangled rough and low bushes to a skinny green that is propped up but set below the level of the tee box. The green is further protected by a high hill on the left and by five bunkers that ring the green. With wind off the Firth of Clyde usually blowing across or into the golfer’s face, short irons need to be precisely struck.
Old Course at St. Andrews—11th hole, 174 yards
There’s no hole in golf that features such effective bunkering as the “Eden” at the Old Course. To the left-front of the green is the very large, very deep Hill bunker. To the right-front of the green is the smaller but equally vicious Strath bunker. If your ball lands in either bunker, it is difficult to escape. Often, the best play is to hit it sideways or backwards. The gap between the two bunkers entices a run-up shot, but if not perfectly executed, it will likely run into one of these two bunkers. However, a shot that airmails the narrow, upsloping green will finish on a rough-covered slope leading down to the River Eden. The bunkering is supreme because it influences every shot option that the player can conceive, no matter what the wind or pin placement.
Muirfield—13th hole, 191 yards
A standout hole on one of the world’s greatest courses, Muirfield’s 13th proves you don’t need to play over an ocean to achieve near-perfection in a par three. Most often playing downwind, the exacting iron approach plays to a green perched substantially uphill, with a back-to-front-sloping putting surface that is 41 yards long, but only 15 yards wide. Thus, nearly every putt is tricky. Trickier still is avoiding the five bunkers that ring the green—two on the left and three on the right—and with the green falling away to the right, every bunker is in play. Meanest of all is the front-left pot bunker, its stacked sod wall peaking at a height of six feet. Only 6’4” Ernie Els could pull off a successful escape from this spot—as he did in the final round of the 2002 Open, where with one foot in the bunker and one foot out, he floated a magical recovery to 18 inches.
Royal Birkdale—12th hole, 181 yards
Carved into the sandhills ahead of the 1965 Open Championship by Fred W. Hawtree Jr., Royal Birkdale’s 12th was called one of the world’s best par threes by Tom Watson, who won the Open here in 1983. It’s easy to see why. From a tee box sheltered in the hills, the hole calls for a shot across a narrow valley to a slender green that is nestled into tall dunes. Four deep bunkers and the flanking sand hills define the target in dramatic fashion. “It’s so natural,” said Padraig Harrington, who won the second of his two Opens here in 2008. “It doesn’t look like it was designed. It was born that way—just a tee box in the dunes and a green in the dunes.”
Carnoustie (Championship)—16th hole, 248 yards
Carnoustie’s closing trio isn’t going to win any beauty contests, but the satisfaction of conquering its unmatched difficulty makes it a standout. It starts with the 248-yard par-three 16th, called “Barry Burn,” which features a 46-yard-long, undulating green that resembles an up-turned saucer, but falls away in every direction. Bunkered front-left and front-right, the green is further protected by a gully directly in front. Complicating matters is that it often plays into the wind. After his fourth consecutive bogey on 17 in 1975, the eventual Open Championship winner that year, Tom Watson, called it, “the most difficult par three I’ve encountered.”
Royal Liverpool—17th hole, 134 yards
Brand new in 2020 as a golf hole at historic Royal Liverpool, the petite penultimate hole (which plays as the 15th hole for members) debuted on a world stage at the 2023 Open Championship. Architect Martin Ebert crafted “Little Eye”—named for one of the Hilbre Islands that sits in the Dee Estuary, which is in view from the tee. The hole sports a tiny, 3,800-square-foot turtleback green that rises from the sand and scrub and which falls away on all sides. “They made a really difficult turtle-shell par three,” said Jon Rahm ahead of the 2023 Open. “If you hit a good shot, put it on the green, you have a clear look at birdie. If you miss the green, you have a clear look at bogey.” Despite its miniscule distance, only one player—Rory McIlroy—birdied it among the top eight finishers during 2023’s final round.
Royal St. George’s—16th hole, 161 yards
Some would give the par-three nod to the 176-yard 6th hole at Sandwich, called “Maiden,” a short thrust through the dunes to a green framed by pot bunkers. That version is more famous than great, however, owing to a previous incarnation that played blind to a green obscured by the tallest dune on the property. Instead, we chose the 16th, bunkered sternly in the foreground and then again by four additional traps, two left of the wide, back-to-front-sloping green and two to the right. It was here at the 2003 Open that leader Thomas Bjorn took three to escape the front-right bunker allowing Ben Curtis to lift the Claret Jug.
Royal Lytham & St. Annes—1st hole, 206 yards
One of the rarest of birds, a par-three opener on a championship course, the first at Lytham is hardly a friendly handshake. Seven bunkers guard the green with the three at the left-front snaring most misfires, thanks to the predominant right-to-left wind—which is often shielded from the tee by a row of trees. Par is a very respectable start here, though Lanny Wadkins went two better to begin the third round at the 1988 Open Championship, acing the hole with a 5-iron.
What is your favorite of the par threes in the Open Championship rotation?
