CHAMPIONSHIP GEM LISTED AMONG DO-OR-DIE PAR 3 CLASSICS

 

THE Par 3 holes on the Championship Course at Royal Dornoch are regarded among the toughest collection to be found on any links in world golf.

Emerge unscathed from this teasing quartet and you can give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back.

Any golfer playing the Championship Course for the first time has heard the warnings about the accuracy demanded from the second tee, especially as it comes so early in the round.

Famously, honorary member Tom Watson observed that the second shot to the second pin was the most demanding in golf. Failing to find, and stay, on the raised green guarantees a testing recovery from all points of the compass.

It’s not the yardage of the Championship Course Par 3s that makes them so memorable, but rather the alarming run-offs and magnetic bunkers protecting the greens.

Everyone has their own favourite and the latest edition of the online Links magazine pinpoints one among a list of “Scotland’s Best Do-or-Die Pars 3s.”

Writer David DeSmith laid down his criteria: “Because so much depends on your tee shot on these holes, they can often be scorecard-wreckers.

“If your iron game is on, they might also be good birdie opportunities. But if not, and if the hole you’re playing is one of those do-or-die par 3s that offer little in the way of bail-out, a poor tee shot might leave you lucky to save bogey.

“Some are so renowned that copies of them exist all around the world. Each is the kind of hole that will stick in your memory for a lifetime, no matter how well you score on them.”

David’s talking point list includes “The Postage Stamp” classic at Royal Troon, the remodelled, spectacular 9th on the Ailsa Course at Trump Turnberry and the renowned 11th jutting into the Eden Estuary at The Old Course.

At Royal Dornoch he opted for the sixth hole (161 yards off the back tee to a slim green), which featured among the clutch of new holes heading towards Embo which were laid-out in the 1940s.

While appreciating the menacing reputation of the tabletop second, David has plumped for “Whinny Brae,” framed by an impenetrable bank of hillside gorse – golden in season – and a series of intimidating bunkers.

He cautioned: “Should you miss to the right, your ball will roll down a steep hill from which you’ll be lucky to see the top of the flagstick.”

For David’s full Top 10 check out linksmagazine.com