Fancy playing the cracking little par 3 in our lead image here at Doonbeg in County Clare? Probably, but then again, maybe not given how hard a target it looks to find even from only 111 yards. Either way, sadly you can’t, for this particular par 3 no longer exists, even though when Greg Norman’s dramatic modern links opened in 2003 it was generally touted as the signature hole.
The view from behind Doonbeg’s old par-3 14th with Doughmore Bay to the left
(Image credit: Kevin Murray)
Its setting above the vast sandy beach of Doughmore Bay and its vulnerability to the elements made it hard to maintain, and when a certain Mr Trump purchased the property in 2014, it became one of the casualties of Norman’s handiwork as Martin Hawtree was brought in to change things up and, in some cases, shore things up.
I had the pleasure of playing it several times and had pretty much resorted to attempting some kind of long pitch-and-run with an 8- or 9-iron in a desperate attempt to find the putting surface anywhere, for there was simply no good miss. And missing was all too easy despite its meagre yardage.
When you think about how many courses have closed over the years, a huge number of cracking par 3s must have disappeared, but this feature is not about such losses. Rather, it’s about active courses that have retired par 3s for various reasons, often out of necessity, sometimes out of desire. Some I have played and enjoyed over the years, others I never got to experience, but there has always been a fascination for me about how they used to play and why they were cast aside, especially when some misty-eyed member points it out and tells me what a great hole it was.
Looking down the long-lost par 3 at Maesteg in Wales – the old green site is in the centre of this photo
(Image credit: Jeremy Ellwood)
Maesteg in the Welsh valleys had one such hole, a short downhiller that switched back to the left of the par-5 11th, a lovely little par 3 lost when things were reconfigured at the far end of the course apparently. Barnard Castle in County Durham had a good-looking par 3 on the back nine that is actually still there but no longer part of the routing. I was told it was sometimes brought back when required, but it looked a fine hole with its slightly raised green and it was hard to fathom why it had been retired – again, probably for practical reasons related to reconfiguration.
Two courses I know well have lost a couple of par 3s over the past two decades. Goodwood’s…
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