How to Play the Par 3s Better - a podcast by Hanju Lee

So, let’s talk about Par 3s. How do you feel about them? You know how most golfers feel about Par 3s? They don’t talk about them with lot of joy and admiration. Well, why? Most amazing signature holes on golf courses are Par 3s. And, also, think about it...Par 3 is really a Par 4 that you’ve already hit a perfect drive off of. You hit it right down the middle...and you have a perfect lie and the best angle going into the approach shot. How hard can it be?

Well, let’s look at the Professional Tour Stats.  

• Par 5’s, pros score 4.67 average score...which below par. Nice
• Par 4’s, pros score 4.04 average score...which is slightly over par.
• Par 3’s, pros score 3.07 average score...which shows that it’s what pros mostly struggle with.

Why? In theory, shouldn’t you be able to score better than the par 4s? You essentially hit a perfect drive.

Well, here’s what you might not know. Par 3s, if you look at the overall design of all the golf courses, yes, they might be the most amazing signature holes, but they are also most guarded, they sometimes have the smallest greens compared to other holes, they have more bunkers around them typically compared to other holes and they definitely love to add hazards around them AND ...the architects tend to make the Par 3s harder because they think we have an advantage because we get to tee it up and have a perfect lie and angle to the green. 

So what’s our goal? We need to out-smart the architects and we need to do our homework and walk up to the shot confident and prepared.

Further episodes of Better Golf Academy: Strategy to Awesome Golf

Further podcasts by Hanju Lee

Website of Hanju Lee