Five Of The Best Driveable Par 4s

published 10 November 2017

The thrill of an easy birdie or potential eagle makes the short par 4 one of golf’s most mouthwatering prospects…

Five Of The Best Driveable Par 4s

Porthmadog 12th - 275 yards (Pictured above)

Admittedly you would have to play this one from the yellow tees unless your name is Bubba or Dustin, and even then it’s uphill so you will need your Sunday best, but it is one of the most spectacular links holes you will find anywhere.

For realists, it is a mid-iron or hybrid over a hill to a wide fairway before a short iron up to a lovely green cut into the dunes above.

Drive it or not, it’s a joyous hole worth the green fee on its own.

Aberdovey 16th - 288 yards

Late in the round on this classic Welsh links comes a wonderful matchplay hole that is the very essence of risk and reward.

Less than 300 yards from the tips, the hole eases from right to left hugging the railway that serves this beautiful coastline.

No bunkers are needed to protect the small green which is fronted by all manner of humps and hollows and has a run-off area all the way along the left-hand side leaving the trickiest of pitches.

Aberdovey Golf Club Course Review

The Belfry (Brabazon) 10th - 311 yards

Probably the most famous drivable par 4 in British golf, the 10th at The Belfry is a guaranteed show-stopper that has seen more than its fair share of drama.

The tiger line requires a carry of about 250 yards to reach terra firma and avoid a watery grave, and Seve Ballesteros brought it to the public eye when he drove the green on day one of the 1985 Ryder Cup.

This feat was subsequently matched by Ian Botham, only for the cricketing legend to three-putt.

The Belfry Brabazon Course Review

Continues below

Expand Five Of The Best Picturesque Par 3s

Five Of The Best Picturesque Par 3s

We take a look at an eclectic collection…

Expand Five Of The Best Tough Par 4s

Five Of The Best Tough Par 4s

A tough par 3 calls for one great…

Expand Five Of The Best Clifftop Golf Courses

Five Of The Best Clifftop Golf Courses

Have you played any of these?

Boat of Garten 15th - 307 yards

This short, bunkerless par 4 surrounded by the stunning Cairngorm Mountains is a real temptation for anyone who thinks they can blast it beyond the marker pole that shows the line to the green.

But all is not as it seems, as there is a deep gully just where many will carry their driver.

Discretion in the form or a pair of 6- or 7-irons may be the best way to tackle this lovely, old-fashioned James Braid classic.

Lewes 3rd - 335 yards

Downland golf is renowned for its exposure to the wind and the vagaries of the bounce, but when both are in your favour, this pretty hole in the East Sussex hills might just be reachable.

It is played from an elevated tee, across out-of-bounds, to a sloping fairway with a pair of sentinel bunkers on the right.

In a westerly breeze, if you get the line just right and a favourable kick, the green is just about reachable and a birdie beckons.

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Rob Smith has been playing golf for over 45 years and been a contributing editor for Golf Monthly since 2012. He specialises in course reviews and travel, and has played well over 1,200 courses in almost 50 countries. In 2021, he played all 21 courses in East Lothian in 13 days. Last year, his tally was 81, 32 of them for the first time. One of Rob's primary roles is helping to prepare the Top 100 Courses of the UK&I, of which he has played all, as well as the Next 100 where his count is now on 96. He has been a member of Tandridge for 30 years where his handicap hovers around 15. You can contact him at r.smith896@btinternet.com.