Are Blind Shots The Scariest In Golf? Five Great Par 3s To Make You Think

Prestwick's 5th may be one of our most famous, but there are plenty of short holes where you cannot see the green from the tee including these five beauties

Aberdovey - Hole 3
The 3rd hole at Aberdovey - Cader - is stroke index 17 and is played upwards over a gap between grassy hummocks
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A blind par 3 can be exciting and it can be frustrating. Not knowing exactly, or sometimes even vaguely, the position of the hole, can lead to doubt and a tentative swing. Having said that, the delight and even surprise at finding your ball safely on the green can be one of golf's great thrills as these five examples in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales demonstrate.

Aberdovey - Hole 3

Aberdovey - Hole 2

The 2nd green with the 16th beyond and the par-3 third tucked away in the dunes on the left

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The Golf Monthly Top 100 course at Aberdovey has benefited from the input of some of golf’s greatest architects including Herbert Fowler, James Braid and Harry Colt. Aside from this, its most important design influence has been nature itself and the rumpled landscape on which it sits. While the first two holes skirt just inside the dunes, the par-3 3rd takes you right up into them. Cader, meaning seat or chair, is only 166 yards from the very back tees, but calls for a full carry over no-man’s-land to a receptive and bunkerless punchbowl green. Particularly when played into the prevailing westerly breeze, club selection is vital. Hard to discern from the tee, the rule of thumb is to take one more.

Cruden Bay - Hole 15

Cruden Bay - Hole 15

The green on the fifteenth, with the tee behind you and to the right, looks impossible to hit from this angle

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Cruden Bay dates back to 1900 and its Top 100 course was designed by Old Tom Morris and Archie Simpson. It was subsequently upgraded by Tom Simpson and Herbert Fowler and takes full advantage of its dreamy setting through the dunes alongside a fabulous, sandy beach. There are four very varied and attractive short holes with the 15th being nominally the easiest on the card.

Cruden Bay - Hole 15 & 16

Looking down on the green at the short fifteenth with the par-3 sixteenth beyond

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Whether it really is may depend on how confident you feel about drawing a long iron, hybrid or more around a towering dune from a tee sandwiched between the previous green and the beach. Thrilling, scary, and great fun.

Appleby - Hole 15

Appleby - Hole 15

The daunting view from the tee on the short fifteenth at Appleby

(Image credit: Rob Smith)

In general terms, golf in the county offers the best value in the country with Appleby being one of the best golf courses in Cumbria. Covering a large expanse of beautifully crisp turf in the most unspoiled and peaceful moorland setting, this is a delightful place to play with its signature, Bell Hole, a terrifying treat arriving late in the round.

Appleby - Hole 15

Looking back over the punchbowl green down towards the distant tee with the rolling Cumbrian hills beyond

(Image credit: Rob Smith)

Playing between 176 and 149 yards, it calls for a do or die shot that needs to carry to the shallow green and then stop quickly. A river that also marks out of bounds flanks the right, and there are bunkers short, left and right.

Lahinch - Championship - Hole 5

Lahinch - Hole 5

There is a punchbowl green on the opening short hole at Lahinch, the fifth

(Image credit: Steve Carr)

Exactly as he did at Prestwick some 40 years earlier, another Top 100 course packed with original features, Old Tom Morris created a blind par 3 for the 5th here at Lahinch. This is almost completely different in nature, still uphill but substantially shorter, with no water to cross and no need for bunkers.

Lahinch - Hole 5- Shane Lowry

Shane Lowry putting on the fifth green in the 2019 Irish Open

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It is played up to a 2-tier punchbowl green, higher on the left and lower on the right, that is about 30 yards wide and seems about 6 inches deep. A white stone is placed at the top of the hill to indicate the pin position for the day.

Shiskine - Hole 3

Shiskine - Hole 3

Looking down from behind and back over the third green at Shiskine

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Although the beautiful course at Shiskine has just twelve holes, no fewer than seven of these are actually par 3s. And of these, two are blind. One is the 7th, which similar to the 15th at Cruden Bay asks you to shape it around and over a towering dune. Before that however, the 3rd - Crows Nest - is an absolute cracker.

Shiskine - Hole 3

The view from the tee - a marker pole for the green, and a flag to mark the no-go area to the left

(Image credit: Rob Smith)

If ever a hole played longer than its 122 yards, this is it. A marker pole indicates the centre of the green and a flag marks the left edge, beyond which you simply must not go. The view from the green is sublime. With Arran offering some of the best value golf in the UK&I, this is a wonderful destination.

Rob Smith
Rob Smith
Contributing Editor

Rob 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 over 1,250 courses in almost 50 countries. In 2021, he played all 21 courses in East Lothian in 13 days. Last year, his tally was 78, exactly half 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 he is missing two in Scotland and two in Ireland. He has been a member of Tandridge for over 30 years where his handicap hovers around 15. You can contact him at r.smith896@btinternet.com.

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