Oakmont’s eighth hole has long been one of the meatiest par threes in golf. Even in 1962, when Jack Nicklaus won his first US Open, and indeed first (professional) Major there, it played to 253 yards. The hole is downhill, but for pretty much its entire existence, it has demanded a wood, perhaps even a driver. This year, the hole was lengthened further, to 289 yards (it reportedly played from 253 to 301 yards for the four days of the US Open). But nonetheless, it remains significantly shorter than most Tour professionals would hit a full driver. The hole was all over the media in the run-up to the Open, and the mood music was not positive. One player who was happy to go on record against the hole was Viktor Hovland. Asked about it in his pretournament presser at Memorial, he made it clear that he doesn’t think par threes should be so long. “I just think all the best par threes are under 200,” he said. “You can maybe have it just over 200, but as soon as you start to take head covers off on par threes, I just think it gets a little silly.” Justin Thomas expressed similar views. “I couldn’t tell you a par three over 250 yards that’s good, I would say, architecturally,” he told the media. “Obviously, sixteen at Cypress Point is pretty special, but I definitely think there’s some potential viewing reasons that make it a great hole. So I’m a big short par three guy. I think a lot of players and people that watch golf are.” Memorial tournament host Jack Nicklaus echoed the views of the players, calling Oakmont’s eighth ‘a short par five’ and ‘crazy’. “I always liked to have one par three in the 220 to 235 range, two right in the 190 to 210 range, and then one usually somewhere shorter, 170 or shorter. I think it’s difficult to make a good, long par three. I think it’s a very 38 Not for a long shot? LONG PAR THREES Written by Adam Lawrence FEATURE The par-three eighth hole at the recent US Open at Oakmont got a lot of press for its near 300-yard length. Many well-known pros criticised it. But why are players, who can comfortably reach a 600-yard ‘par five’ in two, so hostile to long one-shotters? Adam Lawrence investigates.
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