Par 4s
Bandon Trails; Bandon, Ore.
14th hole, 325 yards
Bill Coore
and Ben Crenshaw’s fiercely debated two-shotter is
our only
21st-century entry. The elevated tee shot plays to a wide, severely
left-to-right sloping fairway. Play safely right and birdie is out of
the
equation. Reward awaits those who shorten the approach and play
left to the tiny
skyline green, which Coore was prepared to rebuild.
But owner Mike Keiser
disagreed. “It’s my favorite hole,” he said.
The Belfry (Brabazon); Sutton Coldfield, England
10th hole, 311
yards
At the 1985 Ryder Cup, captain Lee Trevino ordered his
players to lay up instead of going for the boomerang-shaped green
guarded by
trees and a creek. The Americans bickered over the strategy
and lost the
Matches. The quarrelling—then and since—proves that this
hole is a match-play
gem.
The Country Club (Composite); Brookline, Mass.
4th hole, 338
yards
Driveable with a tiny green hidden over a small hill, the
percentage play is to lay up to the generous fairway and wedge on. But
for most,
the temptation is just too great to drive near the putting
surface because the
hole looks so inviting.
The Course at Yale; New Haven, Conn.
4th hole, 437 yards
C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor blended the “Cape” and “Road”
holes,
providing a tempting (and ill-advised) option of driving over the inlet
and shortening the approach. Trees left add to the trouble, but
flirting with
them opens a nice view to the green. The second shot was
even more harrowing
before the greenside “Road” hole bunker’s
renovation.
National Golf Links of America, Southampton, N.Y.
17th hole, 460
yards
“Alps” features an angled bunker off the tee that rewards a
drive down the right. Driving too safely left leaves an all but
impossible
approach to a green behind a hill. No matter the angle, the
approach shot is
blind, adding excitement to the stroll to the
green.
Pine Valley Golf Club; Pine Valley, N.J.
13th hole, 486 yards
Along with the pine barrens and trees, the heroic second shot
to
the peninsula-perched green makes this ideal for matches. There is the option
to go directly at the hole, try a right-to-left run up shot, or play
well out to
the right and pitch on to the undulating putting surface.
Each option has risk,
and so much depends on what your opponent
does.
Riviera Country Club; Pacific Palisades, Calif.
10th hole, 311 yards
An iron off the tee rarely makes worse than par, yet the hole
still lures pros into going for the well bunkered green, an approach
that brings
double bogey into play. As Jim Murray wrote, “This is a
shameless little harlot
that just sits there at the end of the bar in
her mesh stockings and miniskirt
and winks at you.”
Royal Melbourne Golf Club (West); Melbourne, Australia
10th hole, 305
yards
For decades this hole has tempted good players to do unwise
things, always the mark of a great match-play hole. A dogleg left that
plays to
a tiny green set atop a hill, with severe penalty awaiting
both long and short
of the putting surface. Lay up and face an
obstructed view. Go for the green and
bring trouble into play.