Golf Courses: Ranking the top 10 Par 3 holes around the world
![9 Nov 1996: With the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop, Sandy Lyle of Scotland hits his tee shot on the eighth hole during the third round of the Lincoln-Mercury Kapalua International golf tournament at the Plantation course in Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii. Lyle fired 9 Nov 1996: With the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop, Sandy Lyle of Scotland hits his tee shot on the eighth hole during the third round of the Lincoln-Mercury Kapalua International golf tournament at the Plantation course in Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii. Lyle fired](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/cd6c3ef383bd7452df787447934b009e0bbc09eb6786b1d6dcdd3df5b2f04600.jpg)
I have to admit, when it comes to Open Championship golf, I’m as much of a mark for St. Andrews as there is. There’s no denying the inherent allure of the legitimate home of golf and St. Andrews is a mecca of sorts for those of us who love this game so much.
No particular feature makes the par-3 11th more challenging than other holes. Yet taken as a whole the 11th is spectacular. It simply works, in a way only St. Andrews truly can. Put yourself there for a moment, surrounded by the history of the Open.
That pot bunker to the right on approach is where Bobby Jones found himself in the 1921 Open. He took four strokes, couldn’t get his ball out, and moved on with his round. He didn’t turn in his scorecard and was disqualified from the tournament.
One of the greatest ever to play golf was broken by this hole. And that’s only the third most-famous bunker at St. Andrews, not to even touch on things like the Coffin at Royal Troon.
If we’re talking about bucket-list par-3s, why not open with arguably the greatest bucket list course?