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Golf Courses: Ranking the top 10 Par 3 holes around the world

By Brandon Raper

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 /
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Riviera Country Club sixth hole best par 3s
PACIFIC PALISADES, CA – FEBRUARY 17: Phil Mickelson hits from the bunker in the middle of the sixth green during the second round of the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club on February 17, 2012 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /

Without raw distance to challenge golfers, designers have to get a little bit more creative in how they defend their pins. Some do it with trees, others with elevation changes, and more with hazards. At most Open Championship courses, pot bunkers next to a green can take a score from par to double bogey in a hurry. But, what happens when you put a bunker in the green?

If you’ve seen Riviera Country Club’s sixth hole, you know exactly what that’s like. It’s such a tough shot that it’s not uncommon to see a player on the wrong side of the bunker from the hole actually chip from the putting surface itself.

With Riviera hosting a Tour event every year but one since 1984, the Tour has kept stats, for better and for worse, from No. 6. Between 1984 and 2014, there were only 14 holes-in-one made on the hole. Between just 2003 and 2014 – 19 fewer years – there were 20 four-putts (or worse). The finer points of the Tour’s stat-keeping aside, that’s an amazing separation.

This bunker might actually be the toughest one players will deal with, even if they never set foot in it.

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