That’s not real golf!  It’s too easy!  It’s too short!  That’s just for beginners and kids!  These are just some of the reasons I have heard why people don’t play the Par 3 Course.  Fine, don’t look at it as playing a round of golf, look at it as practicing in a different environment.

For a typical golfer about 60% of all shots occur inside 100 yards, and according to Dave Pelz we have to hit approach shots to inside 8 feet to have a better than 50% chance of making the putt (and those numbers are if you putt as well as a touring professional!).  To sum that up, we need to hit our wedge shots closer if we want to score better.  Not only do we need to hit them close, but we need to be able to follow up that good shot with a putt or that bad shot with a chip and a putt.  What better place to practice that than on a golf course?

One of the things that is hard for many of us to define is when we are playing a round and when we are playing a “practice” round.  For almost of all of us, a round on the Par 3 Course is always a practice round.  This gives us the liberty to do some things that we may not do otherwise.  Because you are not concerned about your score in a practice round you can try things like intentionally missing the green at a certain spot and then challenging yourself to get up and down.  Playing games like this with yourself allow to work on accuracy with your wedges, fundamentals of your short game and the mental aspect of actually “playing” the shot and not just hitting it at the practice green.  Not to mention working on your game on the golf course is always more fun than just hitting balls on the range, especially with some good company!

While the Par 3 Course may not be your idea of an everyday golfing challenge, it is a great place for all of us to work on some aspects of our game in a fun (and potentially competitive…) setting.