America's best sets of par 3s, ranked

Perhaps the most visually stunning group of short holes not on the water, the Sandhills course has five par 3s, four of which play over a dramatic canyon.

Brutal bunkering and tumbling greens demand precision, even if the two longest par 3s—Nos. 8 and 16—allow you to roll it up.

The second can stretch to more than 260 yards, but the 160-yard uphill 11th has been called “the shortest par 5 in golf.” Miss the green and you’ll find out why.

From the devilish 100-yard 13th that doomed Phil Mickelson at the 2013 U.S. Open to the mammoth third and 17th, Merion’s one-shotters have “distinct variety of lengths and orientations,” one panelist observes.

Each of Pete Dye’s dramatic par 3s on the Straits course are cut into the bluffs set against Lake Michigan.

Aided by Golden Bell being among the greatest par 3s in the world, Augusta National’s shortest holes require as much strategy as the course’s longest.

Many consider C.B. Macdonald’s template holes—especially the Redan fourth—to be superior to their originals in the British Isles.

With exciting twists on Old World classics at Nos. 3 (Eden) and 7 (Reverse Redan) plus a towering panoramic view of the Hudson River at the 16th (Short), Sleepy Hollow’s par 3s are nearly perfect.

Golf Digest Editor-in-Chief Jerry Tarde notes that you need a different club in your hand on each of the four one-shotters, which range from 140 to 240 yards. “Each asks a completely different question—precision, nerve, imagination,” one panelist adds.

The stunning back-to-back coastal par 3s at Nos. 15 and 16 rightfully get all the attention, but don’t forget the seventh—with its tiny green set hard against a sand dune—which one of our panelists calls “the most underrated par 3 in the world.”