I love creativity when it comes to golf.
I had the opportunity this past weekend to be involved with the Red Bridge Golf Club Annual Par 3 tournament and it was a prime example of using creativity in golf.
Red Bridge Golf Club isn’t a par 3 course, but during February of each year the club hosts a par 3 tournament, and it’s not simply playing each hole just from a shorter length. That’s where the creativity comes into play, General Manager Mark Davis picks out spots for tee markers that almost all are at different angles to the green than you would otherwise play in a normal round of golf at Red Bridge. Bringing in different hazards and then placing pins in some of the toughest spots on the green.
My personal favorite hole of the entire event was the 27 yard hole #10. Now you might be thinking 27 yards? Easy peasy lemon squeezy but not so fast my friend. This 27 yard hole played as the second toughest hole of the entire day. To the left of the 10th green is a hill that sits roughly 10 feet above the green and the green slopes from left to right, so take a guess at where the tee box was… There were a total of 6 players in my group and we managed to have zero balls on the green and both groups (teams of 3 played as a scramble) left the hole with a bogey. The best part was that each person played a different approach on the hole, bump and run into the hill, flop shot into the hill, flop shot directly on to the green, I tried to play my ball to the front of the green and still landed my ball to close to the fringe and it rolled off the side. On Sunday there were 34 groups to play and only ONE birdie was made… ON A 27 YARD HOLE.
That’s why I love creativity in golf, distance isn’t what made the hole difficult, it was thoughtful planning.
Hole #9 was another one of my favorites from the day, typically the tee box is just behind the clubhouse and to the right of the cart barn but for the par 3 tournament your tee box was to the left of the cart barn in front of the clubhouse which brought into play two trees. With the hole playing at about 140 yards you had plenty of loft on your club to clear the trees but with water in front of the hole and the green sloping from back to front from the angle you played the hole, it made this shot extremely intimidating.
Overall it was an extremely fun event, and if you are in the Charlotte area it’s absolutely something you should try to play in if you can. The Club has generated so much interest with the event that they’ve turned it into a two day event and when I was there I overheard plenty of people saying they need to host this type of event more often.
So shout out to Mark and his team for hosting an awesome and unique event.