In Flourtown, Pennsylvania, there was a buzz of excitement around the 14th hole at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, particularly for golf enthusiast Jason Brown. This wasnโt your typical par-3 course. Instead, it was a part of the Truist Championship and boasted the title of being the shortest par-3 in years for a regular PGA Tour event, measuring in at a mere 95 yards.
Golfers were advised to leave their drivers and rangefinders aside and let their skills shine on this compact challenge, which was shorter than a football field. Fans, including the aspiring golfers among them, imagined themselves teeing off just like the prosโKeegan Bradley, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowlerโaiming for birdies on this tight target.
Brown, aged 54, pondered how he would approach this hole. โI would just hit a three-quarter pitching wedge,โ he suggested. โIf I hit a sand wedge off the tee, Iโd probably take a chunk.โ The hole harkened back to the Philly Cricketโs original St. Martins Course, which dates to the late 1890s and served as a backdrop for the U.S. Open more than a century ago.
Los Angeles Country Club featured a similarly short hole during the 2023 U.S. Open, but the PGA TOURโs Shotlink system, which tracks shots in real-time, reveals that a regular tour event hasnโt seen a hole this short since its debut 40 years ago. Golfer Tom Hoge, for instance, chose a 60-degree wedge for his attempt and reached par on the 14th.
The tiny green, fortified by deep bunkers, offered a challenging pitch-and-putt ambiance, normally set at 105 yards. The first round saw it played at 109 yards with 24 birdies. It extended to 117 yards in the second round, where nearly every golfer reached birdie or par, and 127 yards in windy conditions during the third round also yielded respectable scores. Despite its charisma, no aces were recorded on this diminutive course, which ultimately saw Sepp Straka emerge victorious.
Keith Mitchell, who posted a career-best round of 9-under 61, appreciated the rare short par-3. โThat one is just the perfect example,โ he remarked, adding that such holes are much rarer in modern golf architecture.
Local golfer Sean Kaufmann, from nearby Conshohocken and a 1912 Club member, viewed the hole with a practical strategy. Using a 52-degree wedge, he imagined landing center-green followed by a two-putt for par. Amidst the crowd and pressure, he humorously admitted, โIโd probably shank it with this many people watching.โ
Professional players found themselves charmed by this unassuming hole. Justin Thomas, prepping for the upcoming PGA Championship, praised the courseโs character. โI think 14 is an awesome hole, the short par-3,โ he commented, endorsing the appeal of compact challenges, which offer memorable play without the daunting stretches of longer par-3s.