{"id":508375,"date":"2026-04-02T05:08:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T05:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/508375\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T05:08:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T05:08:21","slug":"why-hunstanton-golf-club-reinvented-a-controversial-par-3-national-club-golfer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/508375\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Hunstanton Golf club reinvented a controversial par-3 – National Club Golfer"},"content":{"rendered":"

A blind hole is \u201conly blind once\u201d \u2013 so the great Tommy Armour, a three-time major champion, is said to have told legendary architect Pete Dye.<\/p>\n

But when the mystery fades as the layout is revealed, what are you left with? A hole that\u2019s probably politely described as \u201ccontroversial\u201d.<\/p>\n

That was a word that came up often when characterising the par-3 14th\u00a0at Hunstanton<\/a>. \u201cA fully blind one-shot hole that seems to draw ire from many who are not as understanding as others,\u201d said the experts at Evalu18.<\/a><\/p>\n

It required a solid strike and stretched out to 219 yards at its full length, but the distance was deceptive. Once you\u2019d played over a ridge, the ball ran downhill towards the green.<\/p>\n

Great if you got it right. The wilder efforts of club golfers, though, meant it could be a lottery as to where the ball might eventually end up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndividually, I never had a particular problem with the hole. A good shot would always go on the green,\u201d said Hunstanton General Manager Chris White.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, equally, a variety of bad shots that seemed to be a long way offline would end up on the green as well. Is it just something about a blind par-3 that doesn\u2019t sit very well?\u201d<\/p>\n

In that spirit, the Norfolk<\/a> club have completely transformed the hole over the winter, turning the once blind shot into a shorter, slightly uphill but still challenging iron into a new green.<\/p>\n

The work forms the latest step in architect Martin Hawtree\u2019s masterplan to strengthen the renowned Top 100 venue.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe new 14th green at Hunstanton | Source: Supplied<\/p>\n

What changes have been made to Hunstanton Golf Club\u2019s 14th hole?<\/p>\n

In a phased project, Hawtree has redesigned the course from the 12th\u00a0to the 15th\u00a0with the new par-3 as the crowning glory.<\/p>\n

But the work wasn\u2019t simply about aesthetics.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the main problems of the 14th, forgetting the architecture of it, was that it was quite a long hole and very close to another par-3,\u201d added White.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo if the pin was back left on both those holes at the same time there would only be 20 feet between them.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor someone hitting a 3-wood in blind over a sand dune, even if you shouted \u2018fore\u2019 at the top of your lungs, no one is ever going to hear it or assume it\u2019s for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the obvious starting point [to make changes], but if you\u2019re going to do it you might as well make a fantastic golf hole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where the tee shot once played over the top of two grass bunkers, a new green has been laid using turf from the old putting surface.<\/p>\n

Tees have been constructed around 30 yards back and to the right, changing the angle and revealing that new green complex in all its glory.<\/p>\n

The green also features Hawtree\u2019s signature run-offs on all sides and the hole will play 190 yards from the Championship tee, and 160 to 170 yards when introduced into daily play later this year.<\/p>\n

White added: \u201cIt\u2019s in a slightly different direction to the rest of our holes. We\u2019re quite a traditional out-and-back course and you either play downwind or into the wind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 14th\u00a0sits at a 45-degree angle. There are no bunkers and the topography of the land is the challenge. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou won\u2019t end up putting your ball in your pocket because you got stuck in a huge revetted bunker. The challenge is using the natural contours of the land as much as possible, which is the point of links golf.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will certainly add some more bite from the tips to Hunstanton\u2019s famous finish, with the closing stretch now playing as a 190-yard par-3 14th, 470-yard par-4 15th, 190-yard par-3 16th, 475-yard par-4 17th, and 465-yard par-4 18th.<\/p>\n

Said White: \u201cThe Hunstanton mile is going to be tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Main image: A view of the new 14th hole at Hunstanton Golf Club | Source: Supplied<\/p>\n

Now have your say<\/p>\n

What did you think of the 14th at Hunstanton Golf Club? Will you visit and play the new hole when it opens? Let us know in the comments or drop us a line on X<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A blind hole is \u201conly blind once\u201d \u2013 so the great Tommy Armour, a three-time major champion, is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-508375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}