Ohio Golf Journal November 2018

gem at Sand Valley in Wisconsin’s heartland. It opened for play in May 2018 and has been a raving success. Visitors to the Sandbox have so much fun, they cancel tee times on Sand Valley’s two championship courses, Mammoth Dunes and Sand Valley, to complete additional rounds on the 17- hole par-3, Sandbox. Big Cedar Lodge Top of the Rock & Mountain Top Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, Missouri has two short courses. The Champions Tour annually visits the Jack Nicklaus designed, Top of the Rock for the Bass Pro Shops Legend of Golf tournament. Developer Johnny Morris also added the 13-hole Gary Player short course, Mountain Top, which opened for play in 2017. Mountain Top offers a variety of long and short par- 3 holes, plus excavation exposed 300-million-year- old limestone rock formations that make it visually stunning. Threetops at Treetops The granddaddy of the par-3 public genre is Threetops at the Treetops Resort in Gaylord, Michigan. Rick Smith came up with the idea for a public short course after visiting Augusta National’s Wednesday par-3 contest at the Masters. For several years, Threetops hosted the pros for the Par-3 Shootout on ESPN. Fred Couples, Phil Mickelson and Raymond Floyd competed in the event. In 2001, Lee Trevino made a hole-in-one that EARNED HIM THE ÚRST MILLION PAYDAY IN GOLÚNG history. A plaque still marks the spot of the Merry Mex’s historic stroke on the 7th tee box. Threetops has been rated the top par-3 in the country on several occasions. Severe elevation drops from tee to green accentuate the beauty and DIFÚCULTY OF this short course. Everyone, who plays Threetops, can’t wait to revisit and have another go at breaking par. This is just a short listing of some of the more notable par 3 courses found in the United States. We hope the trend is to build more of these wonderful short courses. Mountain Top Par 3 at Big Cedar Lodge O h i o G o l f J o u r n a l