On most courses I play, the #1 handicap hole on the scorecard is a long par 4. That's the way it is at my home course, Hop Meadow in Simsbury, CT, where the par 4 7th runs to about 420 yards, the last 80 or so uphill to a green that is crowned in the middle. Off the tee on the slight dogleg right, you have to maneuver your drive between a trap at the knee of the dogleg and one at the crook. But there is about 40 yards in between, and bigger hitters can hit over the bunker on the right. The #2 and #3 handicap holes on the course also stretch well beyond 400 yards.
The truly great holes are the ones that require for finesse than length to be challenging. The par 4 6th at Oyster Harbors in Osterville, MA, nicknamed "Water Dog," is just such a hole. It plays just 388 yards from the white tees (course total 6,514 yards), but since it is a dogleg left, you can cut off at least 40 yards by drawing one around the angle...if you dare. Fly the trap that guards the crook of the dogleg at the corner and you risk bounding down the sloping fairway and into the pond on the far right side. Pull your tee shot a little left, and you will be shut out by trees that run up alongside the bunker. Pull it hard left and you are in the trees.
The correct play is right of the trap, about 210 to 225 off the tee; the angle to the elevated green is better from the right side of the fairway, but hit it too far and you will find a lie in some gnarly New England rough or, worse, in the trees beyond. Then comes the approach to a green that forces an all-carry shot, nearly one club more than the distance would imply in order to fly over the very false front. The green slopes right to left, and left is the play when the pin is on the right; at Oyster Harbors, you never ever want to be above the hole (see my article earlier in the week about five-putting).
Number 6 is a stunningly well-designed hole, only the fifth longest par 4 on the course, and deserving of its status as the toughest. It is as perfectly a conceived hole as I have ever played.
Driver is a liability off the 6th tee at Oyster Harbors. A 220 yard shot placed from center to far end of the fairway leaves a medium iron to the elevated green.
The green at #6 is more elevated than it appears here. The play is center left when the pin is right.