better living | sport

THE TOUGHEST
par-3
AROUND

BY J.P. HOORNSTRA

ON A RECENT SUNDAY, Larry Gunn was one of 48 amateurs competing in a friendly 18-hole tournament at Empire Lakes Golf Course in Rancho Cucamonga. A course assistant who spends his days behind the counter at the pro shop, Gunn might have had a bit of an advantage over most of his opponents.

Still, what happened on the par-3, 225-yard 17th hole that day was downright eye-popping.

“Out of 48 guys,” Gunn said, his tone more incredulous than boastful, “I was the only one who hit the green.”

Gunn’s amateur rivals were not the only golfers who have found difficulty on the hole. In 2007, its most recent year as a course on the Nationwide Tour schedule, Empire Lakes’ 17th hole was the 18th-most challenging hole on tour with a 3.372-stroke average.

For every 10 Nationwide Tour pros who play the hole, four will walk away frustrated with a bogey-4. The other six will merely have to settle for par-3.

The hardest hole among the 612 on tour — the par-4 No. 1 at Livermore’s Wente Vineyards — averaged 4.507 strokes by contrast, meaning that just one more of our 10 professionals will bogey that hole.

Empire Lakes’ No. 17 is so tough that, in 2006, tournament sponsor Mark Christopher gave Nationwide Tour golfer Chris Baryla a new Hummer H2 for making a hole-in-one.

The root of its difficulty begins with its robust topography.

Beyond a small, ovular green lies a scaled-down mountain range with seven distinct peaks. This forces any tee shot struck