Par-3 courses offer time-friendly enjoyment for golfers of all stripes
Photographs by Mike Baldwin
This article appeared in the February 2026 edition of Chicago District Golfer.
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Uncle Henry's Backyard is a new par-3 course located adjacent to The Club at Lac La Belle in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, that is scheduled to open this spring. Its name is derived from the 1896 club founder Henry Shufeldt.
Chicago’s Mike Keiser has developed world-renowned golf courses, including Sand Valley in Wisconsin and Bandon Dunes in Oregon. Within a pitching wedge of these gorgeous, physically grueling layouts, he also created spots that are more welcoming to less-than-stellar players: par-3 courses. He once said that these types of holes are “the most important thing about a golf course.”
Par-3 aficionados tout the benefits of their growing niche sport. Advantages of par-3 courses are many: novices, especially juniors, can enjoy playing a less-stressful layout, veteran golfers can work on their wedges, creative greens (such as punchbowl-style) that would be forbidden on an 18-hole tract are embraced, players can carry just a handful of clubs, and the time commitment of 90 minutes or less is minimal compared to what can be a five-hour slog. Also, let’s not forget: holes in one are possible on every tee shot.
“Par-3 courses are approachable, relaxed, and far less intimidating than a full-length championship course,” said Tyler Morse of The Club Lac La Belle in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, whose par-3 course – called Uncle Henry’s Backyard, a name which pays tribute to 1896 club founder Henry Shufeldt – is set to open in the spring of 2026 next to its 18-hole layout.
“You can push the boundaries of traditional course design and focus entirely on pure fun and creativity with par-3 courses,” Morse added. “They o
er a quicker, more casual way to enjoy the game. That accessibility is a big reason they’re gaining momentum.”
In 2023, these short courses accounted for almost half (47%) of all new courses in the country, according to the National Golf Foundation (NGF). The 34 course projects that launched that year represented the highest U.S. total in more than a decade. From 2018-23, par-3 venues comprised more than one-third of course openings, though overall they’re only about 5% of the total number of golf courses in the United States. More than 700 are scattered across the United States, and the lion’s share are publicly accessible and not affiliated with a bigger course.
In the Chicago area, more than a dozen par-3 courses – usually run by park districts – are open to the public. Greenshire Golf Course in Beach Park offers a sterner test than most, with holes as long as 210 yards. Abounding with hills, Nickol Knoll Golf Club in Arlington Heights features a hole named after Chicago Bears Hall of Famer Walter Payton, who used to have grueling running workouts in the area. For night owls, Golf Center Des Plaines features the only lighted layout.
One is even credited with helping to birth a pro golfer. As a boy, Nick Hardy, who joined the PGA Tour in 2021, rode his bike (somewhat weighed down by clubs) to the par-three Anetsberger Golf Course in Northbrook. That’s where he learned how to play the sport – and to play it quite well: he notched 12 holes in one.
One par-3 course that is no longer with us is Illinois Center Golf. Launched as the first course ever situated in a major downtown in the 1990s and designed by Pete Dye’s son Perry, it featured an island green and amazing views of the Willis Tower and Hancock Building. Alas, the run for the Loop nine-holer – which sold memberships for $1,000 and where even Michael Jordan took swings – was as short as the course itself; it closed in 2001.
To that point, there is a reason par-3s are mainly government-owned; turning a profit is not easy. Zigfield Troy, the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame member who ran driving ranges and miniature golf courses for decades, opened an eponymous par-3 course in Woodridge in 1980. Tim Troy, Zigfield’s son who manages the course today with his brother Dennis, has sold the property to a developer, and the course is likely to be razed sometime in 2026.
Why is running a par-3 course so hard? As Tim Troy noted, tee boxes are riven with divots since most players forgo a tee and don’t play enough to hit wedges smoothly. Par-3s pay for the same maintenance equipment as 18-hole courses but charge lower greens fees and count fewer rounds than their larger counterparts.
But the benefits of the par-3 courses for players are clear. Even pros look back fondly on their introduction to the sport they love.
“Occasionally I’ll run into a younger golf pro who’ll say, ‘I played my first round of golf on your par 3 at Zigfield Troy when I was 10,’” Troy said. “We had a young pro come play it again this year because it was the first course he had ever played.”
David A. F. Sweet is a member of the Chicago Golf Heritage Society and the author of Lamar Hunt, Three Seconds in Munich, Onwentsia at 125 and Elawa Farm.