LOS ANGELES — A view of the flagstick on the 8th green on the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club with the country club in the background. | John Mummert/USGA
LACC has five par-3s, ranging between 120 and 290 yards. It has been 76 years since a U.S. Open venue featured five par-3s.
The U.S. Open heads to the Los Angeles Country Club (LACC) for the first time as the North Course will test the world’s best players.
For years, LACC has been one of the country’s most private, secluded, and expensive clubs. That all changes this week as the entire world will get a glimpse at the iconic venue.
The North Course has changed over time, but in 2010, renowned golf course architect Gil Hanse—along with Jim Wagner and Geoff Shackleford—finished a five-year project that restored the course to its original George C. Thomas Jr. design.
LACC is not your typical U.S. Open layout. Bermuda grass lines the fairways. The fairways have tons of slope and elevation changes. And the greens are tricky. Some pundits have compared the North Course to Augusta National as opposed to classic U.S. Open venues like Oakmont and Winged Foot.
With that in mind, let’s look at each par-3 at LACC. These holes will play pivotal in deciding the 2023 U.S. Open champion.
Hole 4 – Par 3, 228 Yards
USGA/John Mummert
LOS ANGELES — The 4th hole at the Los Angeles Country Club (North Course).
The first par-3 on the golf course features a downhill tee shot, as the number will play shorter than the distance listed on the scorecard.
No bailout area exists anywhere on this tricky hole. A bunker to the left of the green will catch a tee shot pulled, while a gnarly little sand trap will catch anything that leaks right. Any tee shot that comes up short will funnel back into the native area.
Anything that misses long and right will end up in the native area and will prove a very difficult up-and-down.
The green slopes severely from back to front, so being below the hole is paramount to escaping the fourth with no worse than par. If the pin sits on the back half of the green, players can use the area just beyond the green as a slope, bringing tee shots back to the putting surface.
Hole 7 – Par 3, 284 Yards
Following the short par-4 6th hole, the field will arrive at the seventh and stare down an absolute bear of a par-3.
For most professional golfers, a 280-yard shot requires at least a 3-wood. Nonetheless, players can land their tee shots short of this green and run them onto the putting surface.
A barranca—one of the narrow and winding gorges that meanders through eight holes at LACC—runs at a 45-degree angle well short of the green and should not come into play. Yet, this barranca ends just short of where the greenside bunker sits to the right of the green.
This bunker is the only sand trap on this par-3, and the green slopes away from it. Should the USGA place the pin on the right side of this green, that bunker will penalize any player that hits into it.
The kidney-shaped green does not have many undulations, but its subtle slopes stem off the right bunker and from the back of the green.
Multiple teeing areas give the USGA plenty of options when setting up each morning, so the distance of the 7th from round to round may vary. Still, anybody who makes a par here will walk away happy.
If the 7th plays to the distance listed on the scorecard, it will be the 3rd-longest par-3 in U.S. Open history after the 8th hole at Oakmont and the 11th here at LACC (below).
Hole 9 – Par 3, 171 Yards
USGA/John Mummert
LOS ANGELES — The 9th hole of Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course.
The front nine finishes with a slightly uphill par-3 as players will hit their tee shots towards the iconic LACC clubhouse.
A deep gorge runs between the tee and the green, but that surely will not come into play this week—if 20-handicappers were playing, plenty of mishits would find it.
All jokes aside, the 9th green is one of the longest but narrowest on the golf course. The depth of the putting surface is 43 yards, which can be a three-to-four-club difference based on the pin position.
Two large bunkers guard either side of this green, putting a premium on accuracy off the tee. Another sand trap sits 15 yards from the front of the green, but short grass sits between that and the putting surface, meaning the miss at the 9th is short.
Like most of the greens at LACC, the 9th primarily slopes from back to front, but multiple tiers on this green can create some exciting pin positions as the championship wears on.
Hole 11 – Par 3, 290 Yards
USGA/John Mummert
LOS ANGELES — The picturesque 11th hole at Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course, which has the potential to play as one of the longest par-3s in U.S. Open history.
Another bear of a par-3, but the 11th plays much less than the number on the scorecard. The green sits about 40 feet below the tee, which gives players a great view of the entire hole and the City of Los Angeles in the distance.
Two large and deep bunkers run diagonally across the 11th—similar to what the barranca does at the 7th. Another trap sits up on the hill way left of the green.
The sand traps on the left will see little action, but the bunker short and right could see a healthy amount. Any tee shot short of the green will land in the closely mown areas, which then funnels anything into the right bunker.
The green runs from left to right, moving with the topography of the hole. Anything that misses long of the green and right of the putting surface will catch the hill and continue on. If players miss there, the chip shots back to the green will not be daunting as uphill chip shots are easier to manage than downhill ones. But Bermuda grass is always unpredictable, even though it is thinner than typical U.S. Open setups.
Hole 15 – Par 3, 124 Yards
USGA/John Mummert
LOS ANGELES — The 15th hole of the Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course.
The shortest hole on the course, the 15th, may prove as the most exciting but most delicate by week’s end.
Most players will use just a wedge into this pan-handle-shaped green.
The USGA has indicated that the 15th could play as short as 78 yards, which would puzzle the field but entertain fans and viewers. It can also play as long as 145 yards if the USGA elects to put the pin in the back of the green.
Three massive bunkers protect this green. If players miss the putting surface, they will likely find themselves in a sand trap, which will test their scrambling abilities.
The green slopes from the back left to the front right, with the front of the green—symbolic of a peninsula—serving as the low point.
The pin will sit on the pencil-thin peninsula if the green plays as short as 78 yards, as indicated in the photo above.
USGA/J.D. Cuban
LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Open trophy sits on the 11th tee at the Los Angeles Country Club.
