Best Finishing Hole?

My home course has a mutha of a par-4 finishing hole.  440 yards, slight dog-leg right, water short left, trees and lateral hazard down the  entire right side.  It's the #1 handicap hole on the back nine.  I figure it for the second hardest hole on the course and only because the green is easier than #5.

I think I like that.  A tough par-4 deciding the match.  When a competition is tight down the stretch I think a solid par should be rewarded.  A birdie should be completely unexpected and any player pulling it off should be highly rewarded.  A couple of bogeys shouldn't be out of the question.  Off to the playoff!!!

Augusta's 18th plays over par for the pros.  Sawgrass #18 would have me shatting my plus fours.  Randomly, Shinnecock #18 is a beauty of a short par-4 that actually plays pretty tough considering its length. 

I like tough par-4s for finishing holes.  What say you?

I would say a risk/reward par 5, or a par 4 that could be drivable with a great shot.

The #1 hole at the course I play the most is a par 4 of 425 yards.

OB fence 30 feet behind you as you tee off, very slight bend to the left, and the fence runs the entire length of the hole. Water to the right and 40 yards off the center of "your" fairway and starts at about 100 yards from your tee. You can clear the end of that water if you stray too far right with a drive that goes maybe 240ish, but right is no good as it is tree lined the rest of the way to the hole, we have lots of trees in the PacNW.

As if finding fairway isn't tough enough I think the hardest part of the hole is this.

Starting at about 100 yards out the hole starts to incline, to a point that is about 50 feet above the fairway. About a 2 club difference for me. The green is maybe 35 yards deep by 25 yards wide, it will hold a 5-7 wood from the fairway, good luck with anything more. In the summer with roll on the drive my average approach is in the 5-7 iron range, one time (and one time only) I hit a 9 iron in.

It really is a par 4 and a half, but if I make a 6 I usually don't complain. I have only birdied the hole once or twice in almost 20 years.

It's not a mutha like Uisce described but man is it tough, if I was smart enuff to google earth it I'd show ya'.

But...

It would be a great finishing hole.

This argument appeals to me.  Not gonna change my vote just yet but I'm listening.   

I would throw in the condition that there can't be death at the green.  A short/easy par-5 resulting a 240 yard second shot over/near greenside water is a green light to accomplished players but a very low percentage risk for the rest of us.  Easy for one player; a bitch for another.  If the easy par-5 is only doable for single digit 'cappers it basically takes the indecision aspect away for mid- to high-'cappers.  Unless they're eejits of course.   Not pointing fingers here as I've tried the stupid hero shot way too many times. 



A question related to the subject at hand and perhaps intertwined.  Which is more satisfying, a par on a difficult par-4 or a birdie on an easy par-5?  Either way the player probably hit two good shots down the hole and either two putted or up-and-downed with style.  I wonder how much the answer depends on the skill level of the player.  I honestly can't say.  I love scoring a four on the hole mentioned in the first post but any birdie makes my day.

The course I'm playing, in my nine hole league, has a good, in my opinion, finishing hole on each nine. The 9th is a 515 par 5, pretty straight forward, but well bunkered around the green. With a good drive, in the warmer weather, it is possible to chase a 3-wood up onto the green. Any right or left miss will leave you with a high-lipped bunker shot to a green that is ~10 feet above higher than the bottom of the bunker. The fairway is of pretty generous width, with tall trees left and short trees guarding OB on the right. Some mounds in the fairway can make for an awkward stance. Par is a reasonable score, the the lure of an eagle putt is hard to resist.

The 18th hole is a 315 yard slight dogleg left with trees lining the left side of the hole. A large tree guards the green on the left.
Once again, the temptation to go for the green is hard to avoid. By cutting the dogleg, just right, it is about 280 yards. Just a touch too far left, however, and you are stymied by the tree, making the approach a low skipping shot to a green that slopes away on that side. With the right direction, and with a bit of a draw, you can run the ball up to the green.  The fairways, in the warm dry weather, are pretty fast, allowing this kind of shot, now and then.

I've pulled the shot off, on both finishing holes, once each. More often than not, however, I come up a bit short, ans sometimes, in an ugly position.
These, I guess, would be my choice for a good finishing hole.

To what extent should the finishing hole represent the style and vibe of the seventeen holes that preceded it? A wildly contoured 18th green, if it comes on the heels of seventeen gently contoured greens, would seem out of place.

Clive, while par-5's may favor the long hitter, they also present the long hitter with more opportunities to hang himself. While the shorter hitter has not choice to to play the par five in three shots, the long hitter has the opportunity to play it in two. A well crafted hole could tempt that long hitter to try something he shouldn't, giving the advantage to the shorter hitter who is content to safely plod along.

The 18th at Scotland Run is a good example. I'll have to find some pics...

something like 18 @ harbour town

Which is funny because, to me, Harbour Town's 18th always seemed like a tough par-3 with a gigantic teebox.  Almost no one goes for the little stripe up the right side off the tee, so all the players end up in the fairway with more or less the same yardages into the green; only the angles change.