Ten years ago it would have been difficult to imagine a par-3 course as part of your golf destination bucket list. The stigma of pitch-and-putts was hard to shake.
But as more resorts began to add unique short courses with big-name architects associated with the designs, golfers of all ages took notice and tee sheets filled up.
For the most part the price was right, you could play in an hour and the shot-making opportunities, fun, fellowship and relaxed atmosphere was addictive.
That brings us to The Battlefield, arguably the most unique, full-length par-3 layout in the nation. Opened in the spring of 2023 and designed by Virginia-based architect Tom Clark, the Battlefield in Aston, Oklahoma, is an 18-hole, 3,000-yard layout with 100 feet of elevation change with a series of clever and challenging one-shot holes.
How hard could it be, right? Well, The Battlefield as part of Shangri-La Resort (which has 27 holes of golf) was one of the first par-3 courses in the country to be rated by the USGA as part of the organization’s inclusion of par-3 courses into the World Handicap System. The par-54 course garnered a 57.1 rating.
“You can set the course up where golfers can have an opportunity to make a one but there are also a lot of opportunities to make nine,” says Ryan Snyder, Shangri-La Resort’s director of golf. “Some greens out there have three tiers and you’re running and gunning, trying to figure out how to get it in the hole. Again, you can make one swing and it can ruin your day, but that’s part of the fun, too. That’s why people love it.
“If I was getting ready to play some tournament golf in a week or two weeks I would do nothing but play The Battlefield. It will straighten your game out in a hurry.”
The popularity of The Battlefield has been humbling to the 76-year-old Clark, who says the course, with holes ranging from 110 yards to 245 yards from the tips, is averaging 150 rounds a day with a weekend rate of $129.
“I’ve done over a dozen short courses in my career and it is far and away the best thing I’ve ever done,” says Clark, who beat out Tiger Woods’ design firm for the job.
No expense was spared with The Battlefield, which features its own clubhouse and a World War II dedicated theme. The cost of the complex was $15 million with a course that includes waterfalls, limestone outcroppings, railroad ties and even what Clark calls ‘rifle pit bunkers’ that are scattered all over the site.”
“We built some waste areas that mimicked bombed out areas and things like that,” Clark says. “So we kept that WWII theme throughout the course and why they eventually chose to name it The Battlefield.”
Each hole is named in honor of a WWII veteran from Oklahoma and the Legacy of Liberty WWII outdoor museum sits near the course.
Because of the summer heat in Oklahoma, developer Eddy Gibbs even requested the course be equipped with cart paths.
“Well, I had done a lot of par 3 courses and none of them ever had golf cart paths,” says Clark. “But I said, ‘well in some respects we can use the cart paths to channel water for drainage and it allowed us to build some ponds and have recirculating water features.’ They love the waterfalls … and it just adds to the ambiance of the course.”
“When Eddy Gibbs decides to do something he spares no expense and does it right,” adds Snyder.
The rugged terrain also yields some spectacular color during a few months in the spring and summer.
“There are very, very few words that you can use to describe it when the wild flowers come out,” Snyder says. “There is a blanket out there when they hit their peak. They look like they are all orange but when you get up real close to them they are orange, pink, maroon, purple and red — all these colors that flow through that flower.”
On Oct. 26, the par-3 course will host The Battlefield Shootout, to be played by YouTube golf stars Mason Nutt and Cole Lantz (collectively known as BustaJack) and former University of Oklahoma All-Americans Brad Dalke and Quade Cummins.
“Because it’s going to be on two major YouTube channels it will live online in infamy forever,” Snyder says. “And the minute people find out how great the place is and how good the conditions are, and how beautiful it is they are going to start booking trips out here to find out what we have going on in northeast Oklahoma.”
The Battlefield recently was honored by the Oklahoma Travel Industry Association as the “Best New Attraction in Oklahoma in 2023.”
“I’ve never heard anybody say anything bad when they got done playing The Battlefield,” Snyder says. “It’s got undulation, it’s got some places where you can breathe on a short par 3, but then you just get kicked right in the head on the next one. It’s as close to a perfect par 3 golf course as I think anywhere could be in the country. That’s how good it is.”