Courses · Iowa

Three Elms Golf Course

Independence, Iowa · 9 holes · par 35 · Public. Opened 1997.

A caddie's yardage book for every hole: plays-like distance from USGS lidar elevation, reach and carry numbers for every bunker and water hazard, green front, middle and back, which way each green falls, and the lay-up zone on par 5s. Distances are from the back tees along the mapped hole; for a shorter tee, take off the scorecard difference.

Course profile

• At about 920 ft the ball carries about 1% farther than at sea level, so a 150-yard shot plays like about 148. Golfers visiting from low elevation should expect to club down.
• Biggest climb: hole 3, where the green sits 12 ft above the tee and plays about 4 yards longer.
• Biggest drop: hole 6, where the green sits 13 ft below the tee and plays about 4 yards shorter.
• 6 greens tilt 2% or more. Each hole below says which side of the hole leaves an uphill putt.

Maps: tee at the bottom, green at the top. The dashed line is the mapped hole; the gold band is the lay-up zone; the arrow on the green points downhill.

Scorecard

Tees

Hole 1 · Par 4

424 (Blue) · 386 (White) · 369 (Red) yards · Handicap 1

Plays like

422-6 ft

Green · Blue tee

412 · 424 · 436front · middle · back

Green size

27 × 28yards deep × wide

Fairway

35 ydswide at 267

Green slope

2%falls to the front

In play

• Bunker front-right of the green

Playing notes

• Plays about 2 yards shorter: the green sits 6 ft below the tee.
• Dogleg right at about 178 yards.
• No hazards mapped in the driving zone (180 to 300 yards).
• The fairway is about 35 yards wide at 267 and narrows to 20 at 237.
• The green is guarded on the right by bunkers; miss left.
• The green falls from back to front, about 2%. Finish on the front side of the hole for an uphill putt.

Hole 2 · Par 4

370 (Blue) · 345 (White) · 320 (Red) yards · Handicap 5

Plays like

371+4 ft

Green · Blue tee

361 · 370 · 381front · middle · back

Green size

21 × 23yards deep × wide

Fairway

19 ydswide at 238

Green slope

2%falls to the front

In play

• Bunker right: 231 to reach, 247 to carry

Playing notes

• Fairway bunkers on the right: 231 to reach, 247 to carry. Drives that finish short of 231 stay clear; otherwise the left side is the safer line off the tee.
• The fairway is about 19 yards wide at 238.
• No hazards mapped around the green.
• The green falls from back to front, about 2%. Finish on the front side of the hole for an uphill putt.

Hole 3 · Par 3

190 (Blue) · 175 (White) · 150 (Red) yards · Handicap 7

Plays like

194+12 ft

Green · Blue tee

179 · 190 · 206front · middle · back

Green size

31 × 22yards deep × wide

Green slope

2%falls to the front-left

In play

• Bunker right: 149 to reach, 157 to carry
• 2 bunkers front-right of the green
• Bunker left of the green

Playing notes

• Plays about 4 yards longer: the green sits 12 ft above the tee.
• Hazards guard both sides of the green; aim for the middle.
• The green falls from back-right to front-left, about 2%. Finish on the front-left side of the hole for an uphill putt.

Holes 4 to 9

4 · Par 45 · Par 46 · Par 57 · Par 48 · Par 39 · Par 4

The rest of this guide has the same caddie detail for every hole:

• 6 plays-like yardages
• 15 hazards with reach and carry
• 6 green slope reads
• 1 par-5 lay-up zones

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Hole maps, hazards and playing notes come from mapped course data and USGS 3DEP elevation (public domain), not a visit. Plays-like numbers use the Skitty caddie's rule of one yard per 3 ft of rise, from the longest tee; altitude uses 1.16% of carry per 1,000 ft. Tees, hazards and conditions change; check with the course before you play. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0) via OpenGolfAPI. Scorecard yardages and ratings as published. See a mistake? Email [email protected].

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