Golf Courses Shorter Than 18 Holes

I've always thought that golf is a great 12 hole game, an okay 14 hole game and 18 holes is just too long. I have a suggestion which I think will increase the amount of golf played and not require any additional investment by golf courses. The major complaint of golfers, particularly by the family oriented golfer, is that it takes too much time. The suggestion is to establish an atmosphere that encourages playing less than 18 holes by re-orienting the course into three 6 hole segments.

For more than 10 years, I have talked to my friends and some golf professionals about the concept of playing less than 18 holes. Without support and encouragement by recognized golf professionals, the concept was not accepted because it broke with tradition. In the last couple of years Jack Nicklaus has proposed 12 hole rounds including penalty strokes if the rounds were not completed in a specified time limit. In other words, the time required to play an 18 hole round of golf is just not conducive to the current time scheduling for most women and men.

For example, six holes could be played in about an hour and a half. On the other hand, if people want to play 12 or 18 holes they can do that. In order for this to work, there needs to be a change in the attitude of golfers and a modification of the score card for the golf course. In other words, the concept of 12 holes would not change anything that is currently offered. It would just add a new dimension to golf. It's a way to address the single most serious cause of the declining number of golfers, it is too time-consuming for an 18 hole round.

We need a few golf courses and professionals to take a leadership role in creating change. One of the first questions most non professional golfers ask is, what happens to the handicap system. With computers the scoring could easily be adjusted on a hole by hole bases instead of just accounting for 9 or 18 holes structures.