Biddie Basketball introduces little kids to the game on six-foot high baskets. In Little League the diamond is smaller than regulation and the game lasts six innings. There are recreational leagues where competitors can play seven-on-seven in football, soccer and field hockey. Outside of professional baseball it is common to see games that last seven innings instead of nine. Why then do we have to preserve, at costs, the 18-hole round of golf?
There are those who will quickly point out that one can choose to play only nine holes and that is all well and good, but what if you want to play more but don’t want to play 18? Jack Nicklaus has proposed the building of 12-hole golf courses. He points out that 20 percent of women and junior players give up the game these days because 18 holes takes too long and because the game itself is so difficult to play.
I’m not so sure I buy the too difficult theory, but to be sure it does take a good chunk out of one’s day to play a full 18 holes and that theory about 18 holes in four hours is a myth. On weekends it often takes closer to five than four, unless one has access to an exclusive private club and even there you can only play as fast as the slowest group. Now Mr. Gorman calls himself a traditionalist, but how can you believe that of a man who once used a long putter and now has converted to a belly putter? And if we are going to argue tradition, I have a couple of dusty bullets that will sting the opposing argument.
For example, did you know that the first British Open, which is the oldest of all the golfing championships, was contested at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland? Number of holes? Twelve. How’s that for tradition? Also when the olde course at St. Andrews was first laid out it did not consist of 18 holes, but rather of 22. It was reduced because those playing at the time felt it was too much, so they scaled it back. Now if you believe the legend, the number 18 was arrived at because that was exactly how many shots was contained in a bottle of single malt scotch. So if those drunken shepherds had been drinking responsibly (whatever that is), it’s very doubtful that today we’d be playing 18 holes per round. I for one think there should only have been 16 shots contained that those bottles. I firmly believe that 12 holes is not enough and 18 is often too many, by a factor of two. How many times have you reached the 17th teebox on a hot summer’s day and said to your playing partners, “God, only two more to go!”? I think 16 holes would be the perfect number for a round of golf. Of course it’s never going to come to that. Not unless the R&A and the USGA get together and change the rules and neither body is likely to do that. It would throw the sport into chaos. Records would mean nothing (of course they don’t now with the new technology). All course slopes and ratings would have to be recalibrated and the handicap system would need to be revamped. And what happens to those two holes that go unused? Practice areas folks.
There are so many courses, particularly in the northeast, that have no place for players to work on their games. One of the most common complaints among many golfers is that they don’t have anyplace to warm up before they hit the first tee. I know I’m dreaming. I know that golf will remain a front nine and a back nine. That there will be a few 12 hole courses stuck in places that can’t accommodate more. But that will be it. After all, after a round of golf where does everyone want to go? To the 19th hole. That’s a tradition nobody wants to change.
Tim Geary is a R.I.-based freelance writer. He sometimes plays 13 holes. Those are the days he shoots in the 60s.
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- Tom Gorman: Should the USGA approve 16 hole golf courses?
- Tim Geary: What is your favorite US Open?
- Spring fever grips hub! New England golf courses open!
- Private golf courses in trouble
- Do golf courses sell women short in
