Arthur Little and Jann Leeming have advocated long and hard for golf course operators to recognize that most weekend players don’t bomb it like Bubba Watson. Golf’s powers-that-be did not confer with the New Hampshire consultants who helped design Bandon Dunes’ Old Macdonald Golf Course and remade Province Lake Golf Club into a women-friendly destination, but the PGA of America and USGA last week echoed their calls for more manageable distances by urging course owners to shrink their layouts.
The two associations have embraced the hypothesis that Barney Adams, the founder of Adams Golf, has espoused for some time — that amateurs would enjoy the game more if they played shorter courses. Under the PGA/USGA’s “Tee it Forward” scheme, course operators would encourage golfers to play from tees more appropriate to their skill levels so they can shoot decent scores, appreciate the game more, and keep coming back.
Having waved the flag for distance-appropriate tee areas, Little was enthusiastic about the concept.
“We are thrilled to see these organizations take this step,” he said in an e-mail. “After all the years of course lengthening, the suggestion of going shorter is a breath of fresh air.”
Jon Last, president of Sports & Leisure Research Group, concurred. “Today’s courses are too long for most players,” Last told us in an email. “This has…driven a number of potential golfers away from what can be a very frustrating game.”
With the National Golf Foundation reporting that play decreased for the third consecutive year in 2010, the golf industry needs any boost it can get. Making the game a tad easier and less frustrating, and maybe even trimming the time it takes to play would seem to be a no-brainer, but this is the first time organized golf has made such issues priorities.
“This is an innovation that we think will appeal to golfers of all skill levels because it gives them a new challenge that better aligns with their abilities,’’ USGA president Jim Hyler said in a statement.
Under the approach, which the PGA/USGA encourages courses to experiment with between July 5 and July 17, club owners would provide tee areas that correspond with amateurs’ average driving distances and that are relative to what touring pros would play over 18 holes. An 18-hole circuit should stretch between 5,700 and 6,200 yards instead of the traditional layouts that measure from 6,000 to 6,700 yards, according to the Tee it Forward proposal.
The reasoning is that, based on Adams calculations, a 6,700-yard course “is proportionally equivalent” to PGA Tour golfers playing on an 8,100-yard track. That’s 700 yards longer than a typical tour layout, according to the PGA/USGA. At that distance, Adams’ believes, even tour pros would have difficulty hitting approach shots with less than hybrids or fairway woods.
The bottom line: men whose drives average less than 225 yards should play courses no longer than 6,000 yards; Adams suggested 4,600 yards for the average woman golfer, although Little believed that distance to be a few hundred yards too short.
“These shorter lengths will no doubt be fun,” said Little, “but we golfers seem to like challenge…so we worry that people will try the shorter length but go back to playing longer yardages.”
The overall notion sounds fine on paper, but how many men would deign to play from what they scornfully refer to as the “ladies” tees? Shortening courses for women would work only if facilities built proper forward tee areas; tossing markers out in the middle of fairways just wouldn’t cut it.
Despite such potential opposition, it only makes sense that having more birdie opportunities and carding lower scores would be more entertaining for everyday golfers.
“If people play shorter tees,” said Little, “they will enjoy the sport more and the time to play with be reduced, which will make it more enjoyable for all.”
(Emily Kay is a regular contributor to New England Golf Monthly. Check her out on the Waggle Room, Boston Golf Examiner, National Golf Examiner, and GottaGoGolf websites. You may also follow Kay on Twitter @golfexaminer.)
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