18 Holes? Less? More?

I was out playing yesterday and was thinking about the number of holes on the course I would create, assuming that I was inventing the game for the first time and "18" hadn't become the standard.

Personally I think I would probably stop at 15, as this would lead to rounds of around 3 hours (hopefully) and would be far easier to fit into most people's schedules. I have heard a number of people say that they don't play golf because it takes too long out of their day, so with fewer holes to play perhaps the game would become more popular. Would it become easier to sell the game on TV with less holes?

The cost of maintenance might come down too, although perhaps not enough to lead to cheaper green fees.

I am pretty sure that most wouldn't elect for 20 hole rounds, but maybe I am wrong about that.

BTW, I am still more than happy to play on 18 hole golf courses (as can be seen by the number of rounds I have played this year), and I am aware that people can choose to play 9 holes at a number of fine golf courses around the country if they choose to play less holes. I am just asking the question about how many you would consider the perfect number if you didn't know that 18 was the norm.

First of all, Neville, fourballs used to take only three hours until trollies, electric or otherwise became the 'in thing' accessory to have.

Add lasers and gps and still more time is added.

Then take the pace of walking into account and you have even more time to add.

When the green is finally reached, lines on balls have to be lined up for each putt, the obligatory look from the other side of the hole al adds time to the round.

I played in a threeball today and we started at 1100 hrs. We went through various other games and passed a fourball on the 12th that had started at 1000 hrs, caught up a fourball of women on the 13th and had to stay behind them for the rest of the round as they had no intention of calling us through even though they had lost abolut 2 clear holes in front of them. We were still in the clubpouse at 1400 hrs. Three hours for the round.

Why think of trying to change a format that has been around for a very long time. 18 holes is what it is.

at my club, the veterans section of which i am a member, have several 13 and 9 hole comps as well as 18 hole comps.this is because of the age of some and the 13th is selected simply because it is convenient to the clubhouse,i am happy to play any of these but prefer 18. straying from this subject and further to John's comments, what is it about lady golfers and their reluctance to let faster ( male ) golfers play through.

Hi John.

I am not actively trying to change the format, but simply asking the question. I would hate to think that any sport is beyond a change or two to improve it, and I am certain that there are things about golf that a lot of people would like changed. For example, getting a free drop when your shot hits the fairway yet lies in a divot. I would dearly like rules in place on the speed of play too, something that bugs the hell out of me and totally destroys my rhythm (on the few occasions that I have that).

However, the question was "how many you would consider the perfect number if you didn't know that 18 was the norm"? Nothing I say or do is going to get St Andrews to build a car park on three of their holes on the Old Course

Hi Brian.

I'm not sure that you can just say that it is the ladies who refuse to let faster players through, as i have been forced to wait behind a lot of very slow male groups just recently.

At Ogbourne Downs I was stuck behind a 3 ball who really didn't want to let me through. Eventually they felt pressured into doing so when I was stood next to them at the tee, having finished the previous hole before the three of them had teed off. In fact, one of them complained to me about the previous "single" who had given up waiting behind them and had the audacity to miss out a hole and go in front of them!

I guess that this particular guy had had "previous", as I was warned by another member that it would be hard to get past them whilst waiting on an earlier tee.

r b happy doing 23 holes , just pop some more par 3s in , b fun

Competitiona are played over 18holes but that is only a small part of Golf played at most Clubs.

Match-Play games finish and you see guys walking in.

Some guys play to a green near the Clubhouse, be that 9, 13, 15 etc.

Some guys jump across (e.g. 2nd green to 14th tee).

Golf is already played over a varying number of holes, it is just that 18 is an official round.

TheLyth

Hi Steve.

I sometimes want to play more after the 18th too, although on other occasions I already feel like the score is too big to add up by then already!

With regards me suggesting that the game needs to become more popular, most golf magazines are full of articles on golf courses struggling to make ends meet, and I know of one course locally that is considering selling the land for housing. I would rather have more courses with extra players on it than less courses taking up the slack.

As for the TV, I am not sure that the current format (PGA & European Tour on Sky) is one that gets people out playing, and would suggest that the people who watch are those who already have an interest in the game. Maybe by making it "snappier", and by that I mean speed it up either with less holes or putting a rocket up their butts, it would get new veiwers and therefore new players. At the moment there are probably only a couple of tournaments that would get non-golfing viewers and they would be The Open and the Ryder Cup, with possibly The Masters included in that.

I would like to add that I am not unhappy with the current 18 hole situation, and that on any given day I feel like I could play more or less depending on how the round is going.

As David insightfully points out above, there are a number of ways that players already play less than 18 holes, & I was really just asking what other people felt might be their perfect number.

To answer Colin's question about whether I would like the number of holes changed from 18, I wouldn't want to change the number from 18 after all of these years of playing to that number. That said, if there hadn't been a "history" and I was creating a game from scratch, I think I might have gone with 15.

If I could guarantee getting on the course and not having anyone slow me up then I would probably choose 20 or 21.

I can think of a few courses where 18 holes have been "fitted" into a piece of land that isn't suitable, so perhaps those courses could do with losing three holes. I am not sure that that is a good enough reason for ALL courses to go to 15 holes though.

I am out in Canada at the moment, and at the last course I played on I was one of the few people walking. I was certainly the only one carrying my bag, so not everyone shares the view that golf should have a "physical" element to the game. That isn't the case with all of the courses I have played here, but cart golf is certainly more popular on this side of the Atlantic. Walking or carts?: Well that's a whole other topic