In a Hole, Golf Courses Experiment With 15-inch Holes

Hugh Pickens DOT Com (2995471) writes "According to the National Golf Foundation, golf has lost five million players in the last decade with 20 percent of the existing 25 million golfers apt to quit in the next few years. Now Bill Pennington writes that golf courses across the country are experimenting with 15 inch golf holes the size of pizzas to stop people from quitting the game. "We've got to stop scaring people away from golf by telling them that there is only one way to play the game and it includes these specific guidelines," says Ted Bishop, president of the PGA of America. "We've got to offer more forms of golf for people to try. We have to do something to get them into the fold, and then maybe they'll have this idea it's supposed to be fun." A 15-inch-hole event was held at the Reynolds Plantation resort last week featuring top professional golfers Sergio García and Justin Rose, the defending United States Open champion. "A 15-inch hole could help junior golfers, beginning golfers and older golfers score better, play faster and like golf more," says García, who shot a six-under-par 30 for nine holes in the exhibition. Another alternative is foot golf, in which players kick a soccer ball from the tee to an oversize hole, counting their kicks. Still it is no surprise that not everyone agrees with the burgeoning alternative movement to make golf more user-friendly. "I don't want to rig the game and cheapen it," says Curtis Strange, a two-time United States Open champion and an analyst for ESPN. "I don't like any of that stuff. And it's not going to happen either. It's all talk.""

Comments

...news for nerds..

[Anonymous Coward]

How did this get posted? Golf??!

Re:...news for nerds..

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a lot like software. There's a large solution space but only a few valid solutions and a lot of traps. There's an enormous amount of rules, lots of tools that all look the same but aren't. The people dress poorly but are quite rich.

Re:...news for nerds..

[LookIntoTheFuture]

15 inch holes

Is goatse.cx the connection? It's goatse.cx isn't it?

Re:...news for nerds..

[blackraven14250]

A sport, by definition, is any form of physical activity that aims to use, maintain and improve physical ability or skills for the purpose of entertainment of participants and/or spectators. If you think walking even factors in to the experience of playing golf, I suggest you go out and try it yourself. It's one of the hardest sports to play well, requiring a mixture of concentration, extreme coordination and practice to even be decent. Walking, which isn't even a required aspect of the sport thanks to these things you may have heard of called "golf carts", isn't even tough - the difficulty is in hitting the ball at the proper trajectory, without slicing it, with the correct amount of power (taking into account which club you're using), most of which is dependent on the course layout. Complaining about walking and being out in the sun is just absurd when the walking part is entirely optional, and is like complaining about the fact that you need to stand on the sideline while playing football (you can sit, either on the grass or on the bench).

Re:...news for nerds..

[Walter White]

Golf is dying because it's boring and pointless.

As an avid fisherman I hope to see the popularity of golf grow.

Re:...news for nerds..

[CastrTroy]

I don't know about calling it a sport still. For me, it falls into the same categorization as bowling, darts, and billiards. That isn't to say that golf, along with those other sports don't require a huge amount of skill, but I would hesitate to lump them into the same category as soccer, basketball, hockey, cycling, running, and other more physically exerting sports. This same kind of thing comes up when equating Starcraft with real sports, calling it an e-sport. Sure there are certain physical characteristics one must possess, but that doesn't mean it should be lumped into the same category.

Also, in the PGA, they are not allowed golf carts. There was, as far as I'm aware, only a single golfer allowed to use a golf cart, because he had a physical disability. So, although golf carts may be used by amateurs and weekend warriors, that doesn't really mean it's part of the game. Just as there are oversized clubs that once can use that aren't tournament legal. If players want to make up their own rules amongst themselves, nobody is going to stop them. In recreational golf, it's not uncommon for players to take a mulligan, or stop counting when they get more than a double bogey.

If anything people aren't leaving because the game is too hard, but because the game is just too expensive. People have found other things to spend their money on. I've heard that cycling is turning into the new golf. Sure you can spend tons of money on the equipment, just like golf, but it's free once you own the equipment. People see very little value in paying for country club memberships as many of the people who now have money are don't care about the whole socialization aspect of it.

Re:...news for nerds..

[tsqr]

whats your definition of a sport?

A game in which the spectators are able to scream at the top of their lungs, throw cups of beer at the officials, blast air horns, toot vuvuzelas, and/or wave fun noodles while the contestants are trying to concentrate on scoring points. Golf, tennis, and bowling are examples of competitive games that could be considered sports if one or more of these elements were present.

Re:...news for nerds..

[Zordak]

Golf has a high level of skill but you don't have to be very strong or fast.

While putting does not require much strength, doesn't driving (i.e. long distance shots) require a lot of upper body strength equivalent to olympic sports like javelin and discus throw?

I don't golf much, but in my experience, no. It just requires leverage and precision. When I was at a big law firm, I would sometimes play in "scramble" golf tournaments, where bad golfers (like me) teamed up with good golfers (3 or 4 to a team), and you took everybody's best shot. In one of these tournaments, I won the overall prize for best drive (this was against a number of lawyers who golf a lot). I do not have any special upper body strength, and certainly no skill. I just happened, that one time, to strike the ball just right so it flew straight, and flew a long way. And it was a one-off thing. Most of the rest of my drives didn't even go the right way. I doubt you will ever see a noob accidentally make a one-off farthest discus or javelin throw.

Re:...news for nerds..

[arth1]

Darts is the weirdest thing to be honest. People will consider archery and shooting sports, but not darts. I think it's because it seems so random to a beginner, but when you get deeper into it, it becomes pretty clear that it's all about fine motor skill.

And maths and strategy. You're left with a score and need to get to zero with the last dart hitting a double, so you need to not only know what combinations will get you there, but also which ones will do the least amount of damage if you miss, and redo your strategy if you miss or a dart blocks your strike zone.
It's as much in your head as it is in your aim, arm and hand.

Re:...news for nerds..

[MachineShedFred]

With golf, you get to drink even when you lose!

Learning Golf While Young

[CaptainOfSpray]

My Dad used to take me to play pitch-and-putt (nine short holes, played with a 9-iron and a putter). One day when I was 9, we were both having an awful round, and I said "Dad, this is a bloody frustrating game". He replied "Yup, that's why I gave it up in 1932". I got the point, and have never been back since.

Re:Learning Golf While Young

[Archtech]

Golf certainly is frustrating. That's quite deliberate, as it makes excelling very difficult and thus worthwhile. Think of it as like a Scottish martial art... taking years to become fairly proficient, and never being sure of reaching that elusive perfection.

But golf is also a spiritual discipline. It teaches you self-control, patience, and sportsmanship. Witness the far better behaviour of professional golfers, compared to soccer players and many other sportsmen.

Re:Learning Golf While Young

[flyneye]

I have given much consideration to golf over the years. My experiences include; nearly having my windshield taken out driving down a city street and evolving my own golf game, played from my car, in which I wait till I see someone putting or driving and honk my car horn just in time to fuck up their shot.I went to a driving range once and put my back out of alignment on a bucket of balls. NO LOVE!

          It has occurred to me that the sissy ass game of golf neednt waste so much real estate on a dying form. Merely create a hybrid sport to bring the masses in and make the greenskeeper earn his damn money. I propose ACTION GOLF: No clubs, instead, you are equipped with a potato gun and a can of hairspray. Helmets will be worn, FORE! will be shouted into a bullhorn, previous to any shot. Any discrepancies in score or disagreements will result in a round of fire based on the paintball sport. This is now a game for Vikings, not old men! Putters will be reminded that the hole already exists and creating your own through gunfire doesnt count.
PLAY GOLF!

Re:Learning Golf While Young

[Stumbles]

Teaches self control? Tell that to Tiger Woods ex-wife.

Re:Learning Golf While Young

[msauve]

Golf is simply "flog" spelled backwards.

Nothing to do with hole size

[Jack Griffin]

Maybe it is less about the size of the hole and more to do with the absurd amount of money and time is cost to play the sport? I had a few games once, the money I could probably afford, but I simply don't have the time to spend hours on a golf course every week...

Re:Nothing to do with hole size

[jythie]

The high cost used to be offset by the status associated with the game, but it just isn:t the symbol of wealth and refinement that it used to be. Thus I suspect giant holes will not help much.

That being said, are we sure this is not some kind of joke or hoax? This reads like something from The Onion....

Re:Nothing to do with hole size

[ad454]

Not to mention the horrible amount of water, fertilisers, pesticides, and land tracts golf courses require for their "prefect" greens. Heck, with so many people using golf carts, and caddies carrying golf bags, most people playing golf aren't even getting sufficient exercise.

Mini golf, and basically every other non-motorised sport, are by far much more environmentally friendly then golf.

In many places, it is known as the sport of the "white old mens club" (figure of speech) or the 1%, because of the restricted club memberships, expensive green fees, and huge variation in equipment costs, which can be in the thousands of dollars for a single decent club.

Re:Nothing to do with hole size

[Pinky's Brain]

For a while it was a middle class game, for a middle class with lots of leisure time. The current remaining middle class works far more than the old middle class.

Golf is returning to being an upper class game ... but that means much less players and thus less courses.

Re:Nothing to do with hole size

[Opportunist]

Ok, I'll say it if nobody else does:

There are already a certain kind of giant holes on the golf court. Though they're not in the ground, they're the ones playing.

Re:Nothing to do with hole size

[Ol Olsoc]

Then golf simply isn't for you, since the time spent on the course (and in the clubhouse afterwards) is what it's all about.

Really, do you think that the point of the game is to get a small white ball into a small hole several hundreds of yards away? That's the objective; the point is to spend a good time, basically going on an extended walk with other people (nice ones, hopefully), talking, and enjoying not worry about deadlines and performance metrics and the like for once.

How nice and romantic. It's a pity that joining a country club, paying the greens fees, and the expense of the clubs is the only possible way to do that.

Your :

going on an extended walk with other people (nice ones, hopefully)

Is true enough. Although is "nice" the metric? Everyone I know who is in a Golf country club is not there because the others are "nice" - they are there for the exclusivity, the companionship of others who value being better than other people. Some were nice people, some were definitely not.

I could have joined locally, but frankly golf is a game for people with a very high boredom threshold, I like being around interesting people, not ones who just happen to be wealthy, but are bores otherwise, and I had other venues in which to network.

Re:Nothing to do with hole size

[Nidi62]

In many places, it is known as the sport of the "white old mens club" (figure of speech) or the 1%, because of the restricted club memberships, expensive green fees, and huge variation in equipment costs, which can be in the thousands of dollars for a single decent club.

Except most public course have fees that are $20 per person, maybe $30 if you get a cart, and a decent set of clubs will run you a couple hundred dollars retail. Sure, if you want to play at places like Pebble Beach or Augusta National it will cost a ton of money (if you even have the handicap to get in), but there are many golf courses out there that are very affordable.

Re:Nothing to do with hole size

[operagost]

Isn't that kind of like complaining that your softball or flag football league isn't allowed to play at Citizen's Bank Park or Lincoln Financial Field?

Re:Nothing to do with hole size

[gstoddart]

This kind of proves the first poster's point. YOU cannot play at Augusta National as it is exclusively for the top 1% of the top 1%.

Allow me to explain the idiocy of what you just said.

Cars are evil, because only the top 1% of the top 1% can afford a Lamborghini or a Ferrari.

Houses are evil because only the top 1% of the top 1% can afford lavish mansions.

Boats are evil because only a select few can afford giant yachts.

Restaurants are evil because not everybody can afford places which serve foie gras, caviar, and thousand dollar bottles of wine.

I'm a fairly avid golfer. I have neither the interest, skill, nor the money to play Augusta.

And do you know what that does in relation to where and when and how I actually do play golf? Not a damned thing.

Augusta is an extreme example, and while there are some places which are still the domain of rich old white men ... that has nothing at all to do with my ability to play at an affordable course whose price and skill level more closely matches what I can manage.

You can readily take up golf with $100 worth of used clubs, and play on courses which cost the $20-$30 the poster you replied to mentioned. I know someone who until a year or so ago played on the same clubs he'd gotten as a teenager.

I have no interest in playing Augusta or any of the crazy courses the pros play -- because they're way beyond my price range and my skill level.

That there exists examples of courses that the average player will never play on has nothing to do with the rest of golf. And for the rest of us, there's actually quite a lot of affordable golf in many communities.

For most of us, golf is a game, and a leisure activity. We ignore or are unaware of half of the rules. We play for fun and a little exercise, and to hang out with friends. We watch the pros to realize just how well the game can be played, and then we laugh and go about our business of playing it our way.

What your saying is akin to saying you shouldn't take up jogging because you'll never make it into the Olympics. The one has nothing at all to do with the other.

Not a fan, but...

[MidnightBrewer]

Golf is about getting your balls into the hole in as few strokes as possible. It's as simple as that.

I'm not a golf guy, but I can appreciate that the original game is fine the way it is. Seriously, 15-inch holes aren't going to magically enable you to get a hole-in-one. The challenge of hitting the traditional hole is something I respect; making it feel like I have training wheels on to pander to me is just going to alienate me further. I think most prefer things tight, not loose. You have to feel like you've succeeded.

Re:Not a fan, but...

[PvtVoid]

Yeah, pizza-hole golf is the equivalent to dumbing down school kids by eliminating cursive writing (common core).

Also, our precious bodily fluids. Don't forget the threat from dumbed-down golf and the Common Core to our precious bodily fluids.

Expensive Middle Class Sport Losing Patrons

[Afty0r]

Wonder why - the most expensive popular sport in existence is losing millions of players, right around the time that the income of the group most associated with playing golf is dipping dramatically...

Maybe if Sherlock were here he could figure out why?

The pace of life has changed

[floobedy]

I'm an avid sailor, and the same discussion is being had in the sport of sailing. The sport of sailing is in rapid decline, at least in the US. It's far less popular than it was 30 years ago. Most of the people who do it are baby boomers who will soon retire from it.

There is great consternation within the sport of sailing about what can be done to save it, but really, nothing can be done. The sport is not appropriate for the times.

It's not a matter of cost. Sports like golf, sailing, lawn bowling, and other sports which are in rapid decline can be done affordably. Sailing, for example, is cheaper than ever because more and more used sailboats are dumped on the market every year (fiberglass sailboats almost never wear out).

The pace of life has changed. That is the issue. Young people, who've been reared on dizzyingly fast-paced entertainment such as first-person shooter games, are not thrilled at the idea of racing at five miles per hour (or sometimes less) in a sailboat for four hours. Nor do they find it exciting to play shuffleboard or do golf. By the standards of today, those sports are boring.

Nothing should be done to make golf or sailing more interesting for younger people. It won't help to make golf holes bigger. The only way to make these sports more interesting is to make them drastically faster paced, which will ruin them for the people who enjoy them now. These sports should just accept unpopularity.

Softball

[LMariachi]

15" holes seem pretty ridiculous, considering you still have to get to the green. Accurate drives and knowing how to deal with situational shots comprise at least half the difficulty of golf. Nobody takes a mulligan on a missed putt, they take them when they slice a shot onto the next fairway over or into a water hazard or whiff it entirely and launch a clump of divot instead of the ball.

But no one derides amateur softball players for not hitting 85 mph pitches or being able to throw out a runner at first with a bullet from 130' away. What might make golf more accessible is building smaller 9-hole courses heavy on par-threes with more forgiving hazards and flatter greens. Less of a time commitment, cheaper due to faster turnover... Change the name somewhat (Golf-lite? Softgolf?) so as to defuse objections from people who want to maintain “pure golf’s” identity as is.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

LET'S REDUCE THE HOLE!

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

15 mm ought to do it. Then we can get 100% participation in the "existing 25 million golfers apt to quit in the next few years".