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Golf without holes

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Elbow Jobertski

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I can't sleep and this is bothering me...,

I'm trying to play as much as possible during the winter. I have access to a course, but am told conflicting stories as to whether there will be holes once they get around to taking out the flags. It is a executive length par 3 in the county park. The park is open, but they don't have enough interest here in winter golf to bother staffing the course. Heck, in the summer I often have the place to myself.

I was wondering how to play golf with no holes, and came up with the following idea which is simple enough and seems to check off almost all the boxes of playing golf as far as skills go:

Play two balls off the tee with the goal of making the balls contact each other on the green. Full shots, short game, putting, and strategy. All there.

It seems too simple to be original. On the other hand, wanting to play golf on a course with no holes might be a private lunacy. I did an internet search and found nothing about golfing on a course without holes. Which I'm not sure how to efficiently search for anyway.

Anyone hear of anything along these lines? I may try this game even if the holes are there. It haunts me.
 
Golf would be so simple without holes! I've played in cold weather where we pick up on the greens and just hit drives and approaches. In cold weather we sometimes just drop the ball around 150 yards out and hit approaches. Just getting out and swinging, and maybe have a cigar is enjoyment enough for me in the colder weather (has to be at least mid 40's though).
 
GenErr said:
Golf would be so simple without holes! I've played in cold weather where we pick up on the greens and just hit drives and approaches. In cold weather we sometimes just drop the ball around 150 yards out and hit approaches. Just getting out and swinging, and maybe have a cigar is enjoyment enough for me in the colder weather (has to be at least mid 40's though).
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That's not even cold yet ?
 
I just hit everything to the green & then pick up. The greens are usually rock hard anyway, so they are usually impossible to hold or putt on. The winter really is all about just getting out & swinging the club, enjoying the day & not working. (y)
 
I play whatever the course gives me. If I'm out playing, I'm gonna play to the fullest extent possible. Heck, Justin Rose won the Olympics in 2016 in the winter. :cool:

That being said, I think the 2 ball format invented by the OP sounds intriguing.
 
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@Elbow Jobertski that's a great idea.

Typically, we cannot play into the greens here in the winter. There is a spray painted circle in front of the green (resembling a temp green) with a bucket sunk into the ground as the hole. It can be pretty fun.
 
Same as others, winter golf is more about going out and having fun than anything. We usually just play to the green and then it's auto 2 putt and go to the next hole.
 
You could easily get some sort of putting disk and just throw it on the green when you get there. Maybe plan your route as you go so on #1 you know the hole is front right and on # 2 middle right etc.
 
putting hole.PNG
 
SlightDraw said:
Maybe plan your route as you go so on #1 you know the hole is front right and on # 2 middle right etc.
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This sounds like a plan, too. Sorta like my plan to test out my putting if I hit every GIR.
 
OGputtnfool said:
Wouldn't that only allow the putts to be made from 2 directions?
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Oh wow, I didn't look closely. The other versions I've seen don't have a flat opening; they just have the raised lips all the way around and you can make it from any direction. I guess the one I posted works the same way so not sure why the flat openings are there???

We had an old metal one back in the day and the raised sections keep the ball in the hole after the putt.
 
The version of golf some people play in the winter sounds awesome to me. I absolutely hate putting. I’ve always thought golf would be so much more fun in the goal was just to get the ball on the green.
 
I'd be more prone to go with the tee to green game if it wasn't a par-3 course. Seems limiting.

The one thing we've always done for winter golf since we aren't reporting anyway was to put in place our (OK... my) bizzaro winter rules. Which are to set a max score even at match play, usually a double for us, and if at any point you have to put your hands on the ball it goes in your pocket. Mud puddle? Popup water hazard. Too bad. Covered in mud? Go complain to the ghost of Harry Vardon and see what he thinks. Hit it and keep it moving.

It speeds up putting quite a bit by eliminating that whole mark/clean/align ritual, which is torture to watch when it is thirty five degrees and windy. Plus it brings back the stymie, which can be fun.
 
If your course gets frost in winter, do NOT go out too early before the green thaws out. Although some upper end courses may have more tolerant strains- I would suspect that a local ‘park’ environment does not. I remember showing at a local course in early spring just after they opened for the season. Somebody was a bit too eager to get out at some point before it opened. There were actual footprints of dead grass all over.


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We have winter greens here a lot in the UK which are basically just circles drawn on the fairway anything up to 100 yards short of the green and a hole sunk in it. Not great for a serious round, but we tend to just play approaches to the green, give ourselves two putts and pick up. It's not great, but at least you can be out and swinging a club. Waiting for that big lottery win to come so I can move somewhere that that the sun shines year round.
 
I like your idea of two balls. It's simple and allows for all aspects of game to be played. A game I have played when playing by myself with ability to not interrupt play for others is hitting two balls on every shot.....and then playing out the worst shot. On all shots.
 
Figured I'd bump it.

The game I described in the OP works pretty well... it also seems like a good idea w/r/t social distancing because not everyone is playing to the same hole and there are no holes or sticks to touch. A friend and I played this the other day and we were rarely within ten feet of one another, didn't have to worry about touching anything, etc.
 
I just pack one of these in my cart, cut my own damn hole, putt out, move to the next.
1B8A96C9-0B1B-4364-B17A-40A35AB20FC9.jpeg
 
Elbow Jobertski said:
Figured I'd bump it.

The game I described in the OP works pretty well... it also seems like a good idea w/r/t social distancing because not everyone is playing to the same hole and there are no holes or sticks to touch. A friend and I played this the other day and we were rarely within ten feet of one another, didn't have to worry about touching anything, etc.
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It's not a bad idea at all. You could also play it similar to your original idea, but add a twist kinda stolen from bocce ball. Play one ball, but once you get on the green, each of you toss another ball onto the green and the goal is to hit your tossed ball with your putt. You're not touching anything that's been touched by anybody else, and you still have a target to aim at. Bonus points that it may actually sharpen up your putting since you're aiming at a target smaller than an actual hole. To make it at least somewhat equitable, agree from the start that you'll rotate green positions - 1st one back, 2nd one middle, 3rd one front and repeat throughout the round, or whatever - so you both have to toss your target balls somewhere on that part of the green.
 
Bring a PuttOut pressure putt and choose a spot that you were aiming!
 
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