If golf could not be an 18 hole game, how many holes should there be?

[bkuehn1952]

I have heard some people suggest that a golf round should be 9 holes or possibly 12 holes. Committing 4-5 hours to a game is hard for many people.

I happen to think 18 is perfect. If it had to be a different number, I think I would go with 20. The round could be split into two "10's". Or maybe 16. I like the idea of an even number splitting the round into two equal parts.

Anything less than 16 starts to be too short.

What do you think?

 

[That post]

12 holes. 3 'sets' of four. Honestly think it could be better than 18.

 

[BigMac]

I prefer 18, but 12 wouldn't be bad if I had to choose an alternative. Anything less wouldn't be enough for me.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

Anything more is silly. Anything less, 12 is all that makes sense. 2 6’s or 3 4’s is nice.

 

[Ryanr760]

I like playing 18, but I also enjoy occasionally playing 27 or 36. I think there is a lot of flexibility in the number of rounds you play. Some courses have a 9-hole rate which is nice, and others have a discounted replay rate. No one is forced to play a full 18 so if you need to bail after 12 holes you can, but I think introducing a variation into this would skew the existing scoring system.

 

[baylrballa]

19

 

[stevopagolf]

I have often said 12 holes would be perfect. Build 18 in 6 hole routings.

 

[Nerdy]

I have often said 12 holes would be perfect. Build 18 in 6 hole routings.

I like this

 

[Templet0n]

I have often said 12 holes would be perfect. Build 18 in 6 hole routings.

This. I know it would cause pace issues for anyone playing through.

 

[bull0120]

Usually on 18, I'm wishing there were a couple of holes left, so 20.

 

[stevopagolf]

This. I know it would cause pace issues for anyone playing through.

I think any pace issues could be worked out just like teeing off of 1 and 10

 

[rd1959]

I voted for 9 because I like to walk the course, plus, I'm 63 and walking 9 is enough exercise for my old bones. Using a cart I'd probably go with 20.

 

[AndyL0711]

I voted 14 but I could go 12 or even 10. Sometimes, most of the time, it is tough to get away for nearly 5 hours on the weekend. And impossible to do that during the week.

 

[captaincaution]

sets of 6 would be perfect. Play in less than 90 minutes, or play for 4 hours with 3 loops.

 

[jbb2388]

Yeah 12 wouldn't be enough for me unless it was replacing 9

 

[rd1959]

sets of 6 would be perfect. Play in less than 90 minutes, or play for 4 hours with 3 loops.

And make each set of 6 different from the other sets, i.e., easy, medium, and hard.

 

[alvinsmalvin]

We try to play at least 27, often 36. However, it's always match play so it's easy to keep going and going...

 

[Jrt13]

36….Two on every green. Players choice.

 

[Templet0n]

I think any pace issues could be worked out just like teeing off of 1 and 10

Maybe but with multiple entry and exit points and people playing a different number of holes I can see it getting messy. that does not mean I dont like the idea in theory. I just am not sure how you manage it.

 

[just8abug]

Since no 15 I'll say 16. Reason being, I've screwed up many a good round on the last 3 holes.

 

[InTheRough]

12 holes. Six out. Six In. With land becoming a premium this might be the way of the future anyway. Also people these days are worried about spending 5 hrs to play a round on a weekend. This would cut it to 3.25 hrs for a slow Saturday round.

 

[JW Smoove]

5 holes each 1250 yards. Carry on.

 

[dirty-d]

you should get a number of shots, and see how many holes you can complete. instead of handicap, you would have a "hole count" it would be your "holer"

like 100... some of us would be 12 holers, others might be 25 holers.

anyway... goofy ass idea.

 

[WLG1952]

18 holes is just fine for me, as I don't care how long a round of golf takes.

However, if it had to be different, then I'm all for 9 holes, with two sets of tee boxes for each hole, with two pin locations on the (larger) same green.

The two sets of tee boxes would not be in line with each other, but off to the side from each other to give the golfer a different angle of play for each 9 holes.

With this set up, a golfer could play 9, or 18 holes.

I was up in Canada several decades ago. I played a 6 hole course, with each hole having 3 different tee box locations.

This was a guy's (farmer?) course he built for himself, who didn't have a lot of land to work with. Iirc it was something like a 5400 yard course.

 

[Lousy golfer]

I think 12 would be ideal. When I play 9 I often feel that I am missing something (I know, 9 holes) but it takes longer to play a full 18 and if you come up on a slow group it can really add to the time. Also, a 12 hole course would reduce the maintenance time and cost as well as require less real estate investment.