Is it nine, it is 18, maybe it is 13.5 holes

When I left the game 16 years ago there was a 9 hole course around here that was actually a pretty neat little nine hole course. It was one of those courses that did not look all that tough on the surface but had many hidden features in the form of grade changes and hazards that you just could not see well or sometimes at all until you were upon them. While the course did not have much in the way of forest to discourage you from hitting an errant shot, the thing was chock full of good reasons to hit it down the middle.

I had not been back to that course until today. What they have done since then is sort of interesting I guess. In order to turn it into something of an 18 hole course, they have you hitting from the whites for the first nine and then hitting from the blues for the second nine. In two instances they have added greens so that you are basically using the same sets of tee boxes but hitting to two different greens. For example there is a pond between two of the greens that are set up like this. You play to the green to the right of the pond on the front and play to the green on the left of it for the back. It can certainly get a little crowded if there are a number of foursomes on the course at the same time. However things seem to go OK if there are a bunch of twosomes out there all at once. For the holes that use the same green front and back nine, often there is enough room between the blue and white tees to turn a par 4 into a par 5. Thank God I went out there with a couple of guys that knew the course well or else I would really have been lost and I am sure I would have been a nuisance on the course.

We did end up sort of rushing around and I am not sure we could avoid it. It seems that if you are a twosome you are doing everything you can to avoid the foursomes out there.

Does anybody else play a course like this regularly? Would you guys go out of your way to avoid a set up like the one I just described or do you think it would not matter to you one way or the other?

I would avoid it. I have lots of normal 18 hole courses available to me, so I'd have no reason to try and deal with those issues. The only 9 hole course I've played in 25 years is my father-in-law's course out in the northeastern Colorado farm country. The course is sufficiently uncrowded that those issues never come up. If you get behind a slow group, just skip the hole and then go back and play it later. The only time I've ever seen the course really fill up is when there is a league or tournament playing. It's about as relaxed as golf can get.

I am a member at a 9 hole course that uses 2 sets of tees. While not ideal, the course is always in good shape, and is less than a minute from my house. Sometimes it gets bogged down, but usually its not bad.

I have a membership at a 9 holer with a two tee setup. Other than league play, women & men, and a very occasional tourney I can hop on as a single whenever I want. It's set up with the 1st hole and the 6th hole tee at the club house so I can choose to play 9 or 5 or 4 holes or multiples thereof. I can choose to go out alone or get paired up. Saturday afternoons MIGHT get a little slow but otherwise all is well.

I use this 9 holer as a practice course. Great setup for leisurely golf.

I played an executive course back home that has the two tee box setup. I was on vacation and playing mid-day during the week so it was far from crowded. My home course is a 9-holer but no extra tees, just play it twice for 18. I don't mind it. It's cheap, and makes me appreciate the times when I get to go to other courses.

I don't think I would get a membership at a course like you describe, and I wouldn't want to play it when busy. However, I probably wouldn't avoid it during slow times.