Jack's attempt at attracting more golfers - bigger cups, faster rounds!

the_paulo

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Jack Nicklaus is trying something new to get more people to play golf. He is holding events at his Muirfield Village Golf Club in which the cup will be twice as large and the tournaments only will be 12 holes.

Nicklaus is concerned that fewer people are playing golf. He says it's important to think beyond the traditional rules and try something different to make the game more appealing.

As part of the Labor Day activities at Muirfield Village, Nicklaus will host 12-hole tournaments in which the hole will be 8 inches in diameter instead of the traditional 4 1/4 inches. To encourage faster play, participants are required to complete the round in 2 1/2 hours. They will be penalized one stroke for every five minutes over the allotted time.

What do you think? I'm usually up for a laugh, but I'm never comfortable when the game is changed to try to make it 'better'. I like golf as it is.
 
Fun for a lark, but I don't think bigger holes is the answer.
 
Id rather see shorter courses to help scoring and speed of play
 
Id rather see shorter courses to help scoring and speed of play

I agree. And less trees - at least around here.
 
Smaller balls anyone?


:D
 
Maybe allowing people to tee up their fairway shots.. time to think outside the box
 
I actually like golf the way it is. I don't like many of the courses around here and don't like some of the golfers either.
 
I don't think he is trying to change the game, I think that he is just making it a little shorter/easier so that people who haven't played before can try it out and have fun while not being as competitive.
 
I truly think course design, cost, and people are the problem more than anything.

Courses that are too hard or encourage people to waste time looking for their ball since every offline shot is in the woods, expensive green fees and equipment, and inconsiderate/stuck up people are far worse than the difficulty of putting the ball in the hole.
 
What do you think? I'm usually up for a laugh, but I'm never comfortable when the game is changed to try to make it 'better'. I like golf as it is.

I agree. At some point it stops being golf when things are changed.
 
I truly think course design, cost, and people are the problem more than anything.

Courses that are too hard or encourage people to waste time looking for their ball since every offline shot is in the woods, expensive green fees and equipment, and inconsiderate/stuck up people are far worse than the difficulty of putting the ball in the hole.

+10654978997 and a virtual cookie
 
No thanks. Bigger cups only helps when you're on the green, what about when going from tee to fairway? I think that's where most time is lost, looking for lost golf balls/rehitting, I just don't think that is something that can be worked on to the weekend golfer.
 
The learning curve for golf is so steep I like the idea of making it easier for beginners. There is a program called SNAG (Starting New At Golf) that uses modified easy to hit equiptment (the clubs are oversized and the balls are more like tennis balls) that could be adapted for on course play using the same format Jack is trying. It is kind of like what Pickle Ball is to Tennis and I have heard Pickle Ball is now the fastest growing sport in the US.
 
I don't really care for the larger hole idea. Maybe fun for a one-time thing, but it would be very hard to adjust back to the real hole.

I like the 12 hole course idea. I think that would be a great idea if someone had the guts to build one. A real course, not a small executive type course. Two 6 hole sides. Maybe 3 par 3's, 3 par 5's, and 6 par 4's. That could give you some hard holes, some easier holes, and some average holes. Put in a variety of tee boxes and you could have something. One of my biggest problems is finding 5 hours to play a round. A sub 3 hour round would be much more inviting. Then if you had the time, you could play 24 from a different tee box.

It wouldn't solve slow play since you would always have the slow players, but the overall time commitment would come down.
 
Golf is good the way it is. If its not broke don't fix it
 
While we're at it, might as well just make all courses executives and leave par 4's and 5's to the pro's.

There is a reason golf is so addictive and fun... It's because it's difficult and hard work and improvement is rewarded.

I can see modifying the game for kids, but for adults absolutely not.
 
While we're at it, might as well just make all courses executives and leave par 4's and 5's to the pro's.

Your definition of executive and mine don’t seem to match. We have a number of executive courses here and the different is just how many holes they have along with slightly shorter par 5’s. They roll with 14 holes and par 5’s are 450 to 500 instead of 500 to 600 yards.

Executive doesn’t have to mean par 3’s all around.
 
Your definition of executive and mine don’t seem to match. We have a number of executive courses here and the different is just how many holes they have along with slightly shorter par 5’s. They roll with 14 holes and par 5’s are 450 to 500 instead of 500 to 600 yards.



Executive doesn’t have to mean par 3’s all around.


I wasn't aware of that, around here executive mean par 3's and short ones at that!
 
It is broke... Its failing dramatically in terms of participation and growth rates... Is it not?


In North America maybe, I'd look at cost being a major factor. The market will eventually saturate. Worldwide, especially Asia the game is growing.
 
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