3 6’s instead of 2 9’s?

[dalehead]

I’ve read several threads in the past few months that talk about the aging golf population. The majority of golfers are overage 50 and as they age they are not being replaced by new young players.

One factor always pointed to is how long it takes to play an 18 hole round of golf.

Jack Nicklaus has often opined that a golf course should consist of 3 sides of 6 holes instead of 2 9’s. This would allow players to play a 4 hour 18 hole round, a 2 1/2 hour 12 hole round, or a quick 75 minute 6 hole round.

You might say its possible to do that now on any course. Sure but after completing the 6th or 12th holes you often find yourself a pretty good hike away from the clubhouse. And courses do not give lower rates for shorter rounds.

What do ya’ll think.

[GolfMinimalist]

I don't know that everyone needs to do 3 6's, but alternate routings seem to be successful in the places where I've seen them. I know Canal Shores in Chicago does a 5 and 10 hole route and they do very well with both.

[SecondandGoal]

I can see some value in it, though as you mention there are some physical limitations that would cause problems. It would also be an interesting problem for 27-hole courses to solve. Also not sure how "flow" would be with people choosing to play 6, 9, 12, or 18 holes.

I actually play rounds where I'll play less than a full 9 or full 18 on a regular basis, but that's because I'm a member of a club, so my golf is already pre-paid. My wife and I play almost every day after she finishes up work for the day around 5:00. We're only a mile away from our club, so there's no real lag time. Summer time, that's at least 9 holes, but a lot of times, we'll take the turn. That might mean 3 more holes, 5 more, or the full back nine. In the spring and fall, when it's getting dark much earlier, we might only play 4, 5, 6 holes before calling it a night.

I don't know how many folks would do the same thing if they had the option outside of being a member at a club, but I'd think there's probably a decent number.

[jvincent]

As mentioned earlier the problem for most existing courses is the layout.

At my course you can make a left turn after the 12th hole and you're right at the clubhouse. Similarly you can make a right turn after 14 if you want to.

A lot of our older members quit after 12 or 14. As do a lot of guys who aren't having the best day and just want to leave.

 

Edit: Must have been stoned, had my left and right mixed up.

[Paddy_2_Iron]

I think it's a great idea. I love 18 holes on OCCASION, but on a weekly occurence it's 9 but I would play 12 if I could.....

Interestingly enough, I can't tell you how many times I have gotten to 12 - 14 and wish the round was over lol.

[Springsteennut]

I think 6 is too short but I can see where if your pressed for time it would be nice. I’ve played 12 a few times. I have a 9 hole course near me and the the tee box for 7 is close to the first tee. When I used to play there more regularly when it wasn’t busy the starter would let start me start on 7 or say after I came off 9 if you want to play 7,8 and 9 again go ahead. I really liked it. I could still be done in around 2 hours and it seemed just about right. It’s really not a bad idea.

 

[Hawkeye77]

No, he advocated 12 holes - two 6's many years ago. He's built a couple of 12s where he already had either 18 or 36, and they are par 3s or "fun" courses, so he really isn't designing 12 hole courses as a new normal, just an alternative. HIs comment a few years ago he was printing up 6 hole cards for existing members who could already come and go as they pleased on the course, really didn't mean much, IMO.

Just go play 9, not hard to find a course where 9 holes won't take too long.

With courses already built around 9 or 18 if you are going out and paying a fee to play that day, unreasonable for a course to think folks should just get on for 6, but courses can do as they please and if they think that will make money I'm sure some may do it.

Not many grow up or get into the game "having" to play 18. Lots of 9 holes courses around, few responsible parents have little kids out playing 18 when they are starting out, local kids clinics usually limit distances and number of holes on play days. Really a solution for which no real problem exists.

I love a good 9 hole par 3 course, wish I had one nearby, would be there a lot.

 

 

[Schley]

We can't even get 9 hole rounds to be respected much, let alone 6. With private clubs you go and play when and how much you want and you pay your dues the same. With public courses, you have to pay for X number of holes 9/18 so the freedom to just pay for less isn't one I would embrace. The twight round is pretty common and often the best time to play with low crowds and as a single very enjoyable. If I'm going to go play and warm up I want to play more than 6 holes, unless it is a par 3 type course where you just need like 3 clubs perhaps.

[tiderider]

well, then we'd have to rank & argue over the ranking of 9 hole courses ... and no one wants to do that ...

[Johnny Biarritz]

3 loops of 6, or 6 loops of 3 as I had a friend of mine once suggest, would work fine at a private course. At a public facility, I don't think it would work all that great. I was a member once where the 18 holes were arranged in such a way that I could play 5 holes, 9 holes, or 11 holes in a loop. I did that often. My current course has a 4 hole loop that I can play easily and it offers visibility so I know I'm not cutting anyone off. I don't think the 6-12-18 or anarchy setup would work great at a busy public course, at least not for the entire day.

[CMCSGolf]

All the talk of 6 or 12 hole courses seems like a solution in search of a problem. Playing 9 is something that's been around in golf for a long time. Millions of people play 9 after work every day because there isn't enough time for 18. Sure, there are rare cases where a 3 hole loop from the club house could be valuable and worthwhile. But more often than not, people have 2 hours for 9 holes of golf and changing the course to 6 or 12 holes is not going to fundamentally change anything.

[cardoustie]

I think new tracks would be wise to come back to the clubhouse twice vs once. I love the idea of 3 loops of 6 holes

For our 3 x 6 hole betting matches, Hollywoods, it would also be great. The guys down large could use the can or grab a triple

Right now at my club, you are back near the clubhouse after 3 holes, 9 holes, 11 holes or 14 holes ... so you have options ... which I use late on weeknights flying around in a cart quite often

Sometimes I will just practice certain aspects of my game and play holes 1-3 twice hitting the specifics shots I am working on .. makes it weird for example, hitting a hybrid into a par 4 that is normally a PW in ....

 

[mallrat]

The issue comes if you have a shotgun.

 

Not sure if anyone one has played the Nicklaus course at Pronghorn but we had some loops that were short and fun and allowed us to play them when we got off work. You could play 1-9, 1-11 which was an extra 1-2 minute walk from the clubhouse or you could play 1-13 & 18. The 1-11 loop we would get around in about 2 hours )generally not much play there.) so the longest of those loops took about 3 hours.

[Edaw68]

I think the shorter loops of holes are generally a good option, assuming it doesn't require the designer shoehorning in lesser quality holes just to make an artificial loop. In my mind a good example is Pacific Dunes coming back close to but not specifically at the clubhouse at #7 green.

[shackmangolf]

Agree

[Z1ggy16]

Might work for new courses but as you say, how many times is the 6th or 12th hole even remotely close to the club house? Would cause all sorts of havoc with people driving/walking all over the place. Of course this can be done say, during a twilight round, when you play as much or as little as you want... but I don't think this works well for existing courses during peak weekend time.

[CAT GOLFER]

ON days i am dumb enough to play at my local muni behind a full tee sheet( I like to play later), I often play 1,2,3,4,3,4,5,6,18 and call it a day. Four par 4s, four par 5s, and one par 3.

[smashdn]

You need to find a way to get 9 holes starting and ending up near the house. Makes for a routing issue. You end up with a clubhouse with spokes of holes running out from it. And oh by the way you would ideally like to have the driving range and practice green not far from whichever hole you are going to start from. You got a 10 pound stuff five pound sack problem in the works.

 

Maybe just apply a little peer pressure to the foursome of 12 caps plumb bobbing their putts for double. No reason that 18 holes cannot be played in less than 4 hours if the course is routed correctly. I can walk 9 in less than an hour and half as a single, ride it in right at an hour if I can drive to my ball. I don't play fast, I play ready and do all my figuring and pontificating while walking or riding up to the ball.

[tiderider]

you could have 3 sixes ... i've started playing 9 holes after work here and there, and may start playing 6 holes on the other course since the 4th ends where the 17th begins ...

[Chabot]

The sixth hole at my club (a pretty old, core golf course) plays back to the clubhouse. It is without question one of the best design features of the course.