Golf takes too long...amiright??

[wattage]

Hey Golf WRX community-

I'm interested how many others wish 9 hole bookings were an option. As a father of 2 young children I am super crunched to squeeze golf into a day, and have walked off the course after 14-15 holes a lot lately. I know I would get more golf days if I could play 9. 

If interested please include your location in this thread.

Thx

BW

[swagee]

48 minutes ago, wattage said:

Hey Golf WRX community-

I'm interested how many others wish 9 hole bookings were an option. As a father of 2 young children I am super crunched to squeeze golf into a day, and have walked off the course after 14-15 holes a lot lately. I know I would get more golf days if I could play 9. 

If interested please include your location in this thread.

Thx

BW

That wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Count me in for a quick 9 holes before or after work. 

[2bGood]

Lots of clubs have twilight times that are perfect for 9 and other course have 9 hole times the first 1hr:45min of the morning starting on the back (so you don't get in the way of those playing 18). 

 

I play 9 or less on nice summer nights from time to time or with my kids - it does not really feel like golf, but is a nice walk swinging the  club. 

Edited March 3, 2021 by 2bGood

[BIG STU]

The club I am a member of offers 9 hole rates even to the public----- I retired last year and got quite a bit in before breaking my back in a accident. Looking forward to it this year now that I am slowly healing up. It is hard to play our course early in the mornings. We have 2 different Mens groups and 2 ladies groups. In the summer when it gets hot and humid around 10:00 or so it is pretty much wide open. We are also a tourist mecca. Right now the course is pretty much crowded with the member groups and snowbirds which is normal for this time of the year. But yeah 9 hole rounds are a good thing to relax with after work

[kmay__]

We play 9s after work on weekdays and 18s on the weekends. Depending on the time you have available, you get in what you can. But I've got a couple easy 9 hole options within short driving distance of home. 

[MtlJeff]

I typically play 18 in 3-3:30 on weekend mornings so i don't find it takes too long. On weekdays if i'm playing alone before work usually can play in 2:45

 

My course is 25 minutes from my house so going for 9 just seems like a bad investment. 

 

I can understand though that golf can be frustrating if you are playing public courses at like 10Am on a Saturday. The types of cretins and goblins that hold up play at public courses ...But this can generally be avoided at Private clubs

[phizzy30]

Not a fan of 9 hole golf.  I'd rather use that time to work on my game at the range.  I'm all for inclusive golf, but since the pandemic, it's next to impossible to get decent tee times here in SoCal unless you book a week ahead.  You have to stay up until 12 am the night before the week though.  There have been reports of scammers buying up all the good tee times and reselling them for profit here as well, go figure.  Cops are investigating and I hope they resolve this issue. 

[pinhigh27]

most place allow 9 early in morning and late in PM. It's really not feasible for them to offer it in the middle of the day as it leads to logistical issues for them. Have seen other places do like twilight dollar a hole specials and etc. 

[BlackDiamondPar5]

9 hole rates are commonplace here in western NY state.  I don't know any course that has 18 hole rates only.  Some courses may restrict 9 hole bookings to after 10AM or 11AM on weekends.

[Popeye64]

Maybe its a North East thing. But every Golf course I play on offers 9 hole rates. I'm not at private clubs, I'm speaking of public and semi private. 

When I have other stuff to do during the day 9 holes is just right. 

I used to live on a 9 hole course. Getting out first thing in the am and back in my house before anyone woke up was my favorite thing to do. I could leave the house and be back to the house in 1 1/2 hours with an empty course... Loved It!!!

[Unplayablelies]

Some courses in my area offer nine hole rates. Some are just available in the morning though. Why not call the clubs you are interested in and ask if they will give you a nine hole rate. If it’s late afternoon and they are typically slow it seems as though they would take your cash

[MattyO1984]

The only time I will play 9 is if it really slow or late in the day when my club is pretty relaxed about that kinda thing.

 

Our 9th hole is actually relatively distant from the clubhouse so it doesn’t often make sense to head in from there, you are just as well playing round to the 12th hole which is adjacent to the clubhouse. 12 holes is a great amount to play and something that happens regularly with us. You can get round 12 holes in a two ball in around 2 hours without any issues. Brilliant in the summer when you can tee of around 8pm, play 12 holes and then head for home around 10pm. Great way to get out in the fresh air, stretch your legs, have a swing and decompress from a day in the office.

[Hawkeye77]

You can play just 9 at every course I can think of within a couple hundred miles and there are plenty of just 9 holes courses as well.  Not an issue at most courses in Iowa at all.

 

Back when we had little ones, I could leave work a little early on a Friday, drive out to the course and walk 9 in about 1:15 and be home for dinner. Now play 9 or 18 in evenings during the summer, just depends, but no issues with just playing 9 holes.  Plenty of twilight rates around here, but you can just play 9 any time you want.

 

Lucky to play a course where pace of play is rarely an issue.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Hawkeye77

[Londoner]

Our 9th leaves you out in the country. 13th brings you back to the clubhouse so thats our short course. A good number for an evening knock. Not golf though. 

[david.c.w]

I used to hate 9 holes, especially when the kids were younger, I did not play much, and I was paying for it.  Now that the kids are older and don't need/want constant supervision, and I am a member at a club where I pay monthly and not per round, and I get to play a lot more in general, I do enjoy a quick/easy 9.  Agree that when I or we play 9 there is no bet, and we are playing 2 balls or trying different shots we would normally not do in an 18 hole round.  So not "golf", but still golf.

 

I do love getting to the course at 4:00 and being able to walk the back 9 by myself if it is open.  My personal game is to play a scramble with myself and try and shoot 36.  I can usually do it but i have to make at least 1 birdie.  Our 12th is a long par 3 that most are content with a bogey.

 

I think since last March both 9 hole rounds and walking are seeing a boon.  Lots more folks walking and playing 9.  In fact I think last Sunday was the first time I had a cart this year, and mostly because I had a long mixed doubles tennis match the day before and i just did not feel like walking.

 

 

 

 

[Abh159]

Fortunately I'm a member at a private club so if I ever just want to play 9 after work or something I can easily just walk onto the 1st tee and tee off. 

 

However, all of the public courses I know about in my area offer 9 hole rates as an option. They'll have times blocks reserved for 18 holes only during busy times like weekend mornings, but you can pretty much book a 9 hole round any weekday or during the afternoon on Sat and Sun. 

[lefthack]

My club is a short 9 (1 par 5, 6 par 4's and 2 par 3's). If I use a cart, I can play 9 holes hitting 3 balls (like playing 27 holes kinda) in about 90 minutes. After my morning meeting today I will get a round in before lunch.

 

18 takes FOREVER. I enjoy it with a group, but I hit 9 solo quick.

[pseudoswede]

I'm part of a 9-hole beer league on Thursday nights. 8-12 guys ranging from serious players to hacks. We kind of bounce around the southern 'burbs every week for variety. We tee off around 5pm (so the course pretty much only offers 9 hole rates at that time), then dinner and drinks in the clubhouse afterwards. Just a nice way to decompress after 32 hours' worth of work-related stress as well as prepare for the weekend.

[Cliffy2020]

As hawkeye77 mentioned, 9-hole rates are readily available across Iowa.  Pretty commonplace when I lived in Arizona too.

 

 Courses in my area reported record play last year during the panni so weekday rounds had to be booked days in advance sometimes while weekend rounds were simply BRUTAL.  

 

My group would try to take advantage of “work from home” conditions and book Friday rounds to beat the crowds but many courses started to include Friday rounds as weekend rates (supply & demand baby).  We just had to suck it up!  Poor us I know...

 

I really liked hitting the range during the week (even it was packed daily!), then call the clubhouse and see if they had room for a single walker.  More often than not they would group me up with strangers and I’d get to practice whatever I was working on for 9 holes with random strangers.  Made for a good practice session. 

[RmoorePE]

It must be a regional thing because I can only think of a few courses that only allow 9 holes to be booked.

 

My local course that I am a member at is not very busy week days and me and the guy in the office next to me grab lunch and play 9 holes 1 or 2x a week during good weather, it typically takes about 1:15 to 1:30. However, I suck at mid-work day golf. Can't focus with the phone and the emails going so that is usually just a nice walk in the sun with frustrating golf.

 

But as far as golf taking too long, my philosophy is different. Golf is fun, the other stuff takes too long, or too much time. Work on making the fun stuff last longer, and the have-to's shorter. 

[dlygrisse]

I play in a 9 hole Monday night league from April through September.  

I also frequently play 9-12 holes at twilight after work.  I understand some public courses only offer a 18 hole fee during morning and daytime hours, but from my experience a 9 hole round is pretty easy to come by.  Do you have 9 hole courses in your area?  They usually allow you to make just one loop.  

[Pepperturbo]

If recollection serves me, I only played 9 holes once in the last 20yrs.  I have ZERO interest in playing 9 holes as golf is not a time filler for me.  If I want to spend less time on the golf course, I play an 18 hole Executive course; which I do once to twice a month, but for iron practice.

 

Playing 9 holes would be a waste for me.  By the time my joints warm up, I'd have 3 to 5 bogies and only a few holes left to recover.  That means I'd be posted lousy almost sandbagging scores all the time, that don't reflect my actual game ability.  Least over 18 if I take a few early bogies, I still have time to make birdies and recover, so my score reflects my true skill.

 

Though PoP is important, if the game takes up to 4 hrs +, I usually have 3 cigars and all the time in the world to enjoy life.

 

PS - If my son was still a baby and my CEO role, highly demanding, golf would not be a viable option for me then.  In other words, I do not support changing how the game is presented to accommodate my life's limitations.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Pepperturbo

[lefty1978]

Good part of belonging to a private club is I can play 18, 9, 6, 3 or whatever and I don't pay anything as long as I walk. If you cart there is a 9 or 18 rate, 9 is exactly half of 18. Most of the public courses around me have 9 and 18 hole rates as well.

[CoachCraigie]

I'm a big fan of 9 holes. But maybe that's because I'm only 6 months in to the game and 18 just feels like an uphill battle towards the end. I've skipped a couple of holes during some rounds and end up playing 14 or so. The timing is usually better for me and I feel like my game is much better for it also.

[jordan2240]

I only play 9 if the guys I'm playing with want to play 9.  Like Pepperturbo said, it takes a few holes to warm up, so 9 seems more like 6.  Plus, while all the courses around here (Harrisburg PA area) have 9-hole rates, they are at least 2/3rd the 18 hole rate, so it feels like you're getting ripped off.  I'd just as soon go the the range than play 9 holes most of the time.

 

Edit - I should add though that, there has been a time or two when my game was particularly bad, and I was glad we were only playing 9 holes, so it has had its advantages even if I'm not a big fan of it. 

Edited March 2, 2021 by jordan2240

[lefthack]

1 hour ago, lefty1978 said:

Good part of belonging to a private club is I can play 18, 9, 6, 3 or whatever and I don't pay anything as long as I walk. If you cart there is a 9 or 18 rate, 9 is exactly half of 18. Most of the public courses around me have 9 and 18 hole rates as well.

 

The way our course is arranged you can tee off 1, 5, or 8 from just off the clubhouse. Sometimes I like to start at 5 for fun, other times it's so I'm not behind anyone.

[Bad9]

I'm not sure I've ever seen a non resort course that didn't offer a nine hole rate.

Edited March 2, 2021 by Bad9

[BlackDiamondPar5]

@wattage

What region are you only finding 18 hole rates?  Seems that 9 is available in many areas already. When I had little ones I definitely played more 9's than 18's for sure.  I sure can empathize with you about the time it takes and how 9 could help you get out more.  Also just make sure you introduce golf to your children.  At some point you take them out golfing, they get good and the wife won't mind 🙂

 

[dugue4]

I’d love it if there was a 9 hole option where I lived. 

[lefthack]

Also this is why I love power carts. I can take my time with my shot and still play wicked fast because the time between is reduced.