On the Links

Here's a copy of a column I wrote last month for the Peterborough Examiner.

It's About Time
By Pete Dalliday
On the Links

Did you have enough time this past weekend to play 18 ? Perhaps you got out for a quick 9 between other commitments but left the course feeling it wasn't quite enough. So how does 12 holes or maybe 15 holes grab you ? The golf industry could very well be heading in that direction as more and more people are finding hard to set aside 4-5 hours in one day to get in 18 holes. Simply put most people are busier than ever before.

A 12 hole course opened up last year in Toronto and apparently business has been very brisk.

Almost 20 years ago while undergoing course renovations the Peterborough Golf and Country Club played as a 15 hole track and it worked just fine if ask me. If you are pressed for time or perhaps you are even getting a bit tired, playing 12 at Kawartha is perfect as it brings you right to the parking lot or to the back deck for that matter.

Something new to the game is called PowerPlay Golf or PPG for short. This new 9-hole, 2-flag, risk reward format combats the two major issues facing the world of golf, time and money. The game is quite simple, each green has two flags one of which is black. If you go for the more difficult black flag and you get a birdie or better you get double the stableford points. However score a bogey or worse and you lose points.

At the very least if you only have time for 9 this game will make you think a bit more and it should lead to some fun discussion afterwards while settling a few bets.

Graeme McDowell, Paula Creamer, Ian Poulter and Gary Player are just four of the players who are getting behind PPG. I'm sure the Golf Channel is already working a made for TV version of the game as we speak.

A few local courses that may be perfect venues to try this game out would be Marvel Rapids in Apsley, The Links at Monck's Landing up towards Minden and Iron Woods in Warsaw. That's right Warsaw has its own course. It's not well publicized but it's there just before you arrive in downtown Warsaw turn south and you can't miss it. All three of these courses are perfect if time is a factor and if you are in the area already.

With all this said, there is still no question that 18 hole courses will continue to be the norm and perhaps that’s the way it should be, but don't be shocked if you see more 9 and even 12 hole courses popping up. It's about time or perhaps lack of.