Could you "invent" a new game--

[Dennis_Harwood]

Can you invent a new game that would use todays golf courses as its "playing field"?

After reading an article about the "invention" of arena football to use the arenas during off seasons of basketball and hockey (its really not a new game, its an adaptation of football), got me thinking-

Can you think up a "new" game which could be played on todays courses?  It could be entirely different and not even use balls and clubs, or it may use todays equipment but be so different that it would instantly be recognized as something other than the modern game of golf (I' m not talking about changing some rules, I'm talking about a new or distinctively different game--ie softball vs baseball)--

Other than the obvious answer, "Why would you want to do that", I'd like to see thoughts of whether something "else" could be played on todays courses would strategically use design features of courses..

(I'll give you a ridiculous one I heard McCord suggest--Blindfold a individual. spin him around three times and take wagers on how long it would take him to find his way from the tee to the flagstick--penalty shots would occur for wandering OB or stepping in bunkers and falling into the lake was loss of hole)

[jeffwarne]

probably not new but...
a game I play with my son.
first one into the hole (or any other target) wins..
score does not matter
a moving ball can struck but not dragged
a game of skill, strategy, speed ,and hand eye.

[Kyle Harris]

Can you invent a new game that would use todays golf courses as its "playing field"?

After reading an article about the "invention" of arena football to use the arenas during off seasons of basketball and hockey (its really not a new game, its an adaptation of football), got me thinking-

Can you think up a "new" game which could be played on todays courses?  It could be entirely different and not even use balls and clubs, or it may use todays equipment but be so different that it would instantly be recognized as something other than the modern game of golf (I' m not talking about changing some rules, I'm talking about a new or distinctively different game--ie softball vs baseball)--

Other than the obvious answer, "Why would you want to do that", I'd like to see thoughts of whether something "else" could be played on todays courses would strategically use design features of courses..

(I'll give you a ridiculous one I heard McCord suggest--Blindfold a individual. spin him around three times and take wagers on how long it would take him to find his way from the tee to the flagstick--penalty shots would occur for wandering OB or stepping in bunkers and falling into the lake was loss of hole)

The Eagle Scout in me has wondered what a night game of capture the flag(s) would be like on a golf course.

One team would defend the first nine, the other the second nine... or perhaps some more even distribution of holes depending on the routing.

First team to either capture the entirety of the opposing team or the other team's nine flags... wins.

[Ken Moum]

Since Arena Football isn't actually a "new" game but rather an old one on in new venue, I have to say there are a number of sports that can be taken to the playing field of golf.

One of the best, as it occurs during the off-season is cross-country skiing. My wife and I have done a lot of it on golf courses. The terrain is nearly perfect, the snow is often nicely distributed on them, and the scenery is usually wonderful.  We've always been asked by superintendents to stay off the greens, which is not a problem.

Of course the other winter sport that people love to do on golf courses--without permission, and to the great detriment of the course--is snowmobiling.  I grew up in the home of Arctic Cat and our nine-hole country club fought the snowmobilers every winter.

Other than skiing, it's hard to come up with non-stick-and-ball sports that could be done on the golf course without damaging it horribly.

How about off-road field hockey?

<grin>

[Phil McDade]

I grew up running a lot of cross country meets in high school on golf courses -- always loved running on a golf course. Easy on the feet!

[ANTHONYPIOPPI]

I've done lots of things at night on golf courses, not sure if you could call them games and I sure as sh*t didn't invent them!

I was one of the inventors in 1981 of Four Man Fenceball, which we played on a tennis court when our tennis matches were rained out.

Anthony

[Jeff Doerr]

I think a biathlon course in the winter. As far as a new game, maybe some modified game of archery.

[igrowgrass]

Golf Course Baseball.  You play 18 holes using a baseball and bat instead of golf clubs and golf balls.  Hitting it inside a certain distance of the hole(i.e. 10 ft, 20ft, or just on the putting surface) is the end of the hole.  All rules of golf apply.  You toss it up to your self, misses count as strokes.  Each tee would have a tee-ball stand that could be used if desired.

[TEPaul]

"Can you invent a new game that would use todays golf courses as its "playing field"?"

Yes I could invent a new game, perhaps numerous ones but not a single one of them could be done for anything other than humor and none of them would last a week.

Golf and its playing fields, taken together, are two of the most unique and interesting evolutions in the entire history of sport or game and neither one of them needs any new wrinkles.

Both golf and its playing fields are inscrutable enough as they have been and are today.

[Wayne_Kozun]

How about Roshambo but instead of kicking you use a 3 iron and a golf ball.  Definition of roshambo or rochambeau: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=roshambo

[Richard Boult]

I recently ran across a website for "Golf Cross":

http://www.golfcross.com/
http://www.golfcross.co.uk/

A game played w/ an oval ball and field goals.

"The notion of developing a uniquely New Zealand game that would combine aspects of our two most popular sports, rugby and golf, had its genesis."

There's even a book!

New Zealand Golf Cross

[Richard Boult]

I'd like to see someone come up w/ a team sport where you could use one of those mountain boards (long skateboards w/ suspension and big wheels) on a hilly golf course... something like one-directional polo or hockey, using sticks and balls, using greens as goals. Thought of doing something like that on a snowboard, since you don't have to hold on to ski poles, with a goal setup at the end of each run. You just wouldn't want to turn over the ball/puck near the goal since the opponent could just "tap" it in. Might have a 2-pass rule - have to pass twice between teammates before scoring.

[Dan Kelly]

I was one of the inventors in 1981 of Four Man Fenceball, which we played on a tennis court when our tennis matches were rained out.

Playing a par-3 resort course this past week -- a course adjacent to the resort's tennis courts -- I got to thinking that this would make an interesting game:

Golf course.

Tennis racquet.

Putter.

That'd sure put the "hazard" back in bunkers, wouldn't it?

I didn't get to test my game this year, because the course was always too well-occupied.

Does anyone know how far your standard American male could hit a golf ball with a tennis racquet?

P.S. I was surprised and pleased to see your "To the Nines" in the VERY SMALL golf-book section of the one bookstore in town (Park Rapids, Minnesota). Is it selling well?

[Peter Zarlengo]

Most of the courses in the mountain resorts of Colorado open up to cross country skiing and snoeshoeing for a LONG offseason. On one of them the driving range becomes an ice arena.

[RJ_Daley]

I grew up on the edge of town, on the wrong side of the tracks, next to a 9 holer golf course that was abandoned by the time I was about 10-11 years old.  But the course remained for a couple years, where they just mowed the FWs and greens same height in anticipation of cultivating the turf and eventually rolling up the sod before subdividing it into a planned unit development.  

So, we had the course to ourselves as lads quite often.  One thing we'd do, because every kid in the neighborhood had bow and arrows, was to shoot them high in the air off the tee, and them try successive shots getting to greens.  The guy that got the arrow closest to the hole wins the hole.  

Another game we only played on one downhill short par three, that was right near my back yard was a sort of smear.  A kid would stand with the football on the tee box, and the rest of the thugs would scatter along the approach FW apron, and the guy with the football would have to run the gauntlet with a head start for several yards down the hill until all the kids could converge on him and try to stop-smear him from scoring by carrying the ball onto the green.  If the guy got on he got a point.  If he got stopped, the next kid got a try.  Alan Ameche actually watched us play that game one day!  I always pretended I was "the horse".  

[Darren_Kilfara]

Not related to golf, but I made up a game for my younger brother and I to play on a tennis court when I was 12 years old or thereabouts that some of our Australian friends might find amusing. The tennis court by my house was surrounded by a 10' high chainlink fence divided into five sections at each end by vertical poles. We used an (American) football, and each of us stood at one end of the court, and we took turns trying to punt the ball into the fence at the opposite end without going over, with scoring the same as used in Aussie Rules football: six points for a goal kicked between the two center poles, one point for a "behind" kicked between the sections on either side of the center (or for a ball that went through the center after being tipped). If you stopped a point from being scored, you got to kick from wherever you caught or stopped the ball; otherwise, you kicked from against the fence at the back.

You could never play this game as an adult, but for young kids with poor leg strength, the tennis court was just the right size for us!

Cheers,
Darren

[JohnV]

Golf Course Baseball.  You play 18 holes using a baseball and bat instead of golf clubs and golf balls.  Hitting it inside a certain distance of the hole(i.e. 10 ft, 20ft, or just on the putting surface) is the end of the hole.  All rules of golf apply.  You toss it up to your self, misses count as strokes.  Each tee would have a tee-ball stand that could be used if desired.

See:
http://www.balf.com/

[igrowgrass]

is this the game your looking for?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE6k_L5gP8k

[Dan Kelly]

is this the game your looking for?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE6k_L5gP8k

It'd get higher ratings than the FedEx Cup!

[Dennis_Harwood]

is this the game your looking for?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE6k_L5gP8k

Now that is great!  Tiger vs Phil at 10 yards.  Determining honors for the first shot will be crucial!

[RJ_Daley]

I believe that was one of those very light, nerfy like cayman balls.  But still... it probably did that much damage.  I think a real ball would have totally created internal injuries... maybe killed.  

Last living words of a moron, "hey everybody, watch this..."  

[Tommy Williamsen]

Once in a while I will aim at a tree and then practice hitting the recovery shot.  I will do the same with bunkers.  

I also run on the course and play "zen" golf as I run.  I usually break par.