14 or 15 hole rounds

[Tommy Williamsen]

Brooks Koepka: "Nobody wants to spend 5 1/2 hours out there," said Koepka. "I would just make it 15 holes, 14 holes. Because then you get to go to the 19th hole a little bit quicker."He also said he gets bored out there from holes five through twelve.   Interesting

[Erik J. Barzeski]

Part of me likes the open, free speaking Brooks.

Another part of me, a smaller part, thinks he's also sometimes playing a bit of a character. 14 or 15 holes played at the same pace would, yes, be done sooner… but at the same time, it'd still be painful because the actual pace would be the same. The best is to play 18 holes, like always, at a faster pace.

[Peter Pallotta]

I'm comforted to read a professional (and life long) golfer say he gets 'bored.' I don't get bored exactly, but I find it very hard to 'pay attention' for a whole round -- which not only produces worse shots/scores but also (independently of that) lessens the fun considerably, ie it's fun to be totally engrossed and immersed in a task at hand.
Maybe that's the best part of playing great courses/architecture, ie they are more fun because they encourage & help one to 'pay attention'
PS - I suspect that's one of the reasons Jack N won so much: unlike eg Ben Crenshaw, he never seemed to get bored or stop paying attention, and didn't need the external stimulation of an impossible recovery shot or one in a million gamble to keep his steady mind engaged

[Kyle Harris]

I'm comforted to read a professional (and life long) golfer say he gets 'bored.' I don't get bored exactly, but I find it very hard to 'pay attention' for a whole round -- which not only produces worse shots/scores but also (independently of that) lessens the fun considerably, ie it's fun to be totally engrossed and immersed in a task at hand.
Maybe that's the best part of playing great courses/architecture, ie they are more fun because they encourage & help one to 'pay attention'
PS - I suspect that's one of the reasons Jack N won so much: unlike eg Ben Crenshaw, he never seemed to get bored or stop paying attention, and didn't need the external stimulation of an impossible recovery shot or one in a million gamble to keep his steady mind engaged

Didn't Jack write fairly extensively about his ability to switch concentration "on" and "off" as needed throughout the course of a round? In other words, he allowed himself to be distracted when it furthered the purpose of re-booting his concentration.

[Peter Pallotta]

K -
I didn't know that, but it kind of reinforces my point, ie he was so engaged and had such a great ability to concentrate that he could consciously choose when & where to 'disengage', and calmly determine the best times to allow himself a 'distraction'!

[Pete_Pittock]

Hard to believe a similar comment from a player who prefers links golf.

[Peter Flory]

Only boring people get bored. 

[Thomas Dai]

Well said Mr Koepka.
Here's a thread that's not to dissimilar from a few weeks ago -http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,67082.0.html
atb

[Tom_Doak]

Hard to believe a similar comment from a player who prefers links golf.

Brooks loves links golf.


I think that part of his comment relates to the fact that a lot of courses are relatively boring, strategy-wise.  Brooks says he is most engaged when he has to make choices strategically - that's why he likes The Old Course so much - but unless the greens provide hole locations that call for different approaches or different places to miss, it's just "bomb and gouge" for the best players now.


My first thought when seeing the title of the thread was that everyone should just play matches, where there is incentive to shorten the round by winning more holes.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

Brooks loves links golf.

Really good to hear given your partnership (or whatever you'd call it) with him in TX.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I can get bored as well on an indifferent course. When all I have to do is advance the ball without too much thought the game does get a tad boring.

[Duncan Cheslett]

I have always thought that if Prestwick's 12 holes had been adopted as the standard rather than St Andrews' 18 holes, golf would have flourished just as well if not more so. We would all be perfectly happy playing 12 hole rounds and no-one would think that they had not played enough golf that morning.

A second round in the afternoon would be a lot more attractive proposition.


Most importantly, golf courses would use less land and cost less to maintain. Golf would be in a better state than it is today.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I have always thought that if Prestwick's 12 holes had been adopted as the standard rather than St Andrews' 18 holes, golf would have flourished just as well if not more so. We would all be perfectly happy playing 12 hole rounds and no-one would think that they had not played enough golf that morning.

A second round in the afternoon would be a lot more attractive proposition.


Most importantly, golf courses would use less land and cost less to maintain. Golf would be in a better state than it is today.

+1

[Kalen Braley]

Duncan,


True all that.  But everyone knows you can't properly determine a worthy champion without 72 holes.  Would they go to 6 day tournies! 

[David Druzisky]

Plenty of 9 hole rounds to be had out there.


That being said, it unfortunately can get boring.  In the strive to cut costs, or cater to a very specific demographic within the market I have seen a lot of courses taking out bunkers and minimizing other things that might otherwise create strategic interest.  Looking for ways to get the average handicap golfers around the course.


Seems like there are 3 types of golfer -
1. Enjoyable walk in the park type
2. Math crunching grinders
3. Sportsmen and women
(or combinations thereof)


Not every course satisfy all 3.

[Duncan Cheslett]

Duncan,


True all that.  But everyone knows you can't properly determine a worthy champion without 72 holes.  Would they go to 6 day tournies! 

Simple.

24 holes on each of the first two days.  12 holes on the second two days.

With the final rounds taking less time you could allow a lot more participants through the cut. From a spectators point of view they would still see as much golf.


 

[Duncan Cheslett]

There is barely an 18 hole course out there that wouldn't make a better 12 hole course!


 

[Ken Moum]

Duncan,


True all that.  But everyone knows you can't properly determine a worthy champion without 72 holes.  Would they go to 6 day tournies! 

If we'd stayed with the Prestwick model, maybe we'd also have kept the model of the original Open Championship.  It was 72 holes, played the 12 three times, and then did it again the next day.


Or maybe we'd have our most important events done in three days, 12 in the morning, 12 in the afternoon.  It would even require cutting the fields down, a good thing IMHO.

[Tom_Doak]

If we'd stayed with the Prestwick model, maybe we'd also have kept the model of the original Open Championship.  It was 72 holes, played the 12 three times, and then did it again the next day.

Actually, it was only 36 holes, all in one day, from 1860 until expanded in 1889.

[Ken Moum]

If we'd stayed with the Prestwick model, maybe we'd also have kept the model of the original Open Championship.  It was 72 holes, played the 12 three times, and then did it again the next day.

Actually, it was only 36 holes, all in one day, from 1860 until expanded in 1889.

Even better. 


I just looked, Old Tom had three rounds in the 50s, but Willie Park Sr. clipped him by two with 55-59-60


Hell, I might get back into the 70s if I only played 12 holes.


Which reminds me of a story my grandfather told me. He claimed to know a guy who never shot higher than 75.  When he hit his 75th shot he picked up the ball and walked in.


K