News:

Welcome to the Golf Club Atlas Discussion Group!

Each user is approved by the Golf Club Atlas editorial staff. For any new inquiries, please contact us.


Thomas Dai

  • Karma: +0/-0
Park Golf
« on: January 03, 2021, 07:40:01 AM »
‘Park Golf’, a short version of the game apparently started in Japan.
See - https://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/content/the-japanese-phenomenon-of-park-golf
and
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XAzFhpKPaRw

Anyone tried it or know more about it? Is it played anywhere else?
Thoughts generally?
Atb



Niall C

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Park Golf
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2021, 08:52:18 AM »
When I was a boy they used to call this pitch and putt !!


Niall

jeffwarne

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Park Golf
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2021, 09:09:28 AM »
1283 courses in Japan!
For sure the future of golf lies somewhere between the scale of Park Golf and Erin Hills or Machrahanish Dunes.


Pickleball certainly has made some inroads as a smaller scale, slower racquet sport.


Playing with a dead club and ball, with various pars makes it a little different than pitch n' putt.
"Let's slow the damned greens down a bit, not take the character out of them." Tom Doak
"Take their focus off the grass and put it squarely on interesting golf." Don Mahaffey

Steve Lang

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Park Golf
« Reply #3 on: January 03, 2021, 11:51:32 AM »
 8)  In grade school my best Bud & I used to play with whiffle balls around the neighborhood. We got to being able to hit over homes, but after getting into minor trouble leaving divots in front yards and retrieving some errant shots in back yards, especially when folks were using them, we moved to the schoolyard half a block away, using real balls and typically 9 irons.  From the corner of the 2300 block of Cheltenham and Pelham we hit across the street shooting at various trees, stairs and doors of the school, and other things like baseball backstops and anything available.... 


Never realized that many of the street names in my Old Orchard area of Toledo, traced back to Merry England...  nor that we had our own road hole at the time.


So fun is where you make it  ... and can't leave much of a trace!
 
Inverness (Toledo, OH) cathedral clock inscription: "God measures men by what they are. Not what they in wealth possess.  That vibrant message chimes afar.
The voice of Inverness"

Adam Lawrence

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Park Golf
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2021, 12:43:18 PM »
I love that piece. I think it's one of the best things we've carried in our fifteen years of publishing. I keep trying to persuade Quinn to write something else, but so far, it hasn't happened.... That young man is too damned talented for his own good.
Adam Lawrence

Editor, Golf Course Architecture
www.golfcoursearchitecture.net

Principal, Oxford Golf Consulting
www.oxfordgolfconsulting.com

Author, 'More Enduring Than Brass: a biography of Harry Colt' (forthcoming).

Short words are best, and the old words, when short, are the best of all.

Ben Hollerbach

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Park Golf
« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2021, 03:05:47 PM »
Park Golf fascinates me and should have a place in America. Beyond the course near Buffalo, New York that was showcased in Adventures In Golf I don't know of another course in the US. It seems like it could be a great addition to so many city parks.


I've thought about trying to get a club and a ball, just to see what may be possible within our current landscape.

Thomas Dai

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Park Golf
« Reply #6 on: January 03, 2021, 03:16:34 PM »
Thanks for the comments.
Would appear to have considerable merit going for it particularly in open public areas and, crucially in these times when health and safety rules a lot of roosts, seems quite safe for players and others who happen to be nearby. And if it’s fun and makes folks smile and want to play it often or acts as a starter for other aspects of the game that’s surely a pretty good thing.
Atb

Steve Lang

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Park Golf
« Reply #7 on: January 03, 2021, 05:22:52 PM »
Ben,  8)


Just found this fun link, if you go out to play some street/park golf, ya might want to consider Birdie Balls or the foam ones, but take a hitting mat with you...


https://youtu.be/0igFFLAP340





Inverness (Toledo, OH) cathedral clock inscription: "God measures men by what they are. Not what they in wealth possess.  That vibrant message chimes afar.
The voice of Inverness"

Thomas Dai

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Park Golf
« Reply #8 on: January 03, 2021, 05:33:08 PM »
Something somewhat similar from Melbourne - 1 Club Golf - https://1club.golf/
Atb

Mark_Fine

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Park Golf
« Reply #9 on: January 03, 2021, 06:12:24 PM »
Steve,
I have been hitting/using those Birdieballs since 2004/5.  When I was working out in Denver at Cherry Hills CC, I met John Breaker who is the inventor of the Birdieball.  It's an awesome product. We actually worked together for quite some time promoting the use of the ball.  I designed and built a reversible six hole short course in Bethlehem exclusively for use with the Birdieball and it was well received for a long time.  Not sure what the status is lately but I believe the facility was taken over by either the Boys and Girls Club or the city.  The Birdieball flies a lot like a golf ball and is great practice.  At the facility we built, once you are on the green, you take out a real golf ball and putt.  Down in Hilton Head Island, the George Fazio course at Palmetto Dunes doesn't have a full practice facility but they have a small area to warm up hitting Birdieballs  :)
« Last Edit: January 03, 2021, 06:21:27 PM by Mark_Fine »

Thomas Dai

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Park Golf
« Reply #10 on: January 04, 2021, 03:45:23 AM »
Ben,  8)
Just found this fun link, if you go out to play some street/park golf, ya might want to consider Birdie Balls or the foam ones, but take a hitting mat with you...
https://youtu.be/0igFFLAP340


There are these too - AlmostGolf - https://www.almostgolf.com/ - lightweight and soft and spin and round so you can putt with them. I used them as my garden practice ball during C-19 lockdown.
With a bit of open-mindedness and imagination there are many things that can be done golf wise in confined spaces or public areas while still creating fun and interest and maintaining safety.
atb