Two holes on a green

[Richard Phinney]

I learned my golf on a course that for some time cut two holes in a green, and you were expected to alternate, in other words to put the pin in the other hole after you putted out. A zany cost saving measure obviously.  Just curious if others have come across this (greens serving two holes don't count!).

[Gary Slatter]

Burlington Springs GC in Ontario has done two cups since it opened in the 60s. 

Designed and built by Larry Bunkowski (father of LPGA winner Barbara).  Larry was a 15 HDCP, bought the land and built the course.  Was averaging 223 golfers per day!  Great value, the best greens in the area (greater Hamilton), charged one price for black coffee, more with cream, more with sugar!  Pay as you Play all the way!  He's still there, true family run track!   I worked a few summers there, learned more about golf than I thought possible, from an appliance salesman turned golf course owner.

Because the course was busy players sometimes had to wait to play to the green, so while one group was putting the next group could be noting the pin location.  Also saved wear around the cup.  Only holed out once in the wrong cup.

[Paul Carey]

It is good idea for winter golf to reduce the damage since it sometimes is too cold to move cups as often as the super may like.  Obviously, the larger the greens the better it works.

[Matthew Sander]

If I'm not mistaken, the Renegade course at Desert Mountain has two flagsticks on every hole. Some instances there is one large green with a more accessible hole location coupled with a more difficult one. Other holes have separate greens again with a more accessible green as one option with a difficult forced carry green as the other option...

[JohnV]

In answer to the obvious rules question, the other hole is a hole made by a greenkeeper and is, by definition, ground under repair.  So, if you ball ends up in the wrong hole, you lift it and place it to the side, no nearer the hole so that the wrong hole is not in the way of your putt.  If you're on the green and the wrong hole is between you and the hole, you can move your all to the side and place it at at the nearest point that gives you relief for your putt.  If you are off the green, play hard.

[Matthew Rose]

There's a muni here in Denver called Willis Case which has two holes cut in every green, at least during February when I most recently played it.

You put the flag back in the same hole, though. Presumably they swap at the end of the day and then alternate back and forth until it is warm enough to cut new holes.

[Matthew Rose]

If I'm not mistaken, the Renegade course at Desert Mountain has two flagsticks on every hole. Some instances there is one large green with a more accessible hole location coupled with a more difficult one. Other holes have separate greens again with a more accessible green as one option with a difficult forced carry green as the other option...

I lived on a course in Green Bay called Thornberry Creek which did this. The original nine there had a white flag and a red flag on each hole; sometimes it was two separate greens and sometimes it was two pins on one large green. The red pin / green was the more difficult of the two and usually made the hole 10-20 yards longer and brought more trouble into play. The one exception was the 9th which was a par-3; the red pin was actually easier for me because it was on the left and my natural shot is a draw; the right pin required a fade.

It actually isn't a coincidence. Both Renegade and Thornberry were done by Rick Jacobson, who was a Nicklaus associate who later went out on his own; that original nine at Thornberry is one of the first projects he did under his own name, if I'm not mistaken.

[Tony_Muldoon]

I really like this idea however it would need to be installed in club culture from the off. 

IN GB&I there's a comp. every other weekend and I understand in Austrailia it can be two comps a week; it  just wouldn't work as the whole field needs to be playing the same course.

[John Moore II]

I have never seen this done. Then again, I've never lived in a place where it was too cold to cut new cups whenever needed. Interesting idea I suppose. Does each cup have its own flag, in place at all times, or how does this work?

[Richard Hetzel]

Imagine a nice "hole in one shot" into the cup WITHOUT the flag. That would be ground under repair and you would have one very sad golfer indeed.

I have never experienced that done at any course here in the Cincinnati area, but then again I rarely fol here between November and late March.

[jim_lewis]

I grew up playing a nine-hole course (Dusty Hills near Marion, SC) that used two holes and two flags on each green. You played to one flag going out and to the other on your second nine. The purpose was to create a slightly difference experience on the second nine. Quite a long time ago they added a second 9 holes.

In the early-mid 70's I played regularly on the North Fulton GC in Atlanta, which is/was a quite good, but very busy, city-owned course. They used two holes and one flag. After you putted out, you placed the flag in the other hole for the group behind. I think the purpose was to distribute wear on the greens. If you were standing on the fairway waiting to hit your approach to the green, you had a very keen interest in where the next flag would be located. It invariably seemed to be in a tougher spot that before. I have no idea if they still employ that practice.

[Kalen Braley]

I've seen it used on a golf course in Spokane.  The odd part was, they were temporary winter greens that were mowed into the fairway just in front of the greens....wouldn't have thought they would care about only pin position in those circumstances.

[Mike Hendren]

Lambert Acres outside of Knoxville did this in my college days.  I once set a fraternity tournament record there, shooting a gross 80 while consuming 16 beers for a net 64.  Chugged three beers before holing my putt for par at the 18th, resulting in a net "1."   

Bogey

[Carl Nichols]

Lambert Acres outside of Knoxville did this in my college days.  I once set a fraternity tournament record there, shooting a gross 80 while consuming 16 beers for a net 64.  Chugged three beers before holing my putt for par at the 18th, resulting in a net "1."   

Bogey

I know that I once shot a 63 in a similar format, but don't remember the math!

[Gary Slatter]

I have never seen this done. Then again, I've never lived in a place where it was too cold to cut new cups whenever needed. Interesting idea I suppose. Does each cup have its own flag, in place at all times, or how does this work?

At Burlington Springs there is only one flag, two cups.  It's done all season, not just in cold weather.
I played Renegade when they opened with alternate flags. Nice idea but don't think it could ever become popular.

[Ronald Montesano]

Audubon Golf Course, a forgettable William Harries design that is a muni in Amherst, NY (biggest suburb of Buffalo) used this concept in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  I had forgotten about it until a friend reminded me of it.