TaylorMade Proposes 15 Inch holes!

[Bechambo]

This was posted on the SCGA site and I found it to be an interesting idea. I would like t hear everyone's thought on this. [VIDEO]http://youtu.be/_s9HKnVjd48[/VIDEO]

[Abu3baid]

I think it is interesting. This has been discussed before but I can't find the thread.. Anyway, I think lost would find that just like the lady commented it is getting to the hole that's the harder part, and not putting really. I wish them the best!

[slightlymad]

If this makes it easier for people to start playing golf. Why not. I say, lets give it a try. Im not to sure if it really works though.

[boogielicious]

Not a fan.  We are not playing basketball.  Putting is the part of the game that you don't need incredible physical ability to be very good at.  Why change this part?  Play forward is the best approach in my opinion.

[boogielicious]

I'll repeat my response here.

Not a fan.  We are not playing basketball.  Putting is the part of the game that you don't need incredible physical ability to be very good at.  Why change this part?  Play forward is the best approach in my opinion.

[Ernest Jones]

Too dangerous. First guy who drives over one is likely to break an axle.

[slightlymad]

youll be surprised how many people have trouble with putting

[Hardballs]

Hmmm, I'm not sure about this! 15" is way too BIG!! I guess it's better than making the ball smaller though! Non handicappers should go off forward tees anyway, and be forced to possess a pitch mark repair tool, and know use it!!!

[MS256]

At our course changing the holes when it's wet (like this morning) is a b&%$#. Only half of the plug (at best) wants to come out of the hole with the other half either still holding in the bottom by suction or won't break loose from the bottom.

Then the water fills in and the other half simply keeps slipping out of the puller. If you finally get it done if the plug doesn't perfectly fit the depth of the old hole and you try to pull it back out to add some sand there is so much water that the plug slips and doesn't come back out of the ground, no matter what you try.

Sometimes the only option is to dig the bottom half of the plug out of the new hole with a pocket knife and carry it over to the old hole a handful at a time. Lots of fun trying to work 6 inches below ground level on wet ground without putting indentations on the ground around the hole. It's not like you have the option of hitting a knee.

I imagine I absolutely wouldn't like turning something hard into something bordering on impossible. Instead of wrestling around with a cup sized mess I would be wrestling around with a 5 gallon bucket sized mess.

I figure at our course just about the time they go to 5 gallon bucket sized holes will be just about the time I find something more enjoyable to do.

[Fourputt]

  boogielicious said:

I'll repeat my response here.

Not a fan.  We are not playing basketball.  Putting is the part of the game that you don't need incredible physical ability to be very good at.  Why change this part?  Play forward is the best approach in my opinion.

For me, never, ever.

It's one thing to something more like put 6" holes on a par 3 course designed for beginners, but to implement a cup larger than the typical frying pan is ridiculous (in my opinion).  Anyone who actually has the slightest clue about putting (or many with no clue at all) would almost never miss a putt.  Maybe if they put these cups on a steeper slope where the shortest putt you'd have at it would be about 10 feet.  Even for a rank beginner it wouldn't be that hard to make a 10 foot putt when speed is only a minor consideration.  You are essentially putting into a bunker, so the ball will stick in that no matter how hard it hits the hole.  The folks in that video were all enthusiastic, but from what I was seeing, they are mostly not beginners, and such excitement would wane swiftly if they had to play that way all the time.

And can you imagine the difficulty of cutting new holes?  The standard type of tool would not work if made that large.  I see this as the beginning of a course built with artificial turf greens and a couple of permanent holes with a turf cap to cover the one not in use.  Again a possible idea for a beginner's par 3, but not much else.  Mom taking the kids out for a couple of hours on a weekday summer morning to get them away from the X-box.

[slightlymad]

well duh, its for absolute beginners right?

Not something for bogeygolfers, just for people to play with the first few times they play an actual hole..

[Golfingdad]

The ability of the course to handle that notwithstanding ... I think it could be a great idea.  Something like this:

Pick one day a year and promote the heck out of it.  Try to get everybody on board ... USGA, PGA tour, PGA of America, Golf Channel, all of the OEMs, as many courses in the country as possible, and advertise it as Beginner's Day, or Become a Golfer Day, or something a lot more creative than I can come up with ;).

Have the courses offer reduced greens fees for everybody (50% off or something), and to encourage beginners even more, make rental clubs free for the day.  Make greens fees for any kid under 18 with an adult completely free.

If you want to get more people to try golf, this seems like one way that might work.  I think it's worth a try!

[Hardballs]

TM trying to get more people play golf, by making it easier and therefore more fun for the beginner! I've got this idea called crazy golf, where you hit the ball 4 yards through a windmill or a clowns mouth and then into a hole, the kids are gonna love it! It's the future!

[Dave2512]

My guess is it still won't make the game easier for most. I see people missing longer putts by more than 15" and the hardest part of the game isn't putting.

[unabowler]

As a really bad golfer I can't say this idea appeals to me because most of the frustration in golf arises as you hack your way down the fairway to get to the green.  Most bad golfers don't putt into the hole anyway, they get to a point they figure is close enough and call it good.  I could see something like this working as a stunt maybe, a promotional event.  At best.

[Golfingdad]

  unabowler said:

I could see something like this working as a promotional event.  At best.

Did you watch the video?  That's exactly what it is.

Many of us play in charity tournaments with silly rules about mulligans and strings and what not.  Clearly that isn't "golf" either, but it can still be fun.

This isn't any different.  It's a novelty, but if the novelty intrigues a few people, and grows the game, then why not?

A quote from the video:  "We're enthusiastic about trying to have the game grow and we're gonna try different things, and if this is not the one that helps the game grow, we'll try something else."

[Foursum Golf]

  Hardballs said:

15" is way too BIG!!

That's what she said?

[Dave2512]

There are actually a few courses that do the big holes. Can't remember where but I saw it on GC a while ago. Those were about the diameter of a coffee can.