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• New nine-hole event, Quick Golf, to launch at Perthshire club
• It will cost just £5 for non-members and £2 for members
• Founder says something had to be done to appeal to more people

QUICK GOLF | THE R&A

The founder of Quick Golf, a nine-hole weekly golf event starting at a Perthshire golf club next month, has said that clubs must be proactive to maintain their financial stability instead of ‘just sitting and complaining’.

Quick Golf is geared up to launch at Dunkeld & Birnam Golf Club on Wednesday, May 4 from 4-7pm, with its sole aim to encourage more people to play the game in the current climate where there’s a growing acknowledgement of the time pressures people face.

And with Quick Golf costing just £5 for non-members and £2 for members, Laurie Foster, one of the men behind its formation, believes that something had to be done to develop a different format to appeal to both beginners and more seasoned players.

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“Time and money are the two main constraints for membership falling and we’ve covered both of those in Quick Golf,” he said. “It costs very little and it only takes around two hours to complete nine holes.

“Nine holes will always suit somebody. Golf is an 18-hole game, but there are some people who don’t have the time, energy, or money to join a club and play a full 18 holes, so this is another option.

“Clubs have to have members in order to maintain their financial stability and have to do something. We thought we’d be proactive instead of just sitting complaining about it. Each club has to make their own decisions, and this is what we’ve tried to do.

“If you don’t do anything, nothing happens. In fact, it’s worse than that. If you don’t do anything, clubs will go out of business. So we’ll see how it goes.”

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This initiative comes as the R&A announced there will be a nine-hole event at Royal Troon prior to the Open Championship this summer. The event will take place on Saturday, July 9, and has received full backing from two-time Open champion Padraig Harrington.

“People who want to play golf are increasingly struggling to find the time to play and so positioning nine-hole golf as a legitimate alternative makes a lot of sense,” he said. “I’m really pleased to see the R&A taking the lead in this area.

“For regular amateur golfers to be able to play the Open venue in championship condition immediately before the best players in the world is a fantastic initiative and I’m sure this new competitive format will encourage more people to get out on the golf course and play nine-hole golf.”

Nine-hole golf :: Is it the way forward?

Do you think nine-hole golf could be the way forward – and should it be offered as a reasonable alternative to 18 holes? Also, let us know what your club is doing to try and boost membership? Leave your thoughts in the ‘Comments’ section below.

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