There’s potentially a silver lining to Moore Park’s reduction in holes.
The mood was sombre as June turned into July and Sydney’s Moore Park Golf Course saw fences erected and the course restricted to a mere 10 holes from July 1.
The cutback was known some time in advance, but that didn’t moderate the pain on the day. Nor could spirited campaigning save what is among the busiest golf facilities in the Southern Hemisphere.
“I can’t believe we’ve got to this point. It’s a sad day,” said a despondent Jared Kendler, the club’s vice-president, on the final Saturday before the semi-closure.
“The most disappointing aspect of all this is the complete lack of empathy from the decision makers,” Kendler told Australian Golf Digest two days later. “Golfers here now don’t know what the future holds.”
Also distressing for Kendler and everyone who fought to retain Moore Park as 18 holes is the futility of it all. “Even [the NSW Government’s] own business case said: keep it at 18 holes,” he says of the official business case that revealed a benefit-cost ratio of 2.4 and a net present value of $272.6 million for the existing 18-hole layout.
By any measure, it was an unnecessary scything of a heavily utilised and much-loved facility. We’ve covered the saga from the outset (just type “Moore Park” into the search function of our website for the full coverage), but in so many ways this was the unlosable war that golf’s administrators somehow contrived to lose.
Yet not all is lost.
Course architects Mike Clayton, Mike DeVries and Harley Kruse walked the site recently and Kruse insists it’s entirely possible to produce a 12-hole offering that is superior to the ageing 18-hole layout so loved by the city’s golfers.
Which is where the opportunity now exists. Yes, capacity will be reduced, and considering 100,000 rounds were played annually at Moore Park, that will sting. However, from an architectural standpoint, an excellent 12 holes eclipses a mediocre 18.
Just 15 kilometres north of Moore Park, the revamped Newgreens Chatswood layout [pictured] was unveiled in late May after Neil Crafter’s transformation of the former 18-hole course into a modern, functional, 12-hole layout. Despite their proximity, the modus operandi of the two clubs is substantially different, however the blueprint for Moore Park’s future can perhaps be found at Chatswood.
Then there are the associated benefits of 12-hole play. It takes less time, meaning not only can rounds be completed sooner, they can also begin later in the day. Competitions can still be held, and there’s still scope to turn a 12-hole round into 18 if the configuration of holes is right and the flow of golfers allows it [see below].
A dozen years ago, I had the opportunity to play the revolutionary Nikanti course on the west side of Bangkok, which was designed in a sequence of returning three-hole loops so that three, six, nine, 12 and 18-hole options were all viable.
This is golf’s new normal – flexibility in every way, and that includes the arenas where we play. I confess that I was once an ‘18 holes or bust’ golfer who considered anything less than a full round to be ‘not real golf’. These days, even a quick few holes stolen from the tail end of a disappearing day feels like a win.
We can lament the political aspects of the Moore Park debate and autopsy a decision that was as sinister as it was shortsighted. However, the battle is now lost and this should be a time for a more forward-facing outlook because a significant opportunity still remains. It’s up to golf to take it.
TOP 5 BENEFITS OF 12-HOLE COURSES
5. No loss of 18-hole play: If the course and timesheet setups allow an additional six holes to be tacked onto a round.
4. Heightened appeal for time-poor golfers: Anyone who baulks at the idea of a five-hour round might be OK with three.
3. Less land required for new designs: Space is an ever-present issue when it comes to golf courses, especially in urban areas. And if some struggling 18-hole clubs in prime locations morphed into 12-hole entities, they potentially stand to make a lucrative change.
2. The opportunity to be innovative: For clubs considering altering their golf footprint, the relinquished land could be perfect for a short course, Himalayas putting green or the like. Just because six holes are lost doesn’t need to mean an absence of any gains.
1. Late-afternoon (even evening) tee-times: With shorter rounds comes a lesser need to tee off by a certain time. Fast-playing Tasmanians might even be able to tee off at 7pm in December and still squeeze in 12 holes.
