Nine-hole and par-3 courses: the country secret
Two hours, half the price, and it counts for GolfLink. Country nine-holers with honesty boxes are a national asset.
The most under-rated golf in Australia is played on nine-hole and par-3 courses, usually by people who cannot spare five hours and have worked out that they do not need to.
Nine holes is a real round
It takes about two hours, costs roughly half, and is fully acceptable for a GolfLink handicap under the World Handicap System. For a golfer with a job and a family, nine after work in the long summer evenings is the difference between playing weekly and playing monthly.
Par-3 courses are where the strokes are
Around two thirds of an amateur’s shots happen inside 100 metres, and a par-3 course is an hour of nothing else. It is the most efficient practice in golf disguised as a round, often for the price of a bucket of balls, and the least intimidating place to take somebody who has never played.
Country nine-holers are a national asset
Regional Australia is full of nine-hole courses run by volunteers, with sand scrapes in some places, honesty boxes and green fees measured in a handful of coins. They are cheap, welcoming and completely without pretension, and they are the courses most likely to be missed by anybody who only plays in the capitals.
Playing nine well is a different exercise
With half the holes, one blow-up costs twice as much proportionally, so nine-hole golf rewards a conservative tee shot and a middle-of-the-green approach even more than eighteen. It is also the right format for testing a change: nine holes with one swing thought tells you more than eighteen with five.
The evening round beats the afternoon one
In summer, a twilight nine is both the cheapest golf on the tee sheet and the only comfortable time to be outside. The course is empty, the light is long, and the heat has gone. Take half a set, walk, and play two balls from the awkward spots if nobody is behind you.
Where to look
Council courses in most Australian cities include a nine-hole or short layout, and they are usually the best value in the area. Many members’ clubs have a par-3 course beside the main one that the members barely use, and visitors are almost always welcome on it.
Worth doing this month
- Find the nearest nine-hole and par-3 courses and check the twilight rate.
- Play nine after work once a week for a month and note the difference.
- Take somebody who has never played to the par-3 course rather than to the range.
Eighteen holes is the format golf inherited, not the format most people can fit into a week.
