Boone Creek GC in McHenry and Bull Valley GC in Woodstock are two of the golf clubs that have tested out the enlarged holes to appeal to a broader audience, while other nearby properties are expanding junior programs and special events to grow the game.
Next spring, golfers in McHenry County, Ill., could start seeing more greens with enlarged holes as courses experiment with new ways to make the game more appealing, the Crystal Lake (Ill.)-based Northwest Herald reported.
Boone Creek Golf Club in Bull Valley installed 15-inch golf cups on nine of its 27 holes in August as part of a pilot program subsidized by TaylorMade-Adidas Golf to attract younger people and make golf more fun. Boone Creek was one of more than 100 courses across the country to test out the larger holes and gather feedback, the Herald reported.
The 15-inch holes were installed on the back of the greens so they wouldn’t interfere with traditional play or offend purists, said General Manager and head pro Dave Mikolaitis. The initial results were positive, he said. The larger holes generated excitement, sped up the pace of play and saved players a lot of strokes, the Herald reported.
Public and private golf clubs throughout McHenry County already are toying with the idea of larger cups and an assortment of other ways to bring more people, especially younger ones, to area courses, the Herald reported.
Even Bull Valley Golf Club, which has been ranked among the most difficult courses in the country, held a large cup event this year, the Herald reported.
“It was very well received,” said Mike Picciano, the private club’s head golf professional. “The course is hard enough as it is. Different play options bring more people out to play, which is good for us.”
RedTail Golf Club, an 18-hole public course owned by the village of Lakewood, hasn’t held any big cup events, but it’s “something that we’re considering,” said General Manager and golf pro Chris Neuhart. So far, most of the club’s efforts have been growing its youth programs, the Herald reported.
That also has been the focus at Crystal Lake Country Club. In recent years, the private club has expanded its junior golf programs. Three years ago, the club started the Crystal Lake Golf Academy, which opened the club to nonmembers and recruited participants from local schools. About 120 kids participated in the club’s two programs last year, the Herald reported.
“Most of the kids hadn’t played before,” said PGA head golf pro Casey Brozek.
On Mondays, when the club is normally closed, music was turned up as the kids learned about safety and the fundamentals of the game. They practiced different activities to learn key skills, such as throwing a ball to learn about weight transfer, Brozek said.
In addition to introducing a new generation of golfers to the sport, Crystal Lake Country Club has ramped up offerings to its members. Recent additions include a Friday event for couples that includes nine holes followed by dinner at the club and a “Three and Wine” event for women that includes a few holes and a few glasses of wine, the Herald reported.
“These activities are designed to be fun and social,” said Brozek, who is the immediate past president of the Illinois PGA Board of Directors. “The demographics in the country are changing. That’s part of the challenge for golf as a game. Golf needs to be attractive to all demographics; it can’t be elitist if it wants to grow.”
The 15-inch holes have created a stir in the industry and generated a wide range of reactions from amateurs and professionals. While many believe that anything that brings more people out to play is a good thing, not everyone is ready for radical changes to the traditional course or the way the game is played, the Herald reported.
“It’s enjoyable, and it benefits amateurs—every 10-footer will go in,” said Jordan Hahn, a 17-year-old senior at Richmond-Burton High School, who will be playing golf next year at the University of Wisconsin. Hahn started playing golf as child with his father, Ron, and he hopes to continue playing through college and long after, the Herald reported.
“I prefer the challenge of the smaller cups,” he said. “Putting is one of the hardest parts of golf, but it’s also part of the fun.”
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