Pro golf event on a 12-hole course? Nick Faldo is counting on it

A professional golf tournament on a 12-hole course? Nick Faldo believes it is bound to happen.

“I’m making a prediction that you’ll see it in the next five to seven years,” he said. 

Faldo’s comment came in the latest episode of GOLF’s travel podcast, Destination Golf, where the six-time major champion reflected on changes in the game — and broader socio-economic shifts — that have brought about new thinking in golf design.

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“We’ve broken the stigma that courses aren’t interesting enough or challenging enough or the quality is not good enough,” Faldo said. “It’s a whole new world.”

Faldo is not the first to celebrate short courses. But he has been fond of them for a while. Years ago, in England, he built a 9-hole course for himself and hired a full-time superintendent who, Faldo said, “got bored out of his mind because I was the only one playing it.”

Times have changed. Short courses have grown so ingrained in the culture of the game that scores recorded on them can now be posted to the World Handicap System. Rare is the top-dollar resort that hasn’t invested in a smaller-footprint playground.

Faldo, for his part, has gone all in on short courses, too, having recently partnered with Himalayas Golf — a company founded by Faldo’s longtime design partner Paul Jensen — that specializes in what it calls “golf in small spaces,” with ambitions to build everything from backyard short-game setups to pint-size public layouts stitched through neighborhoods.

In generations past, selling such concepts was practically impossible, Faldo said. He knows. He tried years ago at a property in Bermuda that, he said, would have been perfect for a short course if only the owners had been willing to think out of the box. 

“They said, ‘No, it’s got to be championship, par 72,’” he said. 

In recent years, though, as golf’s popularity has expanded, so have perceptions of what a course can be. Faldo is convinced it’s just a matter of time before short courses are adopted for elite competitions. 

“It would be perfect for a pro-am like the good old Crosby, or the AT&T,” he said. “You play 12 holes in the morning, have a nice lunch, then play another 12 in the afternoon. It’s easy to do in a day. It would be great as a corporate deal and for fans as well.”

Improbable? Maybe. But there’s precedent. Faldo won three Open Championships by grinding out four rounds on 18-hole courses. But the first Open Championship, in 1860, was contested over three rounds on a 12-hole layout at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland.