The time is right to shake things up in 500-year-old sports like golf
With the halo of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang still aglow, one of my strongest memories is of the curling gold medal won by the team of John Morris and Kaitlyn Lawes in the new mixed doubles format.
Much has been said about the failure of our traditional single sex men’s and women’s teams to make the podium, but it feels undeniable that the new mixed doubles competition left the world with an overwhelmingly positive take on a sport that is often painted, like golf, as being a sleepy old sport (or pseudo sport) for rich or retired white people.
Both curling and golf owe their roots to our Scottish ancestors in the 1400s and 1500s, with golf predating curling by about 100 years. And still to this day many of our golf clubs, including the PGCC locally, are proud to serve members who swing clubs or throw stones, or both.
Maybe it’s because there are these indelible ties between curling and golf that made me, for the hundredth time, continue to question why mainstream golf remains so fixated on the importance of playing 18 holes and keeping record of your individual score as the sacred core of the sport. All at the risk of ignoring opportunities to make the game more fun, quicker and easier to play, and more connective versus separating of the sexes.
I absolutely loved how quickly the eight ends of the mixed doubles game went. I loved how this adapted format saves time by having some stones placed on the ice in certain spots to start each end. And I loved the two-person interaction. There’s something about the dynamics of a pair, especially when they are opposite sexes, that makes it more interesting.
Any golfer who has been to Scotland or Ireland knows the feeling of walking into the clubhouse around noon there, only to see those locals who teed off 20 minutes before you, all showered up, changed and enjoying their third pint of beer with soup and sandwich long gone. How could they possibly have played that difficult course in three hours? Well, let me see. They played in two-man teams. They played alternate shot. They picked up when they were out of the hole. They didn’t care about their numeric score. And they walked in from the 16th green when the match was over.
It’s by no means the exact same thing. But the feeling of 8-ends, 5-stones each per end, with man and women often sweeping their own stone they delivered four seconds earlier, was a breath of fresh air.
It makes you realize that what makes curling great is not sticking religiously to 10 ends or 4person teams. It’s the skill, finesse and strategy of getting your rocks to go where you want them to go. Is the same not true for golf ?
So then, why is it so tough for us to move alternate versions and formats of golf into the mainstream? What is it about North American golfers that makes us feel that if we don’t post an 18hole score we are committing a sin? And why do we think that picking up on a hole where we are already lying 8 is a ticket straight to hell?
Here’s the perfect game for a warm Friday evening at your club. Mixed 2-person alternate shots over 12 holes. Finished in two hours. Doesn’t matter which tees you use as long as everyone does the same. More time to eat, drink and socialize. Less oncourse congestion. What’s not to like about that?
Thanks John and Kaitlyn for the inspiration. Over to you golf.
Paul Hickey is a local golf enthusiast who can be followed on Twitter @BrandHealthPrez.