Sir Nick Faldo believes anyone looking to build a new golf course should forget about 18-hole championship layouts and embrace a more forward-thinking, family-friendly approach to the sport.
We completely agree with Nick. In today’s fast-paced world, golf needs to be more accessible, quicker, and more enjoyable. A twelve-hole course is the ideal solution – perfect for every standard of play. It suits newcomers to low-handicappers, juniors to seniors, and everyone in between.
And that’s what awaits you at Eastwood Twelve, Scotland’s newest 12-hole golf course.
It’s a discussion that’s been rumbling on in the background for some time now.
As people become less and less time rich in the modern world, conversations about the amount of commitment needed to play a round of golf have become more and more frequent.
Tried and tested proposals such as Ready Golf have helped, but largely it’s the sheer scale of a course’s layout that results in many rounds tipping over the four-hour mark.
Through his award-winning architecture company, Faldo Design, the six-time major champion has played a role in the layout of golf courses all over the world, from Australia to Portugal, the United States and England. And he is determined to redefine the industry.
Speaking to The PGA, Faldo said he is a “huge fan” of shorter courses moving forward.
“I’ve been pushing that for years and it’s been blooming difficult!” he explained. “You go to a hotel and they say, ‘We want an 18-hole championship course.’ I say, ‘It’s not going to be championship, you haven’t got the room. Why don’t you have a nice 12 holes?’ ‘No, we’ve got to have 18.’ We’ve been fighting that.
“It’s taken 20-plus years but we’re finally getting people to go, ‘You know what? Eighteen is a lot. I can’t disappear from the family for six hours.’ Pop down, do nine holes. Do 12. I’m a big fan of 12 holes, because you can do two sixes. Do another one and there’s your 18.”
And, Faldo explained, the modern way is actually the ancient way.
“The Open started with 12 holes,” he added. “It’s a good story. I’m trying to get the R&A to back me on that one because I’m saying, ‘You started that way. Why don’t we just push that?’ That will happen more.”
