Big Hole Outing

Just a little over a week ago, our course tried something new.  Some history that lead to it, at our regular Ozark Turf Association Scholarship and Research Outings, we would have a large hole cut on one of the par 3's.  If we got in the game, we could play to that hole, which was near the front of the green, while the regular hole was on the back.  Not to say it was easy though, one year we had to use our mulligan to make birdie from about 10 feet.  We were left of the pin, and there was just enough of a slope to challenge us.  Another reason was some networking at the Orlando Golf Industry Show in 2017, there was a lot of talk about different ideas to encourage new play.  I decided to invest in a 9 hole set of 8" cups.  The cups themselves were pretty inexpensive, and worst case scenario, we could always use the cup cutter to repair greens if needed.  If I remember the investment was about $200 dollars.  This led to our course hosting a Big Hole Tournament.

When working with the Pro Shop on what holes to use the Big Holes, the first decision was since it was a small group, they wanted to do a reverse shotgun, starting on # 1 and working backwards to about #15.  We were concerned that on 4 holes on the front nine had soil greens and we weren't sure how hard it would be to cut holes in them, we did find them just as easy as on our USGA greens.  So we cut all of them on the front nine.  We did find one issue, with the breeze that day and the 7 1/2' flag poles, the edge of the cup would pull out slightly.  When the pin was removed, the cup sat just under the green surface.  I shared this issue on Twitter and it was suggested to use long nails in the drainage hole of the cup to hold the cup down.  We will give this a try before the next tournament.  

           


Once all play passed the big holes, two of our crew members removed the big cups and replaced the plug.  This allowed the course to be ready for the regular play that followed the Big Hole Tournament.  A lot of care had to be taken to replace the plug, extra greens mix had been removed because the cup cutter itself didn't quite cut deep enough.  They were able to replace the plugs in front of play with great results.  New cups were cut when the big hole was being cut as well, and then "capped" during play for the big hole.  the "cap" was removed and the hole ready for play.  The picture on the left shows the big plug replaced and leveled.

                
 

Players had a great time, and it was fun to watch how aggressive they were putting at the 8" cups.  Play itself was a two person scramble, with two putt maximum, so really aggressive putting should rule regardless of the holes with the regular sized cup or the big hole.  Another interesting stat was not all scores on the front nine with the big cups were the lowest.  The Big Hole tournament was something different and we will host it again in the future.

Thanks for reading!

Mel