Here comes the… 15-inch hole?

April 03, 2014

"If we don't do something as an industry, we're going to wake up one day and be falling off a cliff."

Those words came out of the mouth of Mark King, CEO of TaylorMade, earlier this year when talking to a FORE magazine writer. He was commenting on the state of the golf industry, which is rapidly losing golfers and struggling to bring new people into the game. King, who's worked in golf for decades, swears something drastic has to be done.

Thanks to a creative idea from King himself, TaylorMade is giving "drastic" a try, last weekend hosting the first-ever 15-inch hole golf tournament. No changes to the Rules of Golf were made, except for this. Instead of using regulation-sized holes on the greens, 15-inch ones were used. And yes, a 15-inch hole is more than three times the size of a regular 4 ¼-inch cup.

"Golf is supposed to be fun. I would dare anyone to play golf this way and not have fun," said King.

He seemed to be right Saturday, as dozens of people headed to Pauma Valley CC for this inaugural tournament, hosted by TaylorMade. A putting contest prior to the round got people comfortable with the new hole. Well, sort of.

"It's a lot harder than it looks!"

"You'd think you could make everything, but that's certainly not the case!"

That's what you heard around the practice putting green before the round, as people took their first shots putting into the larger hole. As people missed putts by a couple of inches and had some rim out, it was clear the painful, essence of golf still existed. It was just slightly more rare.

King first played on a 15-inch hole years ago, at a tournament hosted by Golf Digest. The company set up a 15-inch hole on one hole at the event. Saturday at Pauma Valley, however, was the first time anyone, including King, played a full 18 holes this way. The rounds took a little more than three hours. And the one thing that was clear? Everyone playing had a blast.

Sure, the game was easier, but that's King's point. The probability to chip the ball into the hole from off the green rose significantly, King himself holing a lovely chip in from about 50 yards away, but who doesn't want to see the ball go in the hole after hitting a great shot?

And King isn't suggesting changing the Rules of Golf, but instead having an entry point for people interested in coming into the game. This bifurcation of the rules would allow newbies not to have to play by the same standards as TOUR pros.

“Nobody is saying that the game as it is now should go away. They’re just saying let’s have a bunny slope so that we can get people excited again.”

For more on the future of the 15-inch hole, stay tuned to scga.org.