Let's play nine.
Apologies to the enthusiastic former ballplayer Ernie Banks, who is credited with the saying "Let's play two" as a way of expressing "I want to keep playing." But there is a growing feeling in the golf industry that less often is more. That is, by deciding to play nine holes instead of 18, golfers find themselves playing more golf.
Someone who might be inclined to say the heck with it because he or she doesn't have the five or six hours it takes for an 18-hole experience (you know: getting the tee time, paying the greens fees, muddling around the crowded course) might play more frequently if they have the option to pay for, and play, only nine.
"My idea is this: Nine holes are better than no holes," said Bob Miller, head pro and manager of Bergen Point Golf Club, a
Suffolk County course in West Babylon that has a special nine-hole rate.
The key is shedding the mindset that says a round somehow doesn't "count" or isn't really a round if it isn't 18 holes. There is nothing wrong with playing nine, if that's all a person has time for.
And time has become one of the biggest enemies of the golf business, and one reason it has stagnated. "With two-income families, some people might not think they have enough time for golf, especially if their children are involved in a lot of activities," Miller said.
So Bergen Point is like a number of courses on Long Island that offers a nine-hole special: Between 6 and 8 a.m., a county resident can play the back nine for $15. The fee for seniors is $7, for nonresidents it is $22. The policy works out for the course because the back nine is free at that time and it works out for golfers, who don't have to invest in the full fee if they only want to play nine.
Playing nine is becoming more popular, said Steven Dietz, manager of Crab Meadow Golf Club, a Huntington Town course in Northport. "I used to do this when I was at Long Island National [in Riverhead]," Dietz said. "People love it. They can get their golf in and get home before their families are up and going."
On weekdays at Crab Meadow, the nine-hole special, from 6 to 7:30 a.m., goes for $20 including cart. The price is $25 Fridays through Sundays. "It's been well received. Once you get a group that does it, they're going to return," Dietz said, adding that his course has a similar twilight policy. After 5 p.m., for $18 (including cart), a golfer can play as many holes as he or she can get in before dark.
It's still golf even if it's not 18. No less an authority than the official handicapping computer system of the Metropolitan Golf Association says so. The computer takes nine-hole scores as valid in determining players' handicaps.
"They've been doing that for a few years, at least as long as I've been here anyway," said Cristy Grzymala, head pro at Spring Lake Golf Club in Middle Island, a 27-hole facility that has a course, the Sandpiper, designated specifically for nine-hole play. Grzymala occasionally has to remind people that Sandpiper is a full-size, par-36 layout.
Sandpiper is one of the more interesting courses around, what with an opening short par-5 that challenges a golfer to hit over lakes on the first and second shots. Grzymala said that many people like to play there later in the day, after work. "You can get in a two-hour round here," she said.
She said the club has a popular women's league that plays Sandpiper. A league that plays a weekly skins game also takes the "Let's play nine" motif.
Less can be more. Take it from someone who once walked inside the ropes with the Hall of Famer at the U.S. Open. Ernie Banks, a golf enthusiast, wouldn't object.
Aces
Kevin Nathan, Huntington Crescent Club, 17th hole, 190 yards, 6-iron.
Perry Angelson, Island's End Golf & Country Club, seventh hole, 185 yards, hybrid.
Lynn Reinecker, Island's End G & CC, 16th hole, 125 yards 7-wood.
Dan Abrams, E. Donald Conroy Golf Club, second hole, 118 yards, pitching wedge.
Pastor Romeo Dagee, E. Donald Conroy GC, fourth hole, 105 yards, sand wedge.
Ricardo Benadides, E. Donald Conroy GC, fifth hole, 130 yards, 8-iron.
Tom Barbaro, Garden City Country Club, fifth hole, 166 yards, 6-iron.
Erika Turner, Harbor Links Executive Course, ninth hole, 113 yards, 7-wood.
Roy Summers, Crab Meadow GC, ninth hole, 161 yards, 4-iron.
Joe Algerio, Huntington Country Club, third hole, 186 yards, 5-wood.
About this page
Items for the LI Golfbeat should be directed to Mark Herrmann in the Newsday sports department. Send faxes to his attention at 631-454-6892, call 631-843-2826 or send e-mail to mark.herrmann@newsday.com. Please leave a phone number with an area code and spell all names. No beeper numbers.
Aces: Golfers with aces, double eagles or other scoring accomplishments should include: date, course, hole number, length of hole and club used.
Competition: Golf courses and clubs should direct their releases and tournament results to Herrmann's attention.
Outings: Organizers for charitable golf outings should submit their information no later than three weeks prior to the event.
