talking points Greg Norman: Shorter, Cheaper, and More Sustainable

A week or so ago, during a visit to Australia, Greg Norman sounded off on a few topics that are obviously causing him some distress -- in particular, the viability of contemporary golf course design.

His comments were reported by Steve Waddingham and published by several news organizations, including the Sunday Mail and the Sunday Telegraph.

For starters, Norman has finally figured out that the sort of courses he's made his reputation designing -- those long, expensive "championship" tracks that you'll find at the world's most elite clubs -- serve little or no purpose in the grand scheme of things.

He admitted that a tournament-quality course he designed in Texas -- I think he's referring to the new TPC San Antonio -- checked in at a whopping 7,522 yards, a length that caused him to do a double-take. His conclusion:

The reality is that, even on the Tour, only 20 or 30 guys can hit the ball over 300 [yards], so essentially we are designing courses to be played by 20 guys on four days of the year. For the average player, it becomes a long, slow slog. It's ludicrous.

Of course, it's obvious that Norman continues to design such courses. But at least he understands that they're no fun to play.

What's more, it appears that Norman has come around to thinking that golf needs to enter a "dead ball era" if it expects to maintain the integrity of its most revered classic courses. He says:

Keep the technology for the average golfer, because he doesn't have the skills to overpower a course, but take it away from the professionals.

Finally, Norman suggests that it may be time to reconsider golf's fundamental principle, the 18-hole paradigm, in order to keep greens fees affordable. He noted that he has "a development in Tijuana, in Mexico" with a 12-hole course that's been "a great success." (I can't find a reference to the course on Norman's website.)

His conclusion:

Obviously, it would not be for tournaments, but with courses costing more to build, land costing more and more to buy, and people having less and less time, it could work. You could play a round in two and a half hours and it would cost less, because courses would be cheaper to develop and to maintain.