After Twenty20 cricket, it’s time for PowerPlay golf, a shortened version of the game played over nine holes, with two flags on the green and a duration of two hours, to attract the attention of sports fans.
The eighth edition of the Signature Club Golf Championship, which involves 43 clubs spread over 30 cities in the country from September 26 to December 14, is to be played under the two-year-old PowerPlay format.
The founder of PowerPlay Golf, Peter McEvoy, told reporters today that the format has been introduced following a 5 per cent drop in audience for the traditional four-day golf.
“It’s a shorter form, like T20 cricket, five-a-side football and seven-a-side rugby. I think Indian fans would like its faster pace. While normal golf is a reward for patience, in this format you have to make things happen,” he said.
McEvoy is confident that in ten years this format would be “a significant landscape in the golf circuit” and said “no contamination of (traditional golf) skills is required.”
“A nine-hole golf course would also be more environment-friendly and is suitable for developing countries like India,” he said.
The All India finals are to be held in Phuket, Thailand.
