Sir Nick Faldo is very outspoken when it comes to the changes he would like to see in the modern-day game.
There is no question that Faldo was one of the very best golfers in the history of the game during his prime.
Perhaps it’s fair to say that he doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his achievements due to his aloof nature on the golf course.
However, the Englishman’s personality has changed since he stopped playing competitively, after he adopted a much more jovial persona in the commentary booth.
That doesn’t mean he’s a shrinking violet, though; far from it in fact.
Faldo has been urging the PGA Tour to make big changes over the past couple of years, including a reintroduction of matchplay events, and stricter rules to combat the way that modern technology is destroying traditional old golf courses.
The six-time major winner’s opinion is that golf is too easy for the best players in the world right now.
Faldo has also called for 60 degree lob wedges to be banned at the highest level of the game, so that players have to use more skill around the greens.
However, we’re now going to focus on one change he’s been demanding for years which could really impact the amateur side of the game.
Nick Faldo’s plan for a major change could be game-changing for amateurs
Faldo is very much involved in golf course design now, and he is the brains behind numerous elite layouts around the world including the Faldo Course at Mission Hills in China and ‘The Faldo’ at the Lough Erne Resort in Northern Ireland.
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However, it seems like his golf course design projects could head down a whole new direction moving forward.
When speaking to The PGA back in 2024, Faldo urged golf’s governing bodies to make a change to a format that has been in play for hundreds of years.
“I’ve been pushing that for years and it’s been blooming difficult!” he explained. “You go to a hotel and they say, ‘We want an 18-hole championship course.’ I say, ‘It’s not going to be championship, you haven’t got the room. Why don’t you have a nice 12 holes?’ ‘No, we’ve got to have 18.’ We’ve been fighting that.
“It’s taken 20-plus years but we’re finally getting people to go, ‘You know what? Eighteen is a lot. I can’t disappear from the family for six hours.’ Pop down, do nine holes. Do 12. I’m a big fan of 12 holes, because you can do two sixes. Do another one and there’s your 18.
“The Open started with 12 holes,” he added. “It’s a good story. I’m trying to get the R&A to back me on that one because I’m saying, ‘You started that way. Why don’t we just push that?’ That will happen more.”
Interestingly, Jack Nicklaus called for the same change as Faldo, with slow play being something that the Golden Bear desperately wants to combat.
Meanwhile, Gary Player is a fierce advocate for 12-hole courses as well.
However, while 12-hole golf courses could become more common for amateurs, professional golf will undoubtedly be played over 18 holes for the foreseeable future.
‘The best 12-hole golf course in the world’
Situated on the Isle of Arran off the coast of Ayrshire, Shiskine Golf & Tennis Club is a real gem.
It is widely considered to be the best 12-hole golf course in the world.
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Shiskine has more blind shots than clear views to fairways and pins and is an incredibly quirky, yet gloriously fun golf course to play.
The course at Shiskine Golf and Tennis Club is made up of seven par threes, four par-fours and a solitary par-five and measures just 2,996 yards from the back tees.
The views from the tee boxes are truly awe-inspiring and it’s little wonder why the Shiskine Golf and Tennis Club has earned the moniker of being ‘The best 12-hole golf course in the world’.
Perhaps we will see more 12-hole layouts like the one in Shiskine moving forward, with so many legendary figures in the game, such as Sir Nick Faldo, calling for change.
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