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Dropgolf Park
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Kategorier 16 Golf 10 Om IDstories

This IDstory in Swedish
a green with a view

A long course with short game golf

This Story is about the Dropgolf concept - a form of golf that you can play on ALL courses. Dropgolf is not only a modern way of playing golf, it may also have an impact on the design of golf courses. I can envisage three situations.

Dropgolf Park

Dropgolf Park is the adopted name of the world's first golf course with a Dropgolf focus. The name is a reference to the Dropgolf concept of playing golf and that it will be more like a park than most other courses.

Operating costs and maintenance

the mowing of grass

As you start playing Dropgolf from 100 to 10 meters from the green it will be less costly to run a Dropgolf course. You cut a pleasantly meandering path of some five to seven meters from Tee to around 100 meters from the green. From there, the fairway and the green is mowed and treated as usual. The number of bunkers to take care of is lower, and there are no Tees to maintain. The area to be cut - both fairways and roughs - are substantially diminished.

As you in Dropgolf can start playing next to or behind the green, you can at a very low cost prepare some Dropboxes around the green.

Dropgolf Park, ecology, and the environment

Golf course architects and many in the golf industry are aware of the importance of making golf courses more eco-friendly. This among other things includes fewer chemicals, a lower consumption of water and energy.

Dropgolf Park(s) will not only use less water than an ordinary course, but they will also have room for a more varied and developed fauna and flora.

Where in the world opens the first Dropgolf Park?

Golf course design and Dropgolf Park

golf course environment

At an ordinary course, a golf ball can in principle land anywhere in a broad corridor from the Tee to behind the green. At Dropgolf Park, the first 70-80% of all holes are more like a garden, a park where you - preferably walk - walk but rarely search for golf balls. Dropgolf creates many novel ways of designing golf courses.

At Dropgolf Park you get a heightened experience of nature and this image from a French garden illustrates a possible fusion of Golf and Gardening. The perception of hindrances like bunkers and other hazards will be different as they to a much higher degree are part of the game rather than places to be avoided, as in ordinary golf. The greens at Dropgolf Park are, of course, of a high class, but their speed is not a prioritized factor. Greens that are too fast slow down play and add costs.

The differentiation of Golf courses

I think that golf courses in the future and the way we play golf will become more differentiated. The time factor combined with fewer golfers in many countries, fewer rounds per player, and a weak economy at many Clubs, will lead to a more varied golf landscape.

Few countries have more than 25% female players

What an opportunity to create golf history. Golf and especially the golf club manufacturers have a dominantly male perspective and is, as has been said by many, quite distance crazy. Dropgolf is the world's first gender neutral way of playing golf. Dropgolf Park is an opportunity to create something quite different, and yet something solidly grounded in the fundamentals of golf.

Golf courses have today, far too often, been made too difficult for ordinary players. One of the main factors behind this development is the increase in golf as a spectator sport and arena for advertisers and media. Dropgolf is, by the way, an excellent game for media shows, as it offers a short format and possible competitions of the world's best golfers of both sexes in the same tournament.

We must also remember that the most common golfer in the world is an ex-golfer. Many in the golf industry regard this group as the one with the largest potential for more golfers. How do these ex-golfers want to play golf?

Golf and Health

golf cart

Dropgolf is also signified by its health profile and that it is highly social. At Dropgolf Park(s) there are not many golf carts although exceptions will be made for special cases. Those who desire to ride golf rather than walk golf will have no problems in finding other courses.

Dropgolf and Simplicity

One possible reason for the decline of golf might be the increase in complexity of the game. Today it is fundamental in the design and marketing of most products and services that you try hard to make things as simple for your users as possible. You want to lower the barriers to entering, minimize the need for manuals, and make it easy to pay and receive the merchandise and so on. In Golf, there is a tendency to make things more complicated.

When you play Dropgolf, the Scorecard is simple and universal, and can be used on all courses. There is no need to increase the cost of green maintenance by reporting the pin placement. Neither is there at Dropgolf Park a need for Slope calculations. Your handicap index - read about competitions - is always an integer.

In Dropgolf, we try hard to find ways of making golf easier, more accessible, and yet not a watered down and populist version of golf. I oppose clubs and golf balls without limitations. The future of golf lies not in more sophisticated equipment.

Dropgolf Park and sponsors

Somewhere in the world, there is probably a company that at some time will perceive Dropgolf as a smart and interesting form of golf to sponsor. Dropgolf has many features that make it unique and a great format for a company that wishes to underline its innovative attitude. Sponsoring could come in the form of sponsoring a unique competition, as is being done by Volvo, BMW, HSBC and many others. It could also be in the form of a national sponsorship.

The ultimate goal is to establish Dropgolf as a recognized form of golf and open a few Dropgolf courses, named Dropgolf Park or with another name. Dropgolf is a registered trademark in Europe. Your comments and suggestions are welcome.

References

Publicerades: 2014.05 Uppdaterades: 2024.12.12



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