Attack of the Kaiju Golf Holes

A few years ago there was a (terrible) idea floating around the golf world that courses could speed up play by using oversized holes instead of the traditional 4 1/4 inch holes. Fortunately it didn’t catch on.

So I was surprised to find Kaiju-sized holes in the game when I visited Swartz Creek, one of Flint’s municipal courses.

No one in the pro shop bothered to mention the setup, so I assumed Swartz Creek had adopted the Godzilla holes as a way to make golf more accessible to its customers. It’s an interesting idea for a muni.

I have never played a course with holes that are too big for golfers. However, I had once played on a course that had both football golf and regular golf holes in each green. I have a hole-in-one there on a par three – in the football golf hole. I thought the double football/golf holes on that course were quite distracting. The Kaiju holes at Swartz Creek were unusual, but not unpleasant.

With the double-sized holes, I was more often than not confident with one-putts. So I started paying attention to how I was doing. I had six one-putts, but they were all right on the pin, so there’s a good chance they would have gone in anyway. Perhaps more important was avoiding three putts. There is simply no way to get to a Kaiju Hole from a short distance.

The two-putts were usually of the short or wide left/right variety. Typical misinterpretations, but all of which I thought would have offered a chance at a two-putt with regular holes. Or, as I said, a lip-out.

Ultimately, I don’t think the kaiju holes helped me score significantly better than on the regular holes. What they actually did was expose the real weakness of my game: distance. I usually don’t lose strokes from tee to green on the green (or actually even around it. I feel like I have a pretty short game).

That said, I enjoyed the change in gameplay with the Kaiju holes.

When I got back to the clubhouse, the starter asked how I was enjoying the big holes. He explained that the course had installed them for an outing the day before and had not yet changed them back.

I felt a little disappointed by the news. I felt I had found something new and interesting in the routine world of golf.

Unfortunately, the Kaiju holes were only temporary.