Attack of The Kaiju Golf Holes

A few years back, a (terrible) idea was floating around the golf world that courses could speed up play by using extra-large holes in place of the traditional 4 1/4 inch ones. Thankfully, it didn’t catch on.

I was surprised, then, to find Kaiju sized holes in play 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 that Swartz Creek had adopted the Godzilla holes as a way of making golf more accessible to its patrons. It is an interesting idea for a muni.

I have never played a course with oversized holes for golfers. I had, however, once played a course that had holes for both soccer golf and for regular golf cut in each green. I got a hole in one on a par three there — in the soccer golf hole. I thought the dual soccer / golf holes on that course were quite distracting. The kaiju holes at Swartz Creek were unusual, but not off-putting.

With the double-sized holes, I was certain of one-putts more often than not. So, I started paying attention to how I did. I had six one-putts, but all were right at the pin, so there’s a good chance those would have gone in anyway. More importantly, perhaps, was the avoidance of three-putts. There just isn’t any way to lip out from short range on a Kaiju Hole.

The two-putts were mostly of the short or wide left/right variety. Typical misreads, but all of which I thought would have presented a chance for a two putt with regulation holes. Or, as I said, a lip out.

In the final analysis, I don’t think the kaiju holes helped me score significantly better than I would on regulation holes. What they really did was expose the real weakness in my game: distance. I lose shots mostly from tee to green, not on the green (or really, even, around it. I feel as though I have a decent short game).

All that said, I enjoyed the change in play with the kaiju holes.

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

I felt a little bit of a disappointment at the news. I had this notion that I had found something new and interesting in the routine world of golf.

Alas, the kaiju holes were only temporary.