Justin Rose is wary of shorter formats of golf

World number 13 golfer, and Olympic champion, Justin Rose, has surprised the golf world by warning against a move to shorter versions of golf than 18 holes.

Golf authorities have been promoting shorter formats of the game, especially six and nine holes, in recent years, to reduce the time it takes golfers to play a round, and last year England Golf launched the shorter format marketing campaign Golf Express – citing Justin Rose who said he preferred to play nine holes in practice.

He also said of Golf Express: “It’s a great way to play all the game in half the time” – which is the slogan of the brand.

However Rose is concerned that formats such as the European Tour event GolfSixes, which saw two-man teams representing 16 nations play in a six-hole matchplay format, may replace golf’s traditional 72-hole strokeplay events.

“I am a traditionalist in the fact that I believe that 72-hole strokeplay is the way to get the best winner,” he said.

“If you take the tour in a direction where you’re going to have 10, 12, 15 of these events, that might saturate it too much.

“And then obviously you’re going to have trouble with how do you have world ranking points and how do you always try and get the best winner out of that week?

“I would support it a couple of times a year, but for me it would be the exception rather than the rule.”

Rose stressed that the shorter formats should play a role in golf’s future, however.

“I think that there’s a market for something that is catered towards a shorter attention span and being able to get content in a different way,” he explained.

“It’s for people who are much smarter than me to figure out how to deliver that, and to figure out what the perfect format is and how much of that is needed.”