Speed golf hopes to attract more golfers

BLUFFTON, S.C., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- A South Carolina man plans to pioneer golf courses divided into six-hole segments -- to attract more people to the game.

Mark Brown, the founder and editor of Links Magazine from 1987-94, has founded Prestwick 12 Golf, named after one of the first golf courses in Scotland. He plans to offer the option of playing 6, 12 or 18 holes, by operating courses that can be divided into two or three six-hole loops with holes of regulation length, the New York Times reported Saturday.

Brown estimates golfers can play six holes in 75 minutes -- or a lunch hour -- compared to 2 1/2-hours for nine holes or six hours for a full 18-hole round.

"At first, people looked at us like we had three eyes," Brown told Travel and Leisure Golf. But he thinks in this hurry-up world, less time-consuming golf will be a hit.