You might say you don’t have the time to fit golf into your schedule. You may think golfing consists of weekends away out on the green with no room for anything else in your life. If you want to pick up golf, a 9-hole game would be a great place to start. How long does 9 holes of golf take? Here’s how much time to put aside for this type of course and why it should be your new best friend.
How long does 9 holes of golf take?
Playing a full round of 18 holes does take the entire day, especially if you bring even one friend to play with you. This can make it hard to even schedule a tee time, let alone consistently find time to get out on the green. A 9-hole game makes getting in a bit of practice much easier.
For the average player out there by themself, it should take 1 and a half to 2 hours to play a game of golf on a course that has 9 holes. If you are a beginner, one game could eat up around 3 hours of your day, which still isn’t bad.
The number of players adds time
- As you add more people to your group, the time will get a little longer. You have to factor in swing time for everyone if someone loses their ball or gets stuck at a hazard, and, if you are walking, the time it takes everyone to get from tee to tee.
- For 2 players, it may take 2 hours and 15 minutes up to 2 hours and 45 minutes if you both are walking the course.
- For 3 players, you would need around 2 hours and 45 minutes to finish a round.
- For 4 players, all of those little additional minutes add up, and you’ll need 3 and a half hours for a game.
What affects your game time
We covered that adding players brings your time up, but there are other ways your game could take longer or shorter than average.
The player’s skill
Newbies take longer to do everything — that’s sort of the point. If you are just learning to play golf, your time on the course will be longer. If you have been playing golf on the weekends for the last 20 years, you could probably knock out a game of 9 in well under 2 hours.
The other people on the course
You won’t be the only person playing on the course. Some clubs have pace limits, which puts a timer on how long you can take at a hole, so you don’t make the people behind you angry for waiting. But if it’s a beautiful day out and the course looks like an exploding anthill, you will add quite a few minutes to your time.
The course difficulty
Are you playing on a course that has a lot of bunkers or hazards? Is the difficulty level way past your experience level? The course stats will add time for a beginner player quite quickly. Know the course you play on.
The course itself
Just because there are only 9 holes doesn’t mean they will all be easy. The par for each hole plays a role in determining how long you’ll be out there.
- If the holes are mostly par 3, the game will be shorter.
- If the game has a few par 5 holes, you’ll need extra time to play through.
The weather
Not that we would want to play in the rain, but some people don’t care. Bad weather will add minutes if you have to spend extra time looking for where the ball slid, or you couldn’t see where it bounced off to.
The wind is also a huge factor, especially if you play on a links course. The weather conditions matter when it comes to how long it takes you to play.
How you get around the course
A time suck or helper is if you use a golf cart or not. Not only is a cart one of the main perks of golfing, but it will cut time off of your game, where walking adds to it.
Why you should play on a 9-hole course
Build your confidence
A 9-hole course is a solid way to build your confidence. It’s easier to learn the basic rules and finer details about the game when you aren’t overwhelmed by a huge course. There’s nothing wrong with starting small while you learn how to play.
It saves time
You won’t improve your game if you only get out there once every 3 months because you can’t find a full day off. A 9-hole round can be knocked out in an afternoon, which is way easier to fit in after a workday. There are par 3 courses anyone of any skill level could zip through during a long lunch break. Even a larger course sitting on 7,000 yards of green should take around 2 and a half hours. You have time for that.
A professional flexing their skills can get through a game of 9-holes in under two hours. Someone who has a handicap so high you wouldn’t believe it could still play in just over 3 hours. A 9-hole golf course is the perfect size for keeping your skill sharp without needing the whole weekend off. Now that you know how long it takes the average person to play a 9-hole game of golf, book that tee time and see where you land.
