Thursday 21 April 2016 11:48, UK
The R&A has announced the introduction of a nine-hole championship which will be played at Royal Troon, the weekend before the 145th Open.
The new tournament for club golfers is a reaction to the R&A's 'Time for Golf' conference at St Andrews last year, when extensive surveys revealed that more people would be inclined to play golf if there were more opportunities to play nine-hole courses.
The inaugural nine-hole championship, open to men, women and juniors, will feature 30 players and takes place on Saturday, July 9 at Royal Troon, with a series of qualifiers being held at 13 R&A affiliated venues in the UK and Ireland.
The initiative has won the backing of two-time Open champion Padraig Harrington, who is also the R&A's working for golf ambassador.
Harrington said: "People who want to play golf are increasingly struggling to find the time to play and so positioning nine-hole golf as a legitimate alternative makes a lot of sense. I'm really pleased to see The R&A taking the lead in this area.
"For regular amateur golfers to be able to play the Open venue in championship condition immediately before the best players in the world is a fantastic initiative and I'm sure this new competitive format will encourage more people to get out on the golf course and play nine-hole golf."
An R&A statement added: "Our extensive survey on pace of play and the subsequent 'Time for Golf' conference at St Andrews last November highlighted the challenges many people face in finding time to play 18 holes, with 60% of the golfers surveyed expressing the view that they would enjoy golf more if it took less time."
The survey also revealed that among 25-44 year-olds who are unhappy with the pace of play, 21% would like to see the playing time reduced by as much as one-and-a-half hours, while 19% said they would welcome the opportunity to play nine holes more often as an alternative format.
Martin Slumbers, chief executive of The R&A, said: "One of the messages that came through clearly from the survey and the conference is that people would play more golf if they could do so in significantly less time. Nine-hole golf is not new but we feel it is often overlooked as a perfectly valid way to play the sport either with your family and friends or competitively.
"We are delighted to introduce a nine-hole championship and will be promoting this format as a way of playing golf in less time which can have wider appeal among people who lead increasingly busy lives today.
"We are very much looking forward to working with the national associations to promote nine-hole golf and we hope to see more events being played throughout Great Britain and Ireland to cater for this important audience."