Golf in a hurry.... on your marks, Set 'n' go! First, Cricket in a hurry. And now Golf in a hurry!

For centuries no one would have imagined that cricket played in the colonial tradition would be mixed with a generation of rapid-fire One Day Internationals (ODI) and Twenty Twenty (T20) that recently culminated in the T20 World Cup international competition played in Sri Lanka this year. Neville Cardus, the famous author with literary finesse described cricket as a game that proceeds for hours to a rhythm as lazy as the rhythm of a airless day.... we stretch ourselves on deck-chairs and smoke our pipes and talk of a number of things."

'Cricket in a hurry' is fast eclipsing the leisurely nature of the game. While traditionalists lament this, there is no doubt that many welcome the innovation.

But who would have thought that hallowed traditions of Golf.... invented in the 15th century.... would be busted by a rapid-fire version.

Well, that has been happening since 1979 and this year, in October, the World Speed Golf Championship was held in Oregon, USA, although not at the scale of transformation that 'cousin' cricket has undergone.

Speed Golf, known also by other names such as Extreme Golf, Fitness Golf and Hit and Run Golf will take a long time to catch on.

The game of Golf played in its traditional form runs deep in the minds, blood streams and psyche of hundreds of millions of golfers. Golf is an addiction. Once you are truly in it, it's a life sentence with no chance of parole or early release! The golf fraternity is closely bonded. At the same time the game has also caused untold conflict in families when the addiction occurs at the expense of the spouse who may not be a golfer.

There is this oft-repeated joke over drinks at the 19th hole that, at the risk of offending my spouse, a non-golfer, I recount: A man and a friend are playing golf one day at their local golf course.

One of the guys is about to chip onto the green when he sees a long funeral procession on the road next to the course. He stops in mid-swing, takes off his golf cap, closes his eyes, and bows down in prayer.

His friend says: Wow that is the most thoughtful and touching thing I have ever seen.

You truly are a kind man. The man then replies: Yeah, well we were married 35 years!

With such addiction any change to the game can be revolting. Yet, in Speed Golf the object is to finish a round of golf on foot with the lowest score, which is a combination of the time to complete the round and the number of strokes taken.

One hour for game

A game of Speed Golf over 18 holes can conceivably be completed in about an hour, and enable one to buy peace at home!

The scoring is calculated by adding the time it takes to complete a round of golf in minutes and seconds, and add it to the number of strokes taken during that round.

Thus if the time to finish the 18 holes is 60 minutes and 20 seconds, and the total number of shots is 100, then one's score is 60.20+100 = 160.20.

Christopher Smith invented the game, as it were. In 2005, Smith set a World Record by shooting a 5 under par in just 44 minutes, as compared with a typical 4-5 hour journey covering the 18 holes.

According to a report of the US National Public Radio (NPR) Smith typically carries a lightweight golf bag containing six clubs instead of the normal 14, and sets off at a leisurely pace of about an 8-minute mile. Smith says " we tend to get in our way when we play golf analysing.

What speed golf does is, it forces you to play in a more reactive, reactionary sort of way."

Tom Goldman who covered the game for NPR says there is no walking around the surface reading every undulation; just a quick read. Step up and putt; and then rush to the next hole."

In short whack the ball and run; whack again and run..... and so on.

Speed an important factor

The rush in Speed Golf does not compromise on etiquette. The honour system prevails. Besides playing quickly, one still needs to replace divots, rake the bunker footprints, call penalties on oneself and keep silent during a swing. There are no gimmes, however.

And so speed is an important factor. That brings to mind another joke at the 19th hole: a guy stood over his tee shot for what seemed an eternity; looking up, looking down, measuring the distance, figuring the wind direction and speed and driving his partner nuts.

Finally his exasperated partner says, "What's taking so long? Hit the blasted ball."

The guy answers, "My wife is up there watching me from the clubhouse. I want to make this a perfect shot.""Forget it, you don't stand a chance of hitting her from here!"

Not to be outdone, another golfer comes up with a story that re-emphasizes the rule that there is no time to lose:

Fred and Harry were playing their usual weekend match on the links at Royal Sydney and were annoyed by an unusually slow twosome in front of them.

One of them was seen to be mooching around on the fairway while the other was searching distractedly in the rough.

"Hey," shouted Fred, "why don't you help your friend find his bloody ball?""He's got his bloody ball," came the reply. "It's his bloody club he's looking for."

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