A First Taste of PowerPlay Golf

Filed in archive Golf News on May 29, 2009

Courtesy: Copetown Woods Golf Club

I've been a proponent of PowerPlay Golf for quite some time now. And I've been a supporter based on the theory of this first new twist to the game in decades.

But I hadn't actually played the format until this week.

Canadian PPG representative, Barry Forth, general manager of Copetown Woods Golf Club outside Toronto, hosted a media day to formally introduce the concept to about 25 members of the Canadian golf media on Tuesday.

Copetown is the first club in Canada to introduce the format to recreational players.

On hand was Peter McEvoy, the creator of the format and a man whose amateur career was so stellar that it earned him an OBE from the Queen. McEvoy had flown over from the UK to explain the concept and the plans for making PowerPlay Golf a truly global game.

That is already a reality in many ways. There are now 21 countries involved, or more specifically, at least one golf club in each of those countries has become the first venue for the concept.

I won't rehash the idea here. Visit the PowerPlay Golf website for more details if you haven't read my previous posts.

During the press conference, there were several points that became clear. Made-for-television tournaments involving professional tour players are essential to the success of PPG and are indeed in the works with IMG, the global sports marketing company. And PPG is working with the national golf body in each country to help firmly plant the seeds at the recreational level.

So the strategy - or is it a hope? - then is this: the pros embrace the idea, play for money in made-for-TV tournaments organized by IMG and recreational golfers then buy into the concept as well.

In the end, any success will ultimately depend on how golfers like playing this unique version of the venerable game which uses the Stableford scoring system.

And that brings us back to our first taste of it on Tuesday at Copetown Woods west of Toronto.

We played the back nine in threesomes, starting on the par 5 tenth hole, 471 yards from the blue tees. I forgot to declare on the tee that I would go for the black (PowerPlay) flag on that hole and smoked my tee shot. My second rolled off the back of the green only about 25 feet from the black flag. Except I was going for the easier white flag pin placement.

First lesson: remember to declare on the tee!

What felt odd was how our threesome broke apart on the green to putt out. One or two of us might be putting to the white pin position while, elsewhere on the green, another would be putting out at the PowerPlay pin location.

A small observation perhaps but it felt unusual.

I will say this in hindsight: for two or more casual golfers playing this format, try the match play format first. I have a feeling that PowerPlay Golf would be a ton of fun using match play rather than stroke play, Stableford point scoring and factoring handicaps.

You and your partners will know where you stand on each tee because the player who scores best at the PowerPlay pin position will win the hole. In the case of a tie such as when two players par or birdie the black flag, then you could use the closest-to-the-hole method to decide the winner.

Otherwise, the format becomes tricky. You need to know the Stableford scoring system, you need to know your handicap (what a chance for serious sandbagging) and then you must add up your net points at the end of the round to settle up.

At any rate, the PowerPlay golf version of the game has serious merit. It's new and I think that given time, some of the tricky bits in the rules will be ironed out.

The best part is that you won't - or shouldn't - pay any more to play 9 holes of PowerPlay golf than a straightforward 9 and it will be a lot more fun.