What's that? Two Pins??

In my younger days as a broadcast journalist, I spent a number of years with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

As its name implies, it's a large company, spanning the country. And every summer, those of us working in Toronto would hold our annual golf tournament.

The venues would vary; sometimes, they were fine layouts. Other times, no better than goat-tracks (it always came down to what the Staff Association could afford).

But the one factor that was constant was the size of the turnout. Golfers and non-golfers alike - perhaps a hundred of us - would tee off in shotgun fashion on the first and 10th tees.

Inevitably, there were long waits on tee boxes and 18 holes of golf would take more than 6 hours to complete.

If only Power Play Golf was in existence then.

You may already be familiar with Power Play Golf. My memory was jogged recently when I received an email from the fellows in the U.K. who are behind the game.

And then I remembered; I had written a flippant piece about Power Play Golf in early February, 2007.

Working from a single story in Sporting Life, I implied that it wasn't a very serious proposition.

How wrong I was. Power Play Golf has been catching fire around the world.

Of course, when I wrote about Power Play Golf in early 2007, they didn't have their website up.

In essence, Power Play Golf ups the competition-excitement factor while shortening the time to play the game.

9 holes, two flags per green. One is a white flag in an accessible pin position while the other, a menacing black flag with a white skull-and-crossbones, is in a tougher spot.

Stableford points rules apply with double points going for any net birdies or better achieved from the black pin position.

Of course, you can flip the thing on its head and go with a match play format, too.

There are some other rules that up the pressure and the ante but the result is a terrific twist on recreational golf.

One of the inventors, former Walker Cup captain, Peter McEvoy, said Power Play Golf addressed the time factor of playing 18 holes.

Today, I think it addresses a more critical factor -the economic one. With unemployment rates skyrocketing, golfers with, uh, more time than money, can take advantage of plenty of fun competition at a 9-hole rate.

Apparently, there are more and more clubs around the world that think the same way. Power Play Golf is spreading rapidly, having already made inroads into North America, Europe, South Africa , the Southern Hemisphere and of course, the UK.

Tournaments are growing and offer a terrific opportunity for local sponsors to do some effective grassroots event marketing.

But the bang-for-the-buck factor for recreational players is huge and will be the key that drives Power Play Golf forward in 2009.