Pitch and Putt – a Game of Touch and Skill

The game of Pitch and Putt while not a full golf game, it is nevertheless a highly skilled and challenging sport. There may not be the need to hit the ball at great distance, but it is definitely necessary to have a nice touch around the putting greens. Many of today’s golfers are likely to have developed their love of the game and honed their short game by starting out on their local pitch and putt course. Indeed Northern Ireland golfer and 2010 US Open Champion Graham Mc Dowell, started on the road to his successful golf career playing this popular shortened form of the game.  

Pitch and Putt is a game played by amateurs on a course normally consisting of 18 holes. It was first played in the Cork area of Ireland in the 1940’s and become so popular that they have a fiercely contested inter-counties championship every year. The player is allowed to use three clubs, with one of them being a putter. The maximum length of a course is 1000 metres with the longest hole no greater than 70 metres. However, in many of the European courses the maximum length is 1,200 metres, with the longest hole being 90 metres.

The popularity of the game has grown to such an extent there are international tournaments played in many of the major European countries. One of the countries where the popularity of the game has grown is The Netherlands. The winner of this year’s Dutch International Open was an Irishman named Ray Murphy.