I putted the big holes of Sarasota and....
 

I think they don't help your game. I understand they are there to facilitate play but as a teaching tool the bigger target is useless.

After thousands of rounds spread over 50 years I thought I would try the bigger holes. It's something new for me. Oh Brother! By the end of the round I was missing them too.

It reminded me of Riverton Country Club, a beautiful course in New Jersey. The had a hole on the practice green that was slightly larger than a golf ball, maybe an inch???. maybe less. My HS team would practice putting before the match and use that little hole. It works.

I think to facilitate play they should paint a 3 ft diameter ring around a hole. Newbies would pick up after getting the ball to die in the ring. That's a golf drill. They should also have a small hole like as I described somewhere else on the green for practice while waiting around. I don't think this will hold up play and I do think everyone will improve their putting game. That will ultimately speed up play and increase enjoyment.

It's frustrating to loose distance and you hope it will come back. But if you could make up for it on and around the green..............................

I think the 6 inch holes are great fun. I think it is Jack Nicklaus that is pushing 15 inch hole golf. I could be wrong, but I think it's him. Imagine that!

Are you thinking of this article?
Can A Bigger Hole Save Golf? Top PGA Tour Pros Follow The Masters With Bold Experiment
Forbes Welcome

"The second explanation is that golf remains too difficult, and despite great technological advances that have allowed the best players (pros) to greatly increase their distance, better equipment hasn’t done much (if anything) for the recreational golfer, which is to say most golfers. In stark comparison, skiing, which enjoyed a resurgence amidst golf’s downturn, coupled dramatically user-friendly improvements in equipment with more sophisticated and standardized instruction to greatly accelerate the learning process. Today, a rank novice can take a single day of lessons and be skiing beginner trails from top to bottom. Not so for golf, which has seemingly been unable to do anything to shorten its onerous learning curve, long at best and in many cases, lasting the golfer’s entire life."

My idea is how to reduce the learning curve by incorporating drills [the 3 ft circle and smaller cup] within the game. You pick it up when it's in the circle to maintain pace of play.

6" holes are shallower and have the flagstick post in the middle. I played Sarasota and putted the larger holes while waiting my turn to put the regular holes and found them to be easier to "hit" but the ball seems to pop out of the shallow hole and if the ball hits center the flagstick bracket caused the ball to jump out of the hole.

Our Gilchrist East neighborhood group played Sarasota last week, 7 foursomes. We generally agreed to use 'closest hole' to speed up play. The first 2 6inchers I putted, the ball went straight in and bounced out after hitting the hole's center support post for the flagstick. ???? We then all agreed if that happens, consider it in. Frustrating, and seems to be poor design in having the obstruction.
Also, we found when going to the 4" hole after using the 6" a few times - the human brain (even golfers...) looks at the 4" as a thimble and the 6" a sewer cover.
Bottom line it was fun, but not worth the confusion - we are golfing Sarasota again Monday.
We are very lucky to have these new courses spring up in our Paradise...

"I think to facilitate play they should paint a 3 ft diameter ring around a hole"...it takes about an hour or so to relocate all the pins at an exec course...how long to paint a 3' dia. circle? How long to get rid of the old circle? If you don't you'll have circles all over the green...not a well thought out idea.

As for the ball bouncing out of the 6" hole...look, it's not USGA rules so just consider the putt holed...most of you take mulligans, move the ball in the fairways and rough so calling a putt sunk with a bounce out should be a no brainer....

It's a ring. That means it's a circular or surrounding line or mark. The line could be 1/2' wide. They would use a template and the spray paint green that is used to prep a PGA event. They could even pour soil/sand mix in the template.
I thought it out.

They must be different than Santiago 6" holes. No way the ball pops out in those holes. You can hit it in to the pin and it stays in. Never have to remove the pin.

If you don't remove the pin it's a 2 stroke penalty!

[just kidding]

I watched the video made by the CEO of Taylormade to promote 15" putting holes. the first problem with the 15"hole is that if you fell into it you probably get swallowed up.

Despite the size of the hole if the intent is to speed up play it isn't going to help because the delay is the golfer that stand over the ball for 30 seconds before putting. If its to make play easier then for some of us it just won't work.
Many golfers are purist and prefer the 4 1/4 "hole

Fast play easy play is because the golf industry lost over 5,00,000 golfers over the last 10 years. But the economy is still weak. some golfers learned that $400 drivers didn't increase their distance, etc and some golfers learned that despite plenty of $$$$ in private lessons you can't take the training to the course. that's why the pro's have their coaches on hand all the time

As to Sarasota it seems that they should either have 4 1/4"holes or 6"holes but not both.

You may have accidentally stumbled upon something that would speed up play, 2 regulation holes per green. Serious golfers would declare the hole from the tee like in 8 ball. Beginners would decide once they got on the green. That might help move things along.

They are trying a different cup for the 6" holes at Sarasota. They are not as deep as the ones at El Santiago. Some thought the El Santiago holes were difficult to get the ball out because they were so deep. If the ball popping out is a problem, I suspect they will change the cups.

me too
Most people I played with that have trouble bending over to lift the ball out of the cup have a gizmo on the end of their putter to pick the ball up.

Why not just forget putting, that would speed up the game. For that matter, forget teeing off, that would certainly move things along. I could just start and end my game at the same time at the 19th hole ( or 10th hole in the case of Executive courses)

I don't understand what you mean.