By Dave O’Brien

Jack Nicklaus envisioned it. Charlie Jessome suggested it and Jim Holmes dared to do it.

While golf legend Jack Nicklaus may be the one name you recognize, their shared vision became reality this season when Derrydale (Mississauga) became the first golf course west of Toronto to offer the public 12 holes of golf.

The retired hall-of-famer, Nicklaus, now an accomplished golf course designer with venues like Glen Abbey to his credit, first lauded the 12-hole round of golf in the March, 2007 edition of Golf Digest when he said:

“…we should consider the possibility of making 12 holes a standard round of golf…Of course, it would meet resistance, but eventually it would be accepted because it would make sense in people’s lives.”

And so when long-time Derrydale pro shop staffer Charlie Jessome first suggested to managing partner Jim Holmes that the golf course could be expanded from its traditional nine holes to the virtually unheard of 12 holes, it had nothing to do with the Nicklaus influence.

It just seemed right to the brother-in-law of golfing great Ben Kern, who was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame earlier this year. As Jessome recalls, “when Derrydale went from 18 holes to nine holes in 2005, two old holes sat idle on the property that were kept in excellent condition by the grounds crew. So the golf course only had to produce one additional hole to make it an even dozen.”

Since Jessome’s suggestion smacked of reinventing the game, at first consideration the seemingly radical idea was not surprisingly met by plenty of skeptical naysayers and had few supporters or like-minded visionaries such as 18-time Majors champion and visionary, Nicklaus.

But with two holes ready to come back into play after a five-year hiatus, any perceived problem of producing a 12th hole actually turned out to be a problem solver for both golfers and pro shop staff alike.

When Derrydale went from an 18-hole executive course to nine holes in 2005, the new limited layout necessitated a less than welcoming starting hole, a 158-yard first shot that found a huge pond of water if the golf ball only advanced anywhere from 20 to 140 yards. Even from the forward ladies’ tees, the pond looked more like a lake.

In a new 12-hole layout, the troublesome first hole would become the ninth hole, at least giving golfers time to find their best swing before encountering it.

Another drawback to the new first hole was that it was slightly away from and behind the pro shop, making it more of a challenge for pro shop staff to manage golfers on the first tee.

The solution could be seen by looking east out the pro shop window to the old 10th hole, only a third of which remained after the Holmes family finally got an offer they couldn’t refuse on a portion of the golf course land adjacent to Hurontario Street.

While most people saw that small rectangular patch of land as little more than a park-like walk to the most scenic hole on the new 9-hole course, Jim Holmes saw it as a hole in waiting. Subconsciously or not, he rejected any ideas to tinker with the land, such as putting up hitting nets to enable golfers to limber up in preparation for that daunting new first hole.

It didn’t take long for some golfers to echo Jessome’s thoughts, wondering why two holes just sat there unused, looking ready for play. Then Holmes one day came across the Nicklaus quote in Golf Digest and learned that not only did a few 12-hole golf courses already exist in eastern Canada and the southern United States, it is an emerging trend born out of history.

Strangely, what might have appeared to be a risky and ill-thought-out gamble is actually steeped in more than 150 years of golfing tradition.

Scotland’s historic Prestwick Golf Club, which hosted the first British Open Championship way back in 1860 in the land considered the birthplace of golf, was originally comprised of 12 holes.

That was a standard round back then. When golf’s custodians at the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews expanded a round to 18 holes more than a century ago, it changed the game.

Therefore Derrydale’s forward thinking, ironically, is a turning back of the clock.

Even with history on his side, it took considerable bravado for Holmes to even consider changing a good thing. After all, over the past five years, Derrydale enjoyed a successful conversion from 18 executive holes down to nine holes, experiencing a steady, albeit modest increase in golfers and revenues while many other golf courses in the GTA suffered troubling declines.

However, with Jessome and a few golfers having planted the seed, once Holmes came across the Nicklaus reference to 12 holes and with temptation mounting, Holmes decided to go into marketing mode in late 2009, soliciting the “yeahs” or “nays” of Derrydale’s regular patrons, as well as its loyal members.

Holmes didn’t know what to expect at first. Talking up an unusual 12-hole layout could have been akin to trying to sell golfers on a new revolutionary square golf ball, but the responses of, “are you crazy?” were few and far between.

To his amazement, it wasn’t just the elder golfers who gave the thumbs up to the possibility of 12 holes. The younger breed of golfer, as well as the increasingly significant number of women golfers who play Derrydale, also enthusiastically embraced the concept.

Suddenly, the 12-hole possibility at Derrydale, in Holmes’ mind, went from virtually unthinkable to a no-brainer.

In the end, Holmes decided that a better than 98 per cent majority of paying customers in favour of playing three additional holes can’t be wrong. During the 2009 season, a bulldozer began shaping a new starting hole and the two dormant holes were dusted off and readied for their rebirth.

Holmes received the confirmation he needed one September weekend last year when he opened up the 12 holes for public play as sort of an experimental dress rehearsal. Everybody loved it.

In 2010, Derrydale’s 40th year in business, the mature golf course dared to reinvent itself for a second time. With the added bonus of an unusually early start to the season, Derrydale’s revenues and rounds of play to-date are proving the 12 holes to be a wise decision.

“Our 12 holes appear to satisfy the golfing needs of a lot of people,” explains Holmes. “It is clear that Derrydale offers a solution for people who feel that 18 holes have become too expensive and take too long to play, as well as those who feel that nine holes don’t quite satisfy their golfing appetite.”

Sure enough, the new design is being applauded by Derrydale’s men’s league, most of whose participants are retirees. The golf course has even seen a return of some of the old regulars who moved on when Derrydale reduced itself to nine holes.

Perhaps the most assuring confirmation Holmes has received has come from tournament play. “People are loving a 12-hole tournament for their business, organization or even family gatherings,” says Holmes. “The price is right and they can stage their event in half a day instead of a whole day.”

Another reason the 12 holes are being well received is the golf course itself. Nestled conveniently in the concrete jungle of Mississauga and bordering Brampton, Derrydale is a four-decade-old gem. The mature design is a par 40 with water on eight of the 12 holes, 26 sand bunkers and hundreds of pines and weeping willows.

At Derrydale, novice golfers find the course to be forgiving, but still challenging. From the back blue tees, experienced golfers get to play every club in their bag and they must play well to score well.

Very few golfers finish the 12 holes at even par or under par, but to Holmes’ delight and inner relief, virtually everyone seems to enjoy the unique 12-hole golfing experience.

It’s not often you’ll hear Jack Nicklaus, Charlie Jessome and Jim Holmes mentioned in the same sentence. But the first half of the 2010 golfing season would suggest that brilliant minds, in fact, do think alike.

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