Ever found yourself on an amazing golf course and wished the round could go on forever? It’s a common feeling, but it leads to a fantastic question: what actually stops a course from having 20, 27, or even more holes? The answer is more fascinating than you might think, as there's technically no official rule book that dictates a maximum. This guide will walk you through why 18 holes became the global standard, explore courses that break the mold, and explain the real-world factors that limit a course's size.
If you've played golf for any length of time, you know the number: 18. It’s the standard, the full round, the number that fills a scorecard. But have you ever wondered why it’s not 15, 20, or even 22? The journey to the 18-hole standard wasn't a grand plan, it was more of an happy accident born out of necessity at the home of golf, St Andrews, Scotland.
Back in the mid-1700s, the famous Old Course at St Andrews didn’t have a neat 18 holes. It had 22. Golfers would play 11 holes out to the edge of the property (the Eden Estuary) and then turn around and play the same 11 holes back in. The course layout was a simple, linear path over the natural sandy ground, or "links."
In 1764, the captains of the golf club, the precursor to today's R&A (Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews), decided that a few of the holes were too short and should be combined. Four short holes were merged into two, reducing the total hole count from 22 to 18. They still played a path of ten holes a unique way from eachoher (as two holes were shared), but that only made them up to 10 holes, and then another final trip around the 'loop' (the shared holes for a full outing)..but then they decided to call it 18 as the other way around. Players would complete this 18-hole loop to finish a round. It wasn't an official decree for the world, just a local decision to improve their course.
However, because St Andrews was so respected, other clubs began modeling their own courses after the Old Course. The standard caught on. In 1858, when the R&A was formally established as a governing body of the game, it officially declared that a round of golf consisted of 18 holes. As the sport grew internationally, this Scottish tradition became the global standard we follow today.
This is where things get interesting for the golf purist. The official Rules of Golf, maintained by the USGA and the R&A, do not actually state that a golf course must have 18 holes. The rules are designed to govern how the game is played, not how the playing field is constructed.
Here’s the key distinction:
So, the quick and simple answer is no. There is no official rule in golf that sets a maximum number of holes a golf course can have. The "rules" that limit a course's size are far more practical than they are official.
While 18 holes is the universal standard for a championship course, a variety of layouts exist. Understanding these variations can give you a new appreciation for the creativity of course design.
It's very uncommon to find a single, continuous golf course designed to be more than 18 holes. The idea of playing a 27-hole "stipulated round" just doesn't exist in mainstream golf. However, you'll find plenty of facilities that cleverly offer more than 18 holes of golf:
On the other end of the spectrum, some of the most enjoyable golf experiences come from courses that have fewer than 18 holes.
If there's no official rule preventing a 37-hole course, why don't we see them? Why don't architects get creative and design a single, epic "marathon" course? It comes down to four very real, very practical limitations that are far more powerful than any a rule.
This is the most obvious barrier. The average 18-hole golf course requires a huge-plot of land, typically between 120 and 200 acres (or 50-80 hectares), to accommodate fairways, greens, rough, water hazards, bunkers, cart paths, maintenance facilities, and a clubhouse. Doubling that for a single 36-hole round would mean acquiring a plot of land so massive that it would be financially and logistically impossible in most locations.
Think about your a typical weekend round. A standard 18-hole round of takes, ideally, about four hours, but we all know it can easily stretch to five. Can you imagine dedicating eight to ten hours to a single, continuous round of golf? It’s simply not practical for anyone except the most fanatical enthusiasts. Golf course owners want to maximize tee times, and a 10-hour round is a recipe for an empty course.
The cost to build an 18-hole golf course can run into millions of dollars, and maintaining it is a constant, expensive effort. Think of the staff, machinery, water, fertilizer, and sand required to keep just 18 greens in perfect condition. Now, double that. The annual upkeep budget for a 36-hole monster would be astronomical, pushing green fees into a price range that few could afford.
Great course design is about flow. A gifted architect creates a "routing" - a journey - that feels natural, offers variety, and is enjoyable to walk. Creating a cohesive and compelling routing that stretches over 36 holes without feeling like a punishing, endless march would be incredibly difficult. Players would get exhausted, and the pace of play would crumble. It’s far more effective for architects and players alike to contain the experience within distinct 9 or 18-hole loops.
So, while the universally accepted standard for a round of golf is 18 holes, there's no actual rule capping the number. The limits are set not by governing bodies-but by far more concrete forces: land, time, money, and player enjoyment. The 18-hole format, born by chance at St Andrews more than 250 years ago, simply turned out to be the perfect number for a great day of golf.
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