Headline: Golfers Trek to Granite Links Golf Club in Quincy For MGA’s Play9 Golf Day on June 9th and Have Lots and Lots of Fun

For Immediate Release: June 9, 2017

Scenes from the MGA’s Play9 Golf Day on June 9 at Granite Links GC

Quincy, MA — On Friday evening, golfers from across the state made a special trek to the Granite course at Granite Links Golf Club in Quincy for the MGA’s Play 9 Golf Day, a local flavor to the USGA national initiative to help grow the game of golf.

For the second straight month, Granite Links Golf Club and golf professional Steve Clancy partnered with the MGA to bring golfers of all abilities discounted afternoon rates in hopes to encourage more people to get out and partake in the sport we all love.

Granite Links Golf Club, located just south of Boston, is one of 27 golf courses across the nation to partner with their local state golf associations to unite golfers alike. The 18-hole public facility with scenic views of the Boston skyline, will also offer special afternoon rates on the ninth of July, August, September and October as well.

Granite Links Golf Club generously offered their afternoon rate of $40 per player (cart included) to all competitors who came out for the special Play 9 Golf Day event. The MGA’s Member Services Department was on hand Friday and will continue their presence throughout the golf season helping promote the MGA’s collaboration with the USGA on this important project while also making themselves available to educate all golfers on the many ways that the MGA can be of service to them as a golfer, regardless of competitive skill.

“At both a local and national level, the Play 9 Initiative is an important way to connect with all people who love the great game of golf” said MGA Director of Member Services Mark Gagne. “With a specific focus on the benefits of only playing nine holes, the MGA, through the work of the USGA, is able to focus on what makes the game so great for such a large percentage of golfers!”  

Founded in 2014, the USGA Play 9 Golf program has been actively educating and rallying golfers and non-golfers alike around the concept of the nine-hole round as an important, yet simple, solution to address busy lifestyles and everyday lives. Understanding that getting to the golf course to play an entire 18-hole round, something that can often take upwards of 4 and a half hours, if not more, is not always feasible with work and family commitments, the USGA created this promotion to make it easier to still get out and play.

In 2017, the USGA deepened their commitment at the local level to the Play 9 Golf Initiative with this added bonus of connecting golfers to courses and local golf associations.   

With the “9-hole round” edged in history, as the first US Open in 1895 was played on a nine-hole course, and knowing the benefits that come along with only playing half of the usual 18-hole round, this approach is aimed at creating maximum participation in the game, for at least one day a month.

 The Play 9 Golf Initiative is a great way to learn the game, teach the game or simply enjoy the game. And according to the National Golf Foundation (NGF), 90 percent of U.S. golf facilities offer nine-hole rates – and 4,200 nine-hole courses dot the U.S. golf landscape. From coast to coast, playing nine is an easy way to enjoy the game.

For those who participated in the Friday Play 9 Golf Initiative at Granite Links Golf Club, golfers also had the opportunity to earn pro shop gift cards by winning the Closest to the Pin contests that were held on Holes No.4 and No.7 of the Granite Course at Granite Links.

For more information on the USGA’s Play 9 Golf Initiative, visit www.usga.org/play9 or follow the #Play9Golf hashtag on all social media platforms.