There's a new golf course in Tampa, and it was built smack in the middle of an old golf course
The Par 3 at Rogers Park was conceived in the middle of the pandemic.
The new course is squeezed among the 18 regulation holes already at Rogers Park. It features holes no longer than 120 yards and as short as 60 yards.
The First Tee program for youth golf will have set times for kids to play it. Adults can play it, too, for a nominal fee.
Former professional golfer and broadcaster Gary Koch said a pandemic-driven upturn in golf playing was the inspiration for the short course.
"A lot of the golf courses where we were using for First Tee facilities became very crowded and it was hard for especially our younger kids to have access to actually get out on a golf course" Koch said.
Now, Koch said, golf needs to keep that interest going.
"With people going back to work and people having to go back to the office and maybe not having as much free time as they've had during the Covid years, it'll be a challenge to keep those people interested in the game," Koch said.
During segregation, Rogers Park was the only picnic area for the African-American community in Tampa. A group of African-American caddies got permission to build a nine-hole course there, so they'd have a place to play. It opened in 1952.
