A really nice activation the guys at the PGA of America have launched today.  Ahead of the final major of the year, the US PGA Championship, the golf federation are giving fans the opportunity to actually get involved with the course design!

The position of the pin is critical when it comes to how difficult the holes will play.  So what better way in which to involve fans than to have them choose which position it should be?

The PGA have teamed up with golfing legend Jack Nicklaus to give fans a chance to choose the hole location on the 181-yard, par-3 15th hole for the final round of the PGA Championship, Aug. 8-11, at Oak Hill Country Club. The “PGA Championship Pick the Hole Location Challenge Hosted by Jack Nicklaus” began this morning at pga.com. The contest runs until Aug. 10.

It doesn’t mean that fans can place the pin in an unbelievably hard position, e.g. an inch from of the front of the green near a bunker, but the PGA have devised – along with Jack Nicklaus and PGA of America Chief Championships Officer Kerry Haigh – 4 pin positions for fans to choose from.  They also get an inside view of what the benefits of those positions are from the great man himself.

To incentivise fans, they have the chance to win a behind-the-scenes trip to the 2014 PGA Championship.

The four selected hole locations were chosen by Kerry Haigh, who has set up championship courses for the PGA since 1989, and Nicklaus. Jack said to USA Today;

“The chance for golf fans to interact with the PGA Championship and play a role in shaping the outcome of the final round fascinates me,” 

Haigh added;

“I found it fascinating listening to Jack talking about what he’s thinking about as a player,” 

And why the 15th hole? It’s late in the round, it could prove pivotal and there are many tricky locations to choose from.

“That’s one of the reasons this hole was selected,” Haigh said. “There are a lot of options, and none of them are particularly easy.”

Overall it’s a resally nice competition from a sport that making inroads into social media and digital generally.  Technology wise it is pretty simple but sometimes the best things are just that…. simple. Check it out now on http://picktheholechallenge.pga.com