Denmark beats Australia to take inaugural GolfSixes

Denmark won the inaugural, somewhat experimental GolfSixes tournament on Sunday, beating Australia 3-1 in the final of the six-hole match-play tournament at the Centurion Club just outside of London.

The Danish duo of Thorbjorn Olesen and Lucas Bjerregaard were conceded the win on the last hole of their six-hole match against Sam Brazel and Scott Hend after Bjerregaard managed to chip from the edge of a water hazard onto the green at the par-5 finishing hole.

“It’s been a fun couple of days,” said Bjerregaard. “I would love to see more of this. Today got a little more serious, a little more down to business, but it’s been so much fun, I think the crowds enjoyed it as well.”

After each of the 16 country-based duos played three matches in round-robin group play on Saturday, the field was reduced to eight for the finale of the first-of-its-kind tournament. Effectively, the Danes and Aussies played two rounds of golf in two days to settle the event, which was scored like match play but with points instead of up-or-down scoring and played under a modified alternate shot format.

However, Olesen didn’t feel any less gassed after this event compared to the regular four-round grind of tour golf.

“It’s been a very intense couple of days,” he said. “Feels like you’ve played 72 holes or even more. Six holes, it’s very intense match play, playing only six holes and every shot really counts.”

This is the second time this year the European Tour has presented an event with six-hole matches. The World Super 6 Perth in Australia in February featured a hybrid of stroke play as a qualifier for a 32-player bracket for six-hole matches.

European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said he expects some tweaks to the event, which included entrance music and pyrotechnics, a shot clock, as well long drive and closest to the pin contests, but that GolfSixes will return to the schedule.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.