GolfSixes are streamed on digital BBC platforms

GolfSixes is moving from England to Portugal this year

Golf & # 39; s new short-form version will be broadcast free of charge for the first time with BBC digital coverage of this week's GolfSixes event in Portugal.

Ireland is the title defender in the two-day event in Oitavos Dunes near Lisbon on Friday and Saturday.

There are 16 teams including pairs of women from England and Germany.

The format is the equivalent of the European Tour of Twenty20 cricket, with matches that only take six holes and are played in a more informal atmosphere.

The event will be streamed via the BBC Sport website and app, the iPlayer and the BBC television channel with red buttons.

Players may fight for the first time in shorts and use laser range finder in an effort to speed up the game.

The grosome alternate-shot format, which allows couples to select the most advantageous tee-shot, is used for matches.

There are four groups of four teams, the top two of each section going to the knockout steps.

GolfSixes Cascais is the third edition of a tournament that is considered essential to increase the popularity of the sport among younger fans, and the European Tour wants to bring it to the widest possible audience.

"We are determined to develop and develop this format," said Rufus Hack, chief content officer of the tour.

"We doubt doubts about BBC fans. Digital channels will enjoy the excitement that GolfSixes Cascais offers, while nations from all over the world – men and women – compete for the title."

Former British Masters champion Paul Dunne and Gavin Moynihan defend the title they won last year at The Centurion Club. They are in the same group as Sweden, Thailand and the England team.

Paul Dunne and Gavin Moynihan have won the second GolfSixes event

. Meghan MacLaren, who was second in the Jordan Mixed event earlier this year, is working with Solenty Cup player Florentyna Parker.

The Ladies European Tour player particularly enjoys the team aspect of the event.

"It's just more fun," she wrote in her European Tour player blog. "It gives you a break from the routine.

" The same goes for women who come to play in what is technically a European Tour event. It's just cool to have a different audience than normal and just to see how a men's event is set up and executed. "

Tom Lewis and Paul Waring work together for the English men's team and are in the same group as Scotland's Stephen Gallacher and David Law, with India and Portugal in the same section.

Ryder Cup Hero Jamie Donaldson works with Stuart Manley in Wales, who is connected with Australia, France and the German women's team of Esther Henseleit and Laura Fuenfstueck.

The South African pairing of George Coetzee, a four-time winner of the European Tour , and the Scottish champion Openon, looks particularly good and is preferred to reach the knockout matches between the eight qualifying matches on Saturday.

GolfSixes is a format that is applied at different levels of the game. The Golf Foundation has set up junior leagues in 22 British regions with 112 clubs and 1500 players, of which 30% are gir.

It hopes that the project will have a further momentum with the extra exposure for this week's tournament.