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First, there was the PGA Tour. Three years ago, the new LIV Golf league arrived to provide a little competition. LIV Golf billed itself, “Golf…but Louder.”
On Tuesday, ESPN rolled-out golf’s new made-for-TV attempt to attract additional interest from younger audiences. Tomorrow’s Golf League (which goes by TGL) debuted on Tuesday night with a weekly show which culminates with playoffs during late March.
The TGL concept was developed by golf stars Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
For those who have played at a “Top Golf” range and/or remember Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf television series, TGL combines technology with golf and its top personalities.
At least, that’s what Tiger and Rory were hoping to achieve.
How does TGL work?
To provide you with a fair assessment, I watched Tuesday’s first two hour event (which went 10 minutes long) on ESPN.
The golf is played in a right-sized arena (which holds about 1,500 fans) encircling the action.
Golfers hit their tee and fairway shots into a HUGE 5-story simulator screen which was placed more than 30 yards away from the teeing areas.
There are two separate teeing areas. The “back tee” is used for traditional tee shots using woods and long irons. The closer tee (to the simulator screen, that is) is used for shots from 130 yards to 50 yards to the hole.
What’s the reason for having two tees? Players would likely be able to hit short irons over the 50-foot simulator screen if they were hitting from the traditional tee box.
It’s a bit funny to hear a tee shot make a big “thud” sound as the ball hits the magic screen on every long shot.
In addition, there were three separate areas to hit from on each tee.
The left side of the tee was a sand trap (for those unfortunate drives which land in a fairway bunker).
The center teeing mat was a closely mowed (real grass, by the way) fairway. Players hit their tee shots and second shots from this authentic fairway grass.
The right side of the tee box featured a “rough” of about 1 to 1 ½ inches deep. This is where golfers play shots after their drives miss the fairways. The golfers must drop their ball (not place the ball) into the rough prior to playing another shot toward the simulator screen.
By the end of the first week’s match, the grass portions of the tee boxes were getting fairly torn up.
Where is the green?
Once the simulator shows the player’s golf ball to be either on the green or within several yards of the green, the players move to the other end of the arena to chip and putt.
An impressive large artificial grass green (complete with sand traps and chipping areas around all sides) is the feature attraction.
This green can be manipulated (utilizing hydraulic lifts under the surface) to present itself with different breaks and elevation changes.
The players didn’t complain very much about the green so it apparently did a decent job during the debut match.
Who is playing in the new TGL?
Many of the PGA’s top stars are involved on six teams comprised of four players apiece.
Atlanta Drive GC (as in “Golf Club”) – Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel, and Lucas Glover (all from the US)
Boston Common Golf – Rory McIlroy (northern Ireland), Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Keegan Bradley (USA), and Adam Scott (Australia)
Jupiter Links Golf Club – Tiger Woods (USA), Max Homa (USA), Tom Kim (South Korea) and Kevin Kisner (USA)
Los Angeles Golf Club – Colin Morikawa (USA), Sahith Theegala (USA), Justin Rose, (England), and Tommy Fleetwood (England)
*New York Golf Club – Matt Fitzpatrick (England), Rickie Fowler (USA), Xander Schauffele (USA), and Cameron Young (USA)
*The Bay Golf Club – Ludvig Aberg (Sweden), Wyndham Clark (USA), Min Woo Lee (Australia), and Shane Lowry (Ireland)
* denotes the teams which played in Week #1 on Tuesday night.
I watched Tuesday night’s initial TGL match. The Bay Golf Club clobbered the New York Golf Club by a 9-2 final score.
How is the golf game scored?
The lowest score on each hole wins. If there is a tie, there is no “carryover” from the previous hole.
Teams play for one point per hole. If someone throws the “Hammer” challenge flag prior to hitting the first tee shot, the hole is worth two points to winner. After being used once, the TGL Hammer is possessed by the other team for possible later use.
The two teams (which only featured three of the four golfers, by the way) each hit alternate shots (Player 1 hits the drive, Player 2 the fairway shot, etc.) on each hole of the “front nine”. For the final six holes of TGL golf, the game is played as a one-on-one competition with each golfer playing two holes against an opposing team’s player.
A total of 15 holes is played during the two hour TV match. If the match remains tied, the players will have a “closest to the hole” competition to decide a weekly winner.
SwampSwami’s Week 1 observations
It was never explained why the fourth player (Cam Young for New York and Min Woo Lee for the Bay Golf Club) did not participate. Why have a four-man team when you’re only utilizing three players?
Ludvig Aberg (The Bay Golf Club) appeared quite poised, focused, and was the best golfer last night. He may become a force to be reckoned with this season.
None of the golfers exceeded the 40-second shot clock during Tuesday night’s first match. Wouldn’t it be great to see the PGA Tour enforce that same rule to speed-up play (especially on the greens) in 2025!
While quite innovative, the TGL putting green featured a couple of severely sloped areas which were too close to the hole on a couple of occasions.
At times, the oddly breaking putts resembled the “Happy Land” Adventure Golf from the movie, Happy Gilmore.
At least it didn’t have the clown hole!
You should expect less severe undulations on the greens beginning next week.
Though each of the six players (three on each team) wore microphones, there was very little taunting and player-to-player banter to raise the interest level on television.
Xander Schauffele seems to have a good sense of humor but rarely showcased it.
We need more of that, Xander!
The TGL “Hammer” (double or nothing) flag was only thrown twice during the opening match.
The Bay Golf team doubled its point total on one hole. On the other hole where the “Hammer” was thrown, the score was a tie. No extra point was awarded on that hole.
Personalities desperately wanted – Apply in person next week!
If the PGA Tour wants to develop more golf personalities and attract new fans, these TGL events are a great place to start. I kept wondering how much fun this event might have been with a personality such as Lee Trevino or Phil Mickelson around to needle the others during a match.
Unfortunately, the first week’s set of golfers were mostly void of endearing personalities.
A few of the golfers admitted to having the jitters prior to playing in front of a (sometimes) rowdy crowd on national television.
The coming weeks will feature the two developers of this concept – Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy – and their TGL teams.
Let’s hope that their presence will create more player vs. player chatter and humor.
The ESPN production appeared to be technically sound for the first week.
There was a computer generated version of host Scott Van Pelt (you would have to see it) which looked quite creepy and needs to be jettisoned. ESPN’s on-course commentator Marty Smith (who does a fine job on the SEC Network) looked and sounded out of place for much of the night.
No offense to Marty, but the onus should be on the golfers (not the commentators) to show a more playful side to the fans.
The verdict:
Much like the spring pro football leagues, TGL Golf is an acquired taste. Despite the relatively quick pace (compared to traditional tour events), the first match was also a bit boring at times.
Those of us old enough to have watched Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf series remember how important it was for the featured golfers to show a little bit more personality for the fans. Those who excelled at it (Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Chi Chi Rodriguez, and Lee Trevino among them) made the events much more memorable and fun to watch.
While the pro golfers desire to display their exceptional skills, TGL needs its players to inject more “fun” and personality into each weekly show.
No one expects these golfers to become the next Charles Barkley on the microphone. The money (for these golfers) should be secondary to putting on an entertaining show of golf and fun for fans in the arena and at home.
Golf’s TV demographics skew the oldest of any major sport. While seniors (like me) will watch golf during most any cold winter evening, the sport desperately needs an injection of younger fans to help grow the game.
The first match of TGL simply didn’t deliver the excitement I was hoping to see.
If TGL wants to thrive, the next few weeks must increase the “fun” factor by the participating players.
Golf fans can watch serious golf being played nearly every weekend of the year on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. A high tech event like TGL must showcase the golfers’ personalities as we already knew that these gents are highly skilled in their chosen profession.
Let’s check the TGL Week #1 scorecard!
I’ll give TGL a “B” for the golf skills but a “D” for personality in Week #1. That “C” score means there is plenty of room for improvement.
The early estimate of television ratings were respectable with nearly one million viewers tuning in to watch TGL golf on a Tuesday night.
I would like to see this succeed. Let’s give it a few more weeks before making a final determination.