Golf reimagined
A startup golf league backed by Tiger Woods will begin Tuesday night on ESPN. Here's my preview of competitive golf overhauled for prime time.
TGL, A NEW GOLF LEAGUE FOR PGA PROS backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, will hold weekly matches from an arena in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where I’ll be for The Washington Post when this experiment tees off Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET. The league features countless innovations, quirks, and gimmicks in an effort to make golf as compelling as possible for prime time (on ESPN), but there’s really one big, looming question:
For all the dazzling technology, the cool new arena and camera setup, and the impressive roster of 24 players who’ve agreed to compete for a $21 million purse over the two-month season, will fans really tune in week after week to watch players hit into a simulator screen?
I previewed TGL’s many bells and whistles in today’s Washington Post, as well as asked some people whether they think indoor competitive golf will make for good TV. The league’s founders have stressed that TGL will lend itself to gambling (no surprise there, people now bet on professional corn hole and tractor pulling). It’s too bad you can’t bet on TGL’s TV ratings, since that’s what everyone seems to be most curious about.
It certainly will be a spectacle, at least initially. The arena is designed by veterans of WWE, and brings to mind pro wrestling with its tunnel entrance for players. Camera techniques are borrowed from the NFL and Olympic sprinting. The playing field, surrounded by 1,500 fans, is meant to evoke a high-tech version of gladiators dueling at the Coliseum. When I visited for a media demonstration last month, the bright lights with neon accents brought to mind the giant rooms where characters compete for their lives on Netflix’s “Squid Game.”
Here’s my story:
Honestly, The Post would have needed to give me a few more pages to fully explain everything novel about TGL, including the format (six teams of four golfers playing 15-hole match-play contests, with three players on each team taking turns playing shots for the first nine holes, then single-player match play for the final six holes, with each teammate handling two holes each. Yeah, it’s a lot to digest.) If you’re interested in more information, ABC is airing an hourlong TGL preview on Sunday 1/5 at 2 p.m. ET.
Happy new year, and thanks for giving the article a click. Excited to head to Florida soon to see this up close, and glad to know Wynnie will keep my side of the bed warm.
Danny-- You are my shining star....Uncle John