GolfStinks

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Off-Season? Golf Has An Off-Season?

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Can someone please help me out with a few things here? Is the golf season officially underway right now? Are there actual tournaments going on? Didn’t the 2010 season just end? I swear I just saw something about Steve Stricker tied for the lead in a tournament.

How is this possible? Why would this be happening right now? I think what I’m saying is, it’s no wonder there are fewer and fewer people golfing or taking up the game of golf every year. Golf has just about everything going against it right now.

The first problem is; I had no idea there were any tournaments even happening! I’m sure many of you who are reading this were well-aware that golf was underway. But not me. I’m sure I’ve made it clear by now I am a very casual golf fan. Playing golf…sure! Watching golf…ehh….not so much. But when a golf tournament is competing with the NFL playoffs? I’m sorry, but out of 100 times, the golf tournament will lose 101. How can the PGA golf season kick-off during the most important time of the largest spectator sport (TV-viewer wise) in the country?! Seriously now…there is no possible way they are gaining any new viewers. Next thing you know, they’ll have a final round going on during the Super Bowl!

Second; When exactly did last season end? And when did this season begin? Was there really even an off-season? If so, how long was it…a month? See? This is another problem. The season is just too damn long and filled with too many meaningless tournaments that don’t get promoted properly. It’s like baseball season: Is it really necessary to play for six months then have another month of playoffs? Does it really take 162 games to figure out who belongs in the playoffs? Couldn’t the same be determined in, say, 100 games? You get kind of psyched up for baseball at the beginning of the year, then it’s blah for four months before you get excited again for the pennant race. And even though the season is too long, the off-season is long enough to give you a break. In golf…there almost is no off-season! I’m sorry but, there has to be a break or you simply get golfed out.

Let’s look at football again; This is my favorite sport and I watch the NFL at every opportunity. However, I don’t want the season to be any longer than it is for the simple fact that I don’t want to be footballed out! We’ve all heard the expression “Too much of a good thing.” Well, golf is a good thing. But too much golf is not. Fewer tournaments make each one matter more. When the tournaments matter, they attract more attention. Therefore, more viewers and more fans.

So what could be done differently? Well, probably a few things. For starters, and I know it’s not going to sound like a good idea to most but, having fewer tournaments could help. As mentioned earlier – fewer tournaments equals more meaning.

But what do you do with the down time? We’ve touched on this a bit before. Things that are fun and keep the fans interested are always a sure bet. Why not set-up some things such as long-drive tournaments and the like? It’s not an actual tournament, but it’s fun and certainly fan-friendly! And just a small exhibition here and there during an off-season of a decent length could do wonders to attract new fans, while still keeping the interest of current ones.

OK, so these are just a couple of silly ideas for the most part, but they are ideas nonetheless. And let’s face it, with fewer and fewer rounds of golf being played each year, a change is becoming increasingly necessary.

From Greens To Gridirons

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This is my favorite time of year. The days are getting cooler and more comfortable. The nights are becoming, what I refer to as, “sleeping weather.” Soon, the leaves will be blazing with the foliage of another beautiful Connecticut autumn. It doesn’t get any better than spending a few hours out on the course on a Saturday morning in September or October. But not Sunday! Why not Sunday? Well, becaue of another reason this is my favorite time of year. It’s football season!

Since I began playing golf, I try not to let much get in the way of being on the course. Sometimes I can’t help it. Things happen. I can’t control the weather. And with my wife being a photographer, sometimes her appointments, sessions or weddings get in the way. But hey, it’s better for her to be making us money, than for me to be spending it, right? But the one thing that I will always allow to get in the way of golf is the NFL. I will put away my putter in favor of my Patriots.

I have long been a fan of football. Ever since I was just a little kid and my dad would keep me up at night to watch Monday Night Football. Nothing has changed since then. As a matter of fact, I find myself doing the same thing with my boys now. The minute the Super Bowl ends, I long for September to come around again. I want to spend my Sundays lounging in front of the TV with a beer, eating chips and wings. I’ll play golf on Sunday, but I have to be home by 1:00.

However, as much as I love football and look forward to the start of the season, I guess it is a bittersweet feeling as well. Because when the football season is just starting up, that means golf season is winding down. So I begin to reflect on another season of golf. I look back on another season in which I didn’t get to play nearly as much as I would have liked. I don’t really reflect on my performance all that much. For me, it’s more about quantity than quality. I think back on some of my favorite rounds. I look back and appreciate playing a course I’ve never played before, or one I haven’t visited in a few years. I try to remember the good rounds and forget the bad. There’s usually not a whole lot of good rounds for me to remember!

But along with the disappointing feeling of another golf season coming to an end, is the feeling of knowing I am also entering my favorite part of the golf season! Often times, we will try to save some of the best courses for last. Courses we know have the best views of the changing leaves. The prettiest courses in autumn. There’s nothing like standing at the top of an elevated par-3, hitting your ball into a sea of reds, oranges and yellows, followed up by searching for the ball in the woods while the fallen leaves crunch beneath your Foot-Joys. How about playing a course with a few holes that wind around an orchard right when the apples are in season. There’s nothing like eating an apple picked right off the tree. And it’s even better when I can simply drive my golf cart right up to the tree, and pick out the best one I can find. Now that’s great golf.

So let’s all enjoy these last few weeks of the season. Forget your score for a while. Don’t try so hard. Don’t take it so serious. Enjoy the beautiful weather and comfortable temperatures. And if we’re lucky enough to have that “golf weather” last deep into the year, then let’s just enjoy the fact that we’re out on the course at all! Just not on Sundays after 1:00.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

Want Every Golf Match to Matter? Play Fantasy Golf!

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Playing fantasy golf will increase your interest in the game… (photo by Richard / CC BY 2.0)

I’m sitting up late at night watching the Phillies vs. Brewers game. I’m a Mets fan so, outside of pulling for the Brewers, I don’t have any real interest in this matchup. Well…that’s not 100% true. I sure could use a couple of hits out of Raul Ibanez. Why? My fantasy league of course!

Roughly fifteen years ago I was first introduced to fantasy sports. A friend and I jumped into a fantasy football league, sharing a team since neither of us new exactly what we were doing. Despite starting off hot with a record of 8-3, we made a bonehead trade and lost the rest of our games (not too mention our money) and missed the playoffs. You’d think it would have left a bad taste in my mouth, but instead, I was hooked. Be it fantasy football, baseball or basketball, I haven’t missed a season since. But now, a new fantasy sport has caught my interest – fantasy golf.

The thing about fantasy golf is, it’s very simple. Anyone who participates in fantasy sports knows that scoring is based on stats (and there are plenty of stats). You draft your players and the better the stats they produce, the better your team does. There are so many stats in fact, scoring can be downright confusing. But not in fantasy golf. There are pretty much two ways to score points in fantasy golf:

1. Points are based on your golfers score per hole (ex. 100 points for an eagle, 50 points for a birdie, 20 points for par, -20 points for a bogey, etc….).

2. Points are based on where your golfers finish in the final tournament standings.

Also, you even have the choice to redraft your team every weekend if you’d like, depending upon which golfers are playing in each tournament.

Seems pretty simple, right? But the fun of it, as well as the chance to win a few bucks, are not the only draws to fantasy golf…or any fantasy sport for that matter. It’s the draw to a game or tournament that, normally, may not interest you at all. Hence, the game I mentioned earlier.

Years ago, fantasy sports were mostly shunned or frowned upon by the professional leagues which they emulated. Participation in a fantasy league was looked upon as simply gambling. But that is no longer the case. Major sports leagues such as the NFL and MLB now embrace fantasy sports, and it’s the right thing to do. Fantasy sports have increased the overall interest in the game, even if it is mainly based on statistics and not necessarily the game itself. But, these leagues realize there are people like me, who will tune into a game they could care less about, in order to watch the one player my fantasy game hinges on. Does Bud Selig care why I’m watching the game? I doubt it, as long as I’m watching.

Fantasy golf is not nearly as popular as fantasy football, baseball or basketball…but the PGA may want to look into changing that. Once again, if you want me to watch your tournament, then give me as many reasons as possible to do so. The performance of players who aren’t necessarily stars, or worthy of much coverage, may not matter as much to the PGA Tour, but they may mean something to more people if they have a reason to cheer for them. Maybe I have a guy in my foursome this weekend named Jeff Overton. He’s only 35th on the money list and not exactly a popular name, but I want to see if he can sink that birdie putt to get me another 50 points for my team! That, my friends at PGA Tour headquarters, is interest in your sport that you normally would not have.

I’ve mentioned before that the PGA doesn’t do enough to promote it’s players, but fantasy sports are a great vehicle for promotion! The PGA would be wise to loosen up and jump on the fantasy sports bandwagon to welcome a new breed of fan. Again, give me a reason to watch the tournament. Give me a reason to cheer for a particular golfer. Give me something other than another Tiger Woods press conference!

Fantasy sports have made me a good amount of money, as well as lost me a good amount of money (no question lost more than I’ve won). But more so, they have gotten me interested in games that I normally wouldn’t be interested in. Honestly, how great would that be for the PGA?

Oh, and just an update, Ibanez went 1-4 with a walk…not good enough for me to pull it out. Looks like I’m going to drop another close one. I swear that guy knows I’m a Mets fan.

A Real "Grip It and Rip It"

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I’m a huge football fan. By far my favorite sport. The NFL especially. I can give or take college football. Between too many mismatches, way too many meaningless bowl games, no playoff system in FBS, the whole BCS system, the pansy overtime rules…there’s just so much to dislike. But hey, it’s still football, so that makes it OK.

But on Sunday afternoons, I don’t want to know anything from anyone. I want to plant my ass on the couch for the next ten hours and not be disturbed. Don’t call my phone because I won’t answer. Don’t send me an email because I’m not checking it. And for heaven’s sake, between the months of September and early February, if you want me to show up to your birthday parties, kids birthday parties, social gatherings and various other events, plan to have them on Saturdays. If that’s not possible, then you’d better plan on having a TV somewhere in the general vicinity. Otherwise, you’ll get my card and/or gift either in the mail or the next time I see you.

I like football. But something strange happened just a few recent weeks ago. I was in the midst of my usual Sunday afternoon routine when, for some still unknown reason (maybe I was stuck watching the Jets), I changed the channel and found myself strangely drawn to what I had stumbled upon. At first I tried to resist and return to football, but every time a commercial was on, I went right back to my new found attraction.

What was it you ask? What was it that could possibly pull me away from my beloved NFL? It was an exhibition. An exhibition of accuracy, power and skill. It was the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship and quite simply, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. They say “Chicks dig the long ball.” Well guess what…so do I. And so do most other golfers and golf fans. Think about when you’re on the course with your buddies. When someone sinks a nice putt or makes a great chip…that’s all that’s said – “Nice putt man” or “great up-and-down” – that’s it. But when a member of your foursome rips into a drive that sails about 320 down the pipe…now there’s a reaction from the other guys in the area! We all know it’s only part of the game, but people love to see it. It’s like the home run in baseball. Sometimes it may be completely meaningless…but people still love to oooh and aaah when it happens.

This gets me thinking; Why is the PGA not capitalizing on the potential popularity of this by creating their own exhibition? Think about it. MLB has the immensely popular Home Run Derby. The NBA has two popular exhibitions with the slam-dunk contest and the three-point shootout. These leagues have figured out this is what fans love to see. So they give it to them! Why not have some of the long drivers on the PGA tour take on some of the guys from the LDA on the Wednesday before one (or more) of the majors? Not only could they possibly gain some TV time, but they could sure make some extra money at the gate with an extra day for the fans to get in!

Wouldn’t you like to see John Daly grab hold of one of those custom 50″ drivers and just tear into one? Wouldn’t it be great to see him go up against five-time long drive champ Jason Zuback who is more than capable of 400+ yard drives on an almost regular basis?! Now that’s a show! Another benefit for the PGA would be to get fans more familiar with some of the golfers most of us have never heard of.

Anyone know who Robert Garrigus is? No? That’s because he was #127 on the money list. But he led the tour in driving distance at 312 yards. How about Charley Hoffman? He was #41 on the money list, certainly off the radar for many fans. But did you know he hit a 467-yard drive at the Valero Open in 2009? That’s right, I just said 4-6-7! Dustin Johnson was 15th on the money list, so he’s more recognizable. But did you know he hit five drives last year over 400 yards? Take any one of these three guys, put a custom long-drive club in their hands, and you have a damn good show!

I feel, especially with the #1 golfer temporarily out of the picture, now is the time to experiment with some things that may help to draw the fans that will undoubtedly be missing from some of the tournaments. Hey if the Home Run Derby can go from a tape-delayed exhibition in the mid-80’s (inspired by a TV series which ran for a few months in 1960) to what it is today, then why can’t the PGA do the same? For crying out loud, take your noses out of the air, stop taking the sport so serious and give the fans something to watch simply because it’s fun. The fans will thank you for it.

For more information on the Long Drivers of America and the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship, check out http://www.longdrivers.com/.

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