GolfStinks

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Golf & March Madness

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basket golfCan you feel it? I can. Golf season is right around the corner. The weather is starting to get a little warmer and with that comes spring fever. Some of the symptoms include March Madness and I-really-can’t-wait-to-get-out-on-the-course…itis.

Speaking of March Madness, we need to figure out a way to get more non-golfers involved in golf. Using the NCAA final four basketball tournament as a model, we see an incredible rise in interest for college basketball from non-basketball fans during this time. Why? Brackets, that’s why.

Now, I’m not 100% sure about the residual effect of how many remain fans of college basketball after the tourney but I’m sure it exists. If we can just bring the March Madness hype to golf tournaments, I’m sure there would be an interest in stuff like the 2014 Ryder Cup odds.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand there is a difference in viewership between golf and basketball in the U.S.. My point is to gain exposure and bring that camaraderie from the course into our workplaces and hangouts.

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!

Golf Takes A Backseat To…

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So it’s a Sunday afternoon, but not a lazy one.  I’m not having a big gathering for the Super Bowl, but there will be a few people at the house.  So preparations are in order.  Drinks, snacks, food, last minute running around for things I don’t have which I thought I did…it’s just so much more of a process than it should be, right?  There are just too many things on my mind at once that I’m bound to forget something.

But you know what’s not on my mind right now?  What’s not there to cloud my thinking?  Golf.  This is probably the only weekend of the off-season when I don’t miss being out on the course, or at the range at the very least.  But everyone knows that everything takes a back seat to the Super Bowl.  The NBA and NHL make sure their games are over by 3:00 or so.  The NCAA follows suit.  Everyone knows that all eyes will be on the big game, so it’s worthless to try to compete.  I haven’t done the research, and I’m not going to, but I would have to imagine that the Monday following the Super Bowl is one of the most popular “sick days” in the workplace throughout the country.  It’s only a matter of time before companies start closing their doors that day…much like New Year’s Day, which is not really a holiday – it’s just a day off because businesses realized that half their workforce wouldn’t show up.  And the half that did would be almost entirely unproductive.

So I follow suit as well.  When Super Bowl Sunday comes around, there’s no chance that I’m going to have golf on my mind at all.  As a matter of fact, the only reason I’m even taking the time to mention golf now is because I write (if you could call it that) for a golf blog.  Otherwise, my entire day would be dedicated to the Super Bowl.  But fear not!  By next weekend, my golf jones will be back.  Maybe a trip to the indoor range will be in order.  After all…the first day of spring is only 45 days away!  Wow, closer than you thought, right?  Now that I’m thinking about it…maybe golf is not taking as much of a backseat as I thought it would.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

Why Doesn’t Anyone Care About College Golf?

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Lot’s of sports fans love college sports.  Some love it more than pro sports, which I do not understand.  I mean, when given the choice (especially if watching live, ticket price not being an issue), I would want to see a competitive event between the top players in the sport.  How can you enjoy watching minor league or amateur sports more than watching the best of the best compete?  And don’t give me the tired old “The college kids aren’t playing for the money.  They’re playing or the love of the sport.”  It’s time to stop living in the past.  This is the NCAA…it’s all about the money from one angle or another.

Let me be clear though, I do watch college sports simply because it’s a sporting event.  But I’ll give you an example of something I can’t stand about college sports, and being that we’re in football season, I’ll use football as an example.  Do you want to know what stinks about college football?  These – 76-0.  72-0.  54-6.  59-13.  77-7.  56-0.  70-7.  Those are scores from the games of this past Saturday’s AP Top-25 ranked teams.  20 of the 25 teams played.  Seven of them won their games by at least 40 points.  What is enjoyable about watching a game with a final score of 76-0?  In the history of the NFL, there has been exactly one 70+ point victory and it occurred 73 years ago!  In college football, there were three 70-point victories just this weekend!

I hate that there are so many of these mismatched games which, in my opinion, should not even be played.  But they are.  Why?  Money of course.  But in the pros, the gap between the best and worst teams in the league is relatively small.  Only a few players and a few decisions separate the cream of the crop from the cellar dwellers.  This is why it’s rare for a blowout of these proportions to occur and why pro sports are better all-around.  But you know what college sport isn’t like that?  Golf.

The best part of competitive pro golf is that the difference between the top players and the lower tier players is really only a few strokes per round.  In college, it’s not much different.  And with the competition being more…well…competitive, this translates to a good spectator sport.  So why is college golf not seen anywhere on television?

In this day and age, where there are literally hundreds of television channels available, how is it that a popular sport with good competition taking place on a pretty regular basis, not getting any air time?  And when I say not any, I mean almost none!  College golf doesn’t even get so much as a mention on sports channels or highlight shows.  It’s even an afterthought on the Golf Channel.

The question is, why?  It’s a college sport, which many sports fans love.  It’s a very competitive sport with, as in the pros, relatively little difference between the top players and the lower tier.  So where is the attention?  Where are the cameras?  Where’s the fanfare?  You know, catching some of these players when they’re still in college can begin to create star-power prior to the next big thing hitting the pro links.  It seems to work for the college football and basketball players.  Just sayin’.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

Know The Next Golf Tournament Winner? Wanna Bet?

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I like betting.  I can’t help it.., it’s just fun for me.  I’m not an addict.  I’m not at the casino every other night.  I haven’t lost my house or my car.  Maybe my shirt, but that’s about it.  I’ll bet on individual games, drop money into fantasy sports and, of course, the brackets going on this time of year.     

The thing about betting is, it just makes the game, or whatever you’re betting on, that much more interesting.  Whether you’re betting on the NCAA Championship game, or the day your co-worker’s baby is born – it makes you care that much more about the result. 

We here at golfstinks have touched on different kinds of betting in the past.  Be it betting while out on the course or creating a bracket in the hopes for a real PGA championship, we’re always looking for a way to put our hard-earned greenbacks on the line.  But let’s be honest, golf isn’t exactly a big-time sport for betting. 

Now we’ve all seen the odds posted for the favorites in golf tournaments – especially the majors.  But golf doesn’t get nearly the betting action that most major sports get, be it legal or illegal.  I think a lot of that has to do with the relative anonymity of the players on the tour.  But what if you found yourself in a golf pool?  What if you were in a Vegas sports book and you saw the odds pop up for The Masters?  What would you do?  Who would you choose?  How much would you bet?

See, you can check just about anywhere for betting assistance on football or basketball – the internet, the newspaper, even the phone!  But golf?  Not so much.  However, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.  Sites such as Golf Picks are out there to help you. 

Now, if there was only a way to raise golf into the ranks of the top wager-worthy sports, we could put all of this to better use.  But I guess until the PGA recognizes the opportunity it has at a gold-mine with an actual PGA Championship, the world of golf betting will remain a lesser interesting option. 

But let it be known, golfstinks will do what it can to raise interest in all things golf, including the occasional wager – on-course or off.  You can bet on it.

Swing ’til you’re happy!            

What If There Really Was A PGA Championship?

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Golf bracket
Could a 64-player bracket work in golf?

One of the greatest periods of time for a sports fan is just around the corner…March Madness. Pretty much everything about the tournament is exactly what sports fans are looking for. All the top teams, the upsets, the “Cinderellas” and, of course, the brackets.

The NCAA Tournament is one of the greatest ways to decide a champion of a particular sport. 68 teams get one game against a particular team. One shot to move onto the next round. Win six (or seven) in a row, and you’re the champ. Anyone can play anyone. Perennial powers play the small schools…upsets happen. It’s great!

Now what if this particular format was brought into the PGA Tour? What if a tournament billed as a “championship” actually was? What if there was a way to finish the season, without a ranking list or anything based on money, to determine a clear-cut champ? It sounds like the way to go if you ask me!

Wait…what? They already do this? The Accenture Match-Play Championship? How is this NOT the be all and end all?! This needs to replace the PGA Championship!

As it stands now, the PGA Championship is really just another tournament. OK, it’s a major. But in effect, it’s just another tournament. When I hear “championship,” that’s exactly what I expect it to be. It should take up two weekends and should determine an actual champion! So in another attempt to come up with ideas to make viewership and interest in this sport greater, I propose the fourth major to be held at the end of the season and be renamed The PGA Tournament Championship.

Think about that. You take the top 64 golfers in the world and pair them up by seed – #1 vs. #64, #2 vs. #63, etc., just like the Match-Play Championship. The tournament is held over a four day span as usual. However, by the time Sunday afternoon rolls around, only four golfers remain – The Final Four. The following weekend, the final four matchup. Thursday and Friday could be two one-on-one matchups, aggregate score wins each. Saturday and Sunday, the two remaining seeds face each other in the actual championship, again with aggregate score winning. I don’t know about you, but this sounds like a winner to me!

I’m not sure exactly how you figure out the seedings – World Golf Rankings, PGA Tour money list, who knows. Hey, it’s not perfect and would need to have some details hammered out. But its got its strong points. For starters, it’s an actual Championship in the truest sense of the word. It’s exciting – every matchup matters. And perhaps just as important (and the PGA would probably never want to admit it but it’s true), is the gambling aspect. Bringing in a bracket system for fans to fill out like the NCAA basketball tournament creates even further meaning for fans. Now, every fan has a vested interest in the tournament.

The more I think about it, the more I feel it’s a winner. A tournament such as the match-play championship belongs at the end of the season, and a tournament set up as such deserves not only to be a major, but to be THE major.

Every sport needs a championship game. Golf is no different. Who wants a #1 player based on some ranking system, or worse yet, based on earnings! Battle it out on the course. In the end…the one true champion will be the one still standing.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

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