GolfStinks

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The "Excitement" Of A Golf Tournament

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This past Friday I had the opportunity to attend game three of the Heat vs. Celtics playoff series.  It’s been a while since I’ve been to an NBA game, and even longer since I’ve been to a playoff game.  I forgot how much fun it is.  The intensity of the crowd, the players, and not too mention the game itself.  It’s a great experience and lots of fun.  It’s also something that’s missing from golf.

Now I’ve been to golf tournaments, but never a major.  So I may be a little off in my view here.  However, I have to say, in comparison to even a regular season NBA game, there is simply no comparison. 

Part of the draw for fans to any sporting event is how much fun and how exciting it is going to be while there.  And even though it’s not my favorite sport, a basketball game is where it’s at action-wise.  I love football, but there’s a lot of down-time.  I read somewhere once that, on average, a two-and-a-half hour baseball game has less than ten minutes of actual game play.  So you can see how baseball could be a little too slow moving as well.  But both of these pale in comparison to the “excitement” of a golf match. 

Talk about slow moving. I love the sport of golf, but watching it?  I’ve had people tell me they’re not interested in going to a tournament unless it’s free.  I’ve even had free tickets that people have refused!  If someone hands me tickets to a football, basketball or baseball game…count me in!  And that goes the same for most sports fans I know.  But golf? All of a sudden people have to mow their lawns.  They have some work to do around their house.  Or they have a birthday party to attend.  What’s the deal?

Well, when you take a sporting event at which half the fun of attending is going to the beer tent…you can see the issue here.  The excitement of standing still and being as quiet as possible, while absolutely riveting for some, is mind-numbing for others.  How do you talk someone who’s not really a golf fan into going to a tournament?  “Hey, it’s gonna be great!  Over-priced beer, sub-par food, wander around the course for a while and stand quiet as a church mouse.”  Yeah…good luck. 

I understand why people have to be quiet during the shots.  I also understand that the draw to a golf tournament is seeing the best of the best.  But that doesn’t make me want to attend a professional chess match!  So I guess I can understand why people feel the way they feel about a golf tournament. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not one of these people.  I will attend a golf tournament if I have the opportunity to do so.  I like the sport.  I want to see the guys who are the best at it compete.  But I can also understand how people find it dull and unentertaining.  Especially when you compare it to a sport like basketball where there is non-stop action and the only down-time is between quarters and during time-outs.            

So with that being said, I encourage everyone to at least give a tournament a shot if you haven’t before.  I plan on doing this myself in a couple of weeks at the Travelers Championship here in CT.  It’s only about 10 minutes from my house, so how can I pass it up?  Now, I’m just waiting for my boss to pony up a few tickets…    

Swing ’til you’re happy!
                

Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the PGA Draft

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Anybody catch the NFL Draft this past weekend?  If you’re a football fan, then you probably watched at least some of it.  Even if just to see what your favorite team did with it’s top pick or two.  I know I was tuned in for quite a while.  And I thought breaking it up over three days was a mistake, but boy was I wrong.  Some co-workers and I, who all happen to be Patriots fans, we’re discussing the first round on Friday morning in anticipation of the upcoming rounds.

It seems kind of funny doesn’t it?  Watching teams just pick their players, some of whom will not even make the team.  But that’s how big the NFL is.  It sometimes seems the draft is second in the sport’s popularity to only the Super Bowl.  And it’s only getting bigger.  Now it’s in prime-time, broken up over three days.  And this year, an unprecedented five international players were drafted (players not from the U.S. but attended college and played football here) as well as an American born player who attended college in Canada.  The sport is now truly going global.

About a year-and-a-half ago, I asked the question “What if PGA Tour golf was a team sport?”   Now, after tuning into the NFL draft for a while, it got me thinking about it further.  As I said, the draft is a big event for the NFL and it’s fans – maybe second only to the Super Bowl.  Well, if golf was a team sport, then why not the same intrigue there?  After all, the PGA doesn’t have a “Super Bowl” of it’s own (although it should), but it does have four majors that are always popular.  And, like the Super Bowl but on a much smaller scale, these are the only tournaments that non-golf fans really care much about at all.     

Now when I say teams, I don’t necessarily mean that teams such as the Florida Whiteshoes or California Earthquakes have to be created, although that would be great, wouldn’t it?  But it could be something like Nascar does with teams – owners, but still individual drivers.  Or, they could be sponsor teams such as Team Callaway, Nike or Ashworth, etc.. 

Imagine Team Nike drafting someone out of college or the amateur rankings with the #1 overall pick.  Follow that up with Team Callaway trading out of the #2 spot in exchange for the #5 pick and another player on the tour.  I don’t know about you, but this sounds like fun!  Although, obviously individual player sponsorships would probably get in the way here.       

Additionally, it could also be a good way to bring attention to college golf.  See, you don’t have to be a football fan to know who Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III is.  But truthfully, I can’t name one college golfer right now.  I’m sure there’s a college golfer who is somehow ranked as the #1 golfer in the country at that level…but I have no idea who he is.  That seems wrong to me.  But something tells me that if there was a big event to introduce these guys to all the PGA Tour fans, that would probably change.   

Ahhh, listen…I’m just a football fan who’s excited about my teams draft picks.  I’m one of those people who feel the draft is pretty exciting.  To me, it’s almost like an unofficial kickoff to the preseason, or at least a halfway point between seasons.  After all, the first preseason game is just over three months away.  I always look for ideas to inject some excitement into golf and try to help increase viewership and popularity among the younger generation.  And judging by the current state of the game, no one else seems to have too many great ideas.

Swing ’til you’re happy! 

Has Tiger Become Just An Average Golfer?

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I want to start by giving some praise to ESPN.  I’ve been tuned into Sunday Night Baseball for about 30-40 minutes as of right now, and the only time I’ve seen the word “Tiger” is in reference to Detroit. 

Not for nothing, but when a golfer finishes tied for 40th, fifteen strokes off the lead and doesn’t break par once in four days…that’s the way it should be.  I should see the names Watson and Oosthuizen more than any other name today.  I should see those names so often that I’ll actually learn how to correctly pronounce Oosthuizen! 

But that brings me to my actual point.  Has Tiger fallen far enough that he can now be considered not much more than an average golfer on the tour?  When you really look at it, the stats show exactly that.  Despite a second place finish at the Honda Classic and his win this year at The Arnold Palmer Invitational, that’s his only win since 2009.  Follow his win with a +5 showing at The Masters, and his last win at a major dates back to the 2008 U.S. Open, though he has had some strong showings in between.

Could it be due to the knee injury suffered in 2008?  I think many people would attribute it to exactly that.  Couple that with the distraction of his more recent off-course issues, and you can see an obvious decline.  Even worse is that he is now 36 years old, right around a time when most pro athletes begin, or are already into, a physical break-down.  Obviously though, golfers are in a different category as there is not the same serious physical strain on the body as with some other sports.  But with younger players joining the tour every year, Tiger appears more and more beatable all the time.

I’m certainly not saying that Tiger is done.  I believe he’s far from it.  But what I am saying is, though the media will have you believe we are still watching the Tiger of several years ago, he is no longer the threat to win every time he sets foot on the course as he once was.  But to me, that’s good.  I prefer to see a wide open field in a tournament that anyone can win on any given weekend.  With so many great golfers on the tour, it’s nice to see some attention being given to them rather than the guy who finished so far back that he didn’t even matter.

But I’m sure many will not agree.  Many believe there needs to be one dominant player on the tour for others to gun for.  However, I don’t believe it’s about the other golfers.  It’s about the fans.  The fans need to be introduced to other golfers on the tour.  And by having a field that’s much more open than it may have been in the past, what better time or way to get it done? 

Tiger worked miracles for the PGA and they have reaped the benefits for sixteen years now.  But sooner or later, he’s not going to be there anymore.  So before it’s too late, they may want to take action to promote these many other golfers who have caught, and soon, will surpass the great Tiger.

Swing ’til you’re happy!
                     

A New Kind of Apparel For the Golf Fan

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When you look at a golf blog and see the name Woods, obviously you think of Tiger.  So when a football jersey sporting the name Woods appears on that golf blog, some confusions likely ensues.  But any NFL fan knows that, pictured to the left, is an Ickey Woods jersey. 

And to prove the NFL’s marketing genius, every NFL fan who sees this jersey instantly recognizes it despite the fact Ickey has been out of the league since 1991 and played a total of only 37 games in his injury-shortened career.  Further, his career numbers have been eclipsed by several players in just a single season!

Jersey sales rake in boatloads of money for the NFL.  You can see them worn everywhere at NFL stadiums as well as just out and about.  I have several myself.  It’s a great way for the NFL to market their teams, as well as the players, at the same time.  This is something that the PGA is sorely lacking.  But because there are no uniforms or teams on the PGA Tour, there really isn’t much that can be done about it.  Or, is there?

The golfers themselves can cash in on numerous sponsorships.  But how much does a BMW logo on a players shirt help the tour?  Take a look at Tiger Woods for instance.  Nike has made it’s own brand out of one player.  What’s to stop Callaway from doing the same for Phil?  Or any apparel company from taking on Rory? 

Better yet, the PGA Tour puts out it’s own apparel line.  I have a white PGA Tour polo shirt, so I know they exist.  They could simply start there.  What if fans could purchase shirts, hats, golf shoes, etc. directly associated with their favorite tour player, much the same as a Patriots fan could purchase a Tom Brady jersey?  This way, the players as well as the tour are getting free advertising as soon as someone walks out their front door wearing one.

I remember back in the 90’s when sports jersey sales were really taking off.  Back then, besides a regular jersey from any sport, you could find lots of cross-promotion between sports going on.  Hockey jersey’s with NBA logos and baseball jersey’s sporting NFL teams were not uncommon.  This is a direction the PGA could choose to go.  Not too mention, most of the fans who would be purchasing something like this would be on the younger side – a demographic that the PGA needs to get more interested in the sport.  

But the problem is, not many others besides me seems to know PGA Tour apparel exists…not even the PGA, or one would think by looking at their apparel website.  This site tells you almost nothing about the actual apparel.  Not too mention, it looks like the PGA doesn’t do anything about it either as there is an advertisement clearly marked ’09, as in 2009, at the bottom of the page.  A three year old advertisement?  Yeah…they’re paying attention.

See, something like this, to me anyway, should be a no-brainer.  But instead, a worthless website that generates little traffic, is simply wasting the PGA’s money rather than doing something to generate revenue as well as the popularity of it’s players and the tour itself.

I know this all sounds a little silly, especially to the purists, snobs or the the fans who, for some strange reason, dress like they are about to step onto the course when they’re doing nothing more than watching a tournament.  But to put all of this in simpler terms, at the next tournament you attend, wouldn’t it be cool to see a baseball-style jersey with the back marked “Lefty 01” rather than just a bunch of polo shirts that all seem to blend together? Well, I think it would. 

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!            

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