Watching Golf - Keep it Interesting

General Discussion
#1

I’m curious what kinds of things people do here to keep watching golf interesting.

I listen to the NLU guys and they have their weekly bets they put in for finishes and props. Unfortunately, I live in a lame state that doesn’t allow sports gambling yet so I’m reduced to fantasy golf for now.

I saw one poster in another thread mention having new graphics in the broadcast to show real time strokes gained so we knew how good of a shot the pros just hit. But obviously that’s not something that’s in play yet with the same, bored, tired broadcast playbook.

So I’m curious, what other kinds of things could we do to spice up the watching experience?

Ps. I’d request not responding with “just don’t watch it” as that’s a painfully obvious answer and I “want” to watch golf, but I’d also like to make it more interesting.

Thanks!

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#2

Did you join the practical golf fantasy league? It’s definitely made me more interested in golf and forces me to think past the top 10 players…

I think it’s also fun to find out about some of the players and get more invested in them… I’m rooting for max homa despite him being a dodger fan.

I think he’s well spoken and has a good perspective on the professional game.

I also enjoyed viktor hovland on hack it out golf… I’ll probably be rooting for him!

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#3

Def agree that finding a way to invest in some of the lesser known guys it’s fun to track their careers and performances. Either through fantasy, DFS, a pool, or just picking randomly.

I was big on morikawa before he really popped, and I love me some Ben An. Also a big HVIII fan

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#4

Somewhat related - but the coverage on golf channel has been miserable. I know they’re spread over 2 courses, but I don’t want to watch guys who aren’t in the mix and not show a single shot of Noren, Malnati, Griffin, Gordon, etc who are all in it and playing well.

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#5

They love doing that, don’t they :joy:

#6

just showed a random shot of hovland out of nowhere. finau made an eagle on a par 4 earlier and no mention of it or video

#7

Oh they ran a camera out to Malnati finally…

#8

What would get you interested in watching golf? More shots? Different camera angles? etc…

#9

Yeah, I’m trying to find some younger guys to invest some energy in… I like Max Homa, as I enjoy his podcast.

I’m interested in seeing how Hovland does, and enjoyed him on the Hack it Out podcast.

I need to invest some time in learning about some of the other guys coming up. I’m going to read up on Will Gordon, as he’s a Vandy guy.

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#10

I think they could do a lot more with graphics and data to show how good each shot is they hit. For example, after a player his their tee shot and it’s approaching their ball, show what their strokes gained would be for that shot from that week or from the previous month in tour. Then perhaps show percent chance they hit it inside 5ft, 10ft, 20ft, 30ft, etc from the distance they’re at and the general lie (fairway, rough, bunker).

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#11

In their defense on this a week later, where did malnati end up finishing? Was he even inside the top 20? I watch the PGA avidly and love the average pro like him, and I have no clue

#12

To me it doesn’t matter - hindsight is 20/20. You’re covering the tournament each day. Barely showing a leader on course during your coverage is weak

#13

I wish they would integrate SG way more than they do. The problem that I see is that in order for them to do that they have to change announcers, listening to Azinger say a 100 yard shot should be inside 10 feet is just laughable. Baseball was one of the first to incorporate analytics into the game. We are just now seeing that incorporated into the broadcasts. I think Golf will eventually get there but change is very slow, and waayyy slower in golf than almost anything else.

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#14

I do think it’s trending in that direction… Shane Bacon seems to be fairly up to speed on modern statistics, and he’s on Golf Channel now. It will be interesting to see that stuff slowly creep its way in.

My guess is it will go from putts backwards. Though, I haven’t watched golf on TV outside of the Masters in awhile (I don’t have cable, and I haven’t put in the effort to stream it)

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#15

I agree, there are many people out there now pointing out the differences between reality and what the announcers say. I love what Shane is doing with the idea coming from Max about highlighting players who make the cut on the number and their weekend performance. The other thing that I think would change perception is the highlighting nothing but good golf shots. If you watch golf on tv to me it is a highlight reel vs a tournament.

Full disclosure while I follow the tour I watch 4 tournaments a year and those are usually only Thurs & Fri. I would much rather play golf on weekends than watch someone play.

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#16

Azinger and Faldo both! They don’t add anything to the broadcast in my opinion

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#17

Faldo promoting distance gaining shoes while saying there is a distance problem about sums it up.

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#18

I would be interested to see how the broadcast is in Europe. I’ve heard Sky Sports is good and the European Tour youtube channel is quite good.

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#19

I am not a huge fan of the broadcast although I watch most tournaments each week.

The mute button will bring a new dynamic to watching if you try it

I like Bones and Feherty. Maybe being on course they have a better sense of what to say? The guys in the booth just seem to talk endlessly to fill space.

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#20

I wonder if having old players is actually a hindrance to golf broadcasts… to a certain extent, they are limited by their experiences, and only have so many stories to tell… I don’t think they can walk you through someone’s though process better than a caddie could.

I think caddies are probably the best choice for the booth, even if they don’t have the famous names… more stories about different people, and from an outside perspective… they can give an opinion on what they’d suggest and it would come across less as criticism and more as commentary.

Maybe I’m wrong. I do think Max Homa will be good in a booth, but that’s hopefully 20 years away!

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