Wagglers' Poll: Your Favorite Tournament Format

by Ryan Ballengee on Oct 20, 2008 1:28 PM EDT

John Huggan had a fairly empassioned plea to change the bland, 72 hole format in every golf tournament. Basically, he turned to match play as his go-to format. There are so many good golf formats out there, though.

No poll options here because there are way too many to list. But, basically, I want to hear from you about:

What kind of tournament formats would you love to watch on TV?

Are there formats that you love to play that you think would be dreadful on the tele?

For me, I love match play. But, how about alternate shot? It's so much fun to watch alternate shot (and four ball) at the Ryder Cup. Why not have a stroke play event?

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that wasn't his point...

he wanted to change the equipment – not so much the formats.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 20, 2008 2:02 PM EDT reply actions

That was his point

Mired among others. He basically said in one paragraph – “throwing money at something doesn’t make it interesting.”

by Ryan Ballengee on Oct 20, 2008 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions

right...

…but he acknowledged that there are basically only 2 formats – stroke and match play – and TV hates match play. What makes tournaments exciting is great play with exciting shots.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 20, 2008 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions

But that's not true for TV, right?

Because no one actually watches the Fall Series despite some very fun golf in Vegas. So, maybe a format shift helps. He was wrong in limiting the conversation to those two formats. Those are the umbrella formats, but so many more ways to hold a golf event than those two.

by Ryan Ballengee on Oct 20, 2008 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions

define "no one"

yes – the numbers go down in the fall – not because people aren’t interested in the golf – it’s because they are MORE interested in football.

team golf is silly season stuff except for the two cups. professional golf is an individual game – how are you going to have alternate shot individual tournaments ? Are you thinking of starting the NGA and having players draft teams ? That’s12 12 man teams each week.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 20, 2008 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions

It's not silly season

That’s just American perception now. In the 40s-70s, there were annual events that were team based. They were either combined stroke play or some alteration thereof. You can have an alternate shot team event. They used to have those on the PGA Tour before it was officially known as such. Why not have a 64 team field like the World Cup, but with more fun teams? If you don’t place as many invitations to the majors on the money list, then I think you could pull this off.

by Ryan Ballengee on Oct 20, 2008 4:01 PM EDT up reply actions

no problem with that...

…but what are the players going to do ? They already pass on the World Cup and gripe about having to change their mindset for Ryder and President’s Cup weeks to a team mentality then back to individual play.

There is a reason those team events disappeared from back in the 40’s. They were more there for betting by the people at the clubs and the pros than a “real” tournament. Golf is a much bigger business today than it was back then and these guys play week in and week out as individuals.

Remember – they had no problem cutting The International loose to make the AT&T National just to put Tiger’s name on an event.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 20, 2008 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions

That's a can of worms there

I still can’t believe what they did to Jack Vickers, but I digress.

If you pay teams or participants in these unconventional formats before they even hit a shot, it’ll work. The WGC events work because there’s no cut. Or make appearance fees legal on the PGA Tour. It’s coming anyway.

by Ryan Ballengee on Oct 20, 2008 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions

welll..

…Vickers sort of did it to himself – he got in the face of the tour and started making demands.

WHO pays the teams ? Where is the money coming from ? MLB/NFL/NBA owners have a few things going for them – (1) TV revenue and advertising dollars, (2) season tickets, and (3) other personal businesses from which to draw income to pay the players.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 20, 2008 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions

I think sponsors would get behind

unique events. They all want something that is unique, barring that they’re a regional sponsor. What’s more unique than a team format?

by Ryan Ballengee on Oct 20, 2008 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions

ummm

you mean aside from the Ryder and President’s Cups…and the World Cup…and the Wendy’s Three Tour Challenge ? :-) “unique” isn’t the right word.

But hey – why not give it a try ? The players won’t go for it because there is so much at stake during the regular season. Points and the money list have everything to do with their chances of keeping their card. These guys don’t want to take a chance on some schlub screwing up his season. But it might be fun !

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 20, 2008 6:26 PM EDT up reply actions

I think they will and it will be fun

given the right conditions – i.e., you could have appearance fees on the PGA Tour.

Elite players will go for it because it’s a guaranteed paycheck. They love those. I’ve had this discussion with multiple Tour players over the years – many scratch their heads as to why they don’t offer more variety in formats. Some don’t.

by Ryan Ballengee on Oct 20, 2008 11:11 PM EDT up reply actions

You wanna see creativity?

One that I’d like to see just once is a gimmicky format from Tiger Woods’ video game. They have a game called “battle golf” where you play an opponent in match play and each time you win a hole, you get to take a club out of his bag (and vice versa). Can you imagine how much fun that would be to watch?

That would bring back a little creativity to the golf course. Or maybe it would be totally dumb. I’d like to see it once, though.

by Double Eagle on Oct 21, 2008 12:05 AM EDT reply actions

I'd pay for that

A Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf – Battle Style? Sign me up.

by Ryan Ballengee on Oct 21, 2008 10:20 AM EDT up reply actions

didn't someone do that ?

Wasn’t there a silly season event where they took clubs out of the bags ? Or was it that you took clubs out of your own bag – only allowed to hit a club one time ?

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 21, 2008 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions

I haven't heard of one

But someone else probably knows. I’d go for the Roy McIlroy challenge – only 7 irons.

by Ryan Ballengee on Oct 21, 2008 11:02 AM EDT up reply actions

LOL

I like it – except maybe on the first hole. You have to take out the big dog – not left of the trees, or right of the trees – but OVER the trees…with a little draw. :-)

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 21, 2008 11:09 AM EDT up reply actions

oh

it’s Roy McEvoy.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 21, 2008 11:09 AM EDT up reply actions

oops

McAvoy

can you believe it’s been 12 years since that came out ?

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 21, 2008 11:11 AM EDT up reply actions

I was spelling like

Rory McIlroy. Whoops!

It really is hard to believe. But that was in Kevin Costner’s glory years as THE guy for sports movies. Now it’s Dennis Quaid.

by Ryan Ballengee on Oct 21, 2008 11:24 AM EDT up reply actions

lol

I heard an interview with Dennis Quaid a while back. All of these sports movies he is doing are rated G or PG – and his kids are old enough to go see movies for older people, so he doesn’t even watch his own movies !

At least Quaid can deliver a line. Costner screws up big lines in every movie he does. SO disappointing.

I wonder if Rory McIlroy gets called Tin Cup. :-)

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 21, 2008 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions

I still love

For the Love of the Game. It’s not even that good of a movie, but the whole concept of a huge perfect game is a thriller for me. It’s funny how the only movies that can move me are sports.

by Ryan Ballengee on Oct 21, 2008 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions

what ?

Not “The Princess Bride” ??? (“My name is Inigo Montoya – you killed my father – prepare to die”…gets me every time) :-) Ok – there IS sword fighting, and fencing is an Olympic sport…

Yeah – For the Love of the Game – kind of a far fetched premise, but the story of a guy on his way out and struggling to figure out what he’s going to do when he can’t play is pretty good. And they didn’t give Costner any big words or long lines in that one. :-) (I call that Schwartzenagering – limiting syllables and words to simple sentences – they did it to Brad Pitt in “Legends of the Fall” and it turned into a pretty good movie)

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Oct 21, 2008 12:37 PM EDT up reply actions