Where’s the Buzz?
Jimmy Vaughn, Joey Haynos of the Dolphins and Malcolm Gosling at the Bear Trap at PGA National Resort and Spa.
Now I completely understand that to get, I believe six golf federations, to agree to host these four events is a herculean effort unto itself, but the World Golf Championships need to have more people get excited about the event. I understand, Tiger has gone missing, but his absence has shown that the Tour will need to stand on its’ own and truth be told the synergy and atmosphere leading up to the Honda Classic and the CA Championship could not have been different. Why? Pro-AMs!
I get it, the touring pros hate them. But here is the deal, pro-ams in most cases bring in 144 people on any given Monday or Wednesday, plus anyone they might know who wants to follow them. They bring revenue to the host clubs in the restaurants, the pro-shops and even the caddies. I do not have empirical data to prove this, but I would venture to say that they also help to a small degree for viewership as participants are eager to view how the players did on the same green they putted only days ago. From a tournament stand point, it is a much easier sell for media coverage, hospitality packages and sponsorships when pro-ams are in the mix.
The Honda Classic Pro-Am featured past and present Miami Dolphins as well as a PGA Tour player. I noticed a lot of laughs, a great deal of people milling about, a full lobby bar and familiar faces from Pro-Ams of the past. The contrast to the CA could not have been more different. There, PGA Tour players play a practice round and then quietly chip and putt for hours on end. For those outside of the game who think golf is boring on TV, how about trying to have people watch these guys chip and putt for hours on end.
The tour is big business, I realize that. But where are and who are the Craig Parry’s on tour who just sip a Guiness at the bar after a pro-am or practice round. I believe that the two most common activities, Tiger excluded, on tour is working out in the gym and electrolysis. Players now walk briskly through the lobby on the way to the gym in their sleeve-less Under Armour and Nike gear, looking for that burn. The tour needs fat guys with six packs and personality, not hairless creatures with six pack abs.
The usual procession of golf is that if you stand on the 18th, wave after wave of players comes through. From afar you can see their disappointment with their shot that lands 10 feet from the pin. You’re not quite sure who it is, oh wait Poulter is wearing the pink pants today, what an eccentric. Trevino, Chi-Chi and the rest had personality. You recognize people on tour most of the time not by who they are but how they dress. And a World Golf Championship is even worse because the bottom 20 are for the most part unrecognizable to the people in the states or Europe. Are there really that many good golfers on the Japanese tour that they get equal standing in points to qualify?
The world is flat. The economics of golf has changed. The first step for the PGA Tour to develop personality is to have the players more accessible and the simplest way to do this is to have pro-ams at World Golf Events. But it should go further for all events. Access should be the key for those who want to follow the game of golf. The tour is about the players and the courses. Access to both will help in the selling of the game with corporations and the public.
