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Fore Please. 119th US Open Walking Championship Thread.

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Chef2, May 30, 2019.

  1. Cosmo

    Cosmo Well-Known Member

    You're correct on the niche inside a niche sport take. I work for an AGA and I've had to convince some of my coworkers to listen to NLU, or that it even exists. They're important, though, because they are finding ways to connect with the 20-35 set, and we desperately need those people to care about golf for the sport to survive. Our biggest issue (mostly on the membership/playing side) is losing people after college until they're established financially because golf is expensive and it's a time suck, and people starting families don't have the time or resources to stick with the game. That's why TopGolf is so important. No, it's not traditional golf. But it puts a golf club in peoples' hands in a fun social environment, and we're trying to find ways to get those people to come out and play at a green grass facility. That's why Play9 is important, and thank God the USGA/R&A finally had the sense to allow people to post 9-hole scores to their handicap. Hell, I work in golf, and I barely have time to play, outside of hitting the local First Tee once a week to practice. But I got to play nine last Friday and it was perfect. Two hours or so fit into my schedule. It's not always easy to find four hours plus.

    My fear with the Tiger generation is that once he goes away, who will fill that void, interest wise? I think the media has done a nice job of trying to develop other people, but as long as Tiger is out there, he's a behemoth, and there's little air for anything else. That's just the phenomenon that he is. Side note: Does Tiger play on the Champions Tour, and if he does, will people breathlessly watch him play senior golf?
     
    maumann and Donny in his element like this.
  2. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    My son is now in his early 30s. He loves golf, and could afford to play every so often, but he lives in Brooklyn. The trend for younger people staying in cities cuts down on their golf opportunities, too. I am a retired old guy with time on his hands, but I almost always play nine because my wife doesn't play and this way she's only half a golf widow. Also, the Boston area and Cape Cod have many nice public nine hole courses that are not expensive. So there are a lot of nine holers around here.
    PS: If Tiger plays on the Champions Tour, he will be almost but not quite the same draw he is now.
     
  3. Cosmo

    Cosmo Well-Known Member

    PS -- the No Laying Up guys were clowning the Allied Golf Association ad that showed up during the U.S. Open a bit, but we fought tooth and nail for them to at least acknowledge us, and it was a huge deal for them to reach so many people, many of whom don't even realize that entities like the Met Golf Association or the Virginia State Golf Association or the Chicago District Golf Association exist. We do a lot more than just run tournaments*, and it was important for us to get that word out on the national stage.

    *(says this as he's about to go out and cover the rest of our junior match play tournament ... ha)
     
    maumann likes this.
  4. BitterYoungMatador2

    BitterYoungMatador2 Well-Known Member

    Its a game that seems to be being embraced by bros, which is both good and bad. Good because it means a chunk of that generation is coming out and enjoying the game Bad because....well, they're bros.
     
  5. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    The entire Champions Tour is an interesting case study. The PGA Tour has been propping it up financially for years -- the Champions has never had a title sponsor, yet the developmental tour manages to keep cashing title-sponsor checks (insert Korn Ferry joke here). I heard something recently about how Ernie Els might start mixing in some events when he's eligible (he's 50 in October; dammit I'm old), but that's likely more from a love of the game. He surely doesn't need the cash. Phil's pride won't get him out there anytime soon, plus he probably plays for more money on Tuesdays. Tiger's body might not hold up five more years, not that he'd run to that tour at 50 anyway.

    Champions Tour now is all Scott McCarrons and Scott Parels, plus the ageless Bernhard Langer. Great to cover, fun to watch as a fan when it comes to your town, but completely irrelevant nationally.
     
  6. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    As it should be.
     
  7. BitterYoungMatador2

    BitterYoungMatador2 Well-Known Member

    It's really a nostalgia tour when you get down to it. If I recall, it was established for the people who still wanted to see players like Palmer and Player at a time when they couldn't compete in the regular events any longer. Anyone over 50 who can still compete on the big Tour does and only mixes in Champions Tour events sparingly - if at all.
     
  8. swingline

    swingline Well-Known Member

    I really can't see Tiger playing in the old farts' tournaments.

    Tiger's career up to now has been Pujols' years in St. Louis. If Tiger plays the senior tour, that's Pujols' years in California.
     
  9. Cosmo

    Cosmo Well-Known Member

    I definitely don't see him playing it. Now Mike Weir? I see Mike Weir playing it, the second he's eligible next May.
     
  10. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Heck, Palmer and Player and Trevino were more popular than the regular Tour guys. And you'd have Chi-Chi's sword dance and all those guys with stogies. It was cool and a decent watch on ESPN to kill a weekend afternoon. Now it's a grinder's circuit. The last great star they had/have is Freddy, but he's almost done.
     
    Donny in his element likes this.
  11. swingline

    swingline Well-Known Member

    I don't see the appeal of the senior tour, at least from a viewing standpoint. But, hell, if I'm a four- or five-time winner on the regular tour, I'm playing the shit out of the senior tour to keep making money. And it seems like the younger guys, 50-53, win most of the tournaments, so there's a window of maximum earning potential when you first get there.

    Tiger doesn't need the money.

    I also don't see him being the Masters' starter in his old age. He doesn't seem to be into nostalgia.
     
  12. swingline

    swingline Well-Known Member

    This Chi Chi?

     
    expendable and playthrough like this.
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