2018 PGA Tour Running Thread

If we had more true golf fans here we'd have a running Webb Simpson thread.

 

I'm not sure why Seinfeld is still shown in syndication, I'm sure there is some local programing that tries just a hard.

 

Last year's Golf Thread had 28 pages. And was started in May. There were separate threads on the majors. The Masters one had 33 pages. The US Open had 29 pages. The 2016 Running Golf Thread had 53 pages.

I assume this year's threads on the majors will have similar interest, depending of course on who's near the top, how much drama there is, etc.

But comparing the normal golf threads from the past two years when TW barely played and seeing that this year's thread devoted to the non-majors is already at 44 pages, and a lot of the replies contain the word "Tiger," it saddens me to report that this board actually has very few *true* golf fans and way too many sheep.

 

True as that is, for twenty years, for better and worse, the PGA and the networks have deformed professional golf around Tiger Woods.

As much as I admire the singularity of his talent, I thought the last couple years were a good look into what the sport will become without him. New stars. New rivalries. New stories.

Those will arrive inevitably. Because Tiger is 42 years old and even with a late career surge, likely won't be around much longer as a dominant force.

Does he rise to win another major? More than one? Does he never win again?

I understand peoples' interest.

But he is golf's past.

Golf needs to figure out its future.

 

Feels like future of PGA is in great hands, whether Tiger wins again or collapses in a heap going for the green in 2 this week and never plays again. But I'd be interested in hearing from more knowledgeable folks like @Double Down about the future of the game itself and how ball controversies, course lengths for normal folks, pace of play, cost, environmental issues, etc., affect all of it.

 

I don't even know where to start with this ... don't mean that in a bad way, I just mean that's all we do at the state/regional level is go to meetings and discuss these issues. Well, it's not all we do, but it's a huge chunk of it. I will say that the modernization of the rules SHOULD help pace of play for the non-elite golfer, especially if organizations make use of the local rule for dropping a ball near the spot it goes OB with a two-shot penalty rather than making someone go back to the tee to hit. Would not enact it at a championship, but for the fun days, hit-and-giggles, etc., where the field is rife with folks who shoot in the 90s on a good day, it makes so much sense.

 

ditto

 

Ratings are down overall and participation in the game is down overall. Every year more and more public courses get turned into housing. Eventually that will translate into a hit to the wallet for the industry. And your average American dum-dum doesn't give two shits about average white frat boys like Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson or Rickie Fowler. But they do still give a damn about Tiger, and this weekend's ratings show that. So yeah, better ride that pony until the legs fall off, whether we all like it or not.

 

We have what was a lovely, historic golf course here in town that, hole by hole, is being ruined by fucking plastic houses. It's like watching the slow death of golf in a tangible and painful way. Last year they dug up two of my favourite holes. It was like seeing a friend cut himself.

 

It is with pride that I say my town voted overwhelmingly for a tax increase to keep the public golf course out of the hands of developers.

 

Should have jacked up the fees to make the people who use it pay for it.

 

Fees are kept reasonable for town residents because grumpy old seniors (who always vote!) are the course's main customers.