Golf in the Olympics - what format would work?

[Big D 88]

Moving on from my thread about who'll win the Olympics, the general consensus was that the 72 hole stroke play was frankly boring to non golf viewers.

Whilst i agree wholeheartedly with that, i must admit seeing in on the BBC, non stop from first tee shot to final putt, was great for someone like me who'll watch anything from europro to tribly tour!!

So.. What format would make golf more engrossing to the viewing public?

- 64 man/women knockout matchplay?

- Love drive comp?

- What i suggest might be quite interesting is the Drive, Chip & Putt competition they do pre-masters for children. 3 categories all receiving points based on their position in each category. They might need to make it more diverse, ie more than 1 spot to chip & putt from etc.

- What about team event? Same as the qualifying criteria for entries but put them in 4BBB matchplay or the like? could have mens, womens and mixed doubles?


Any other ideas...or should golf be scrapped from the Olympics after Tokyo?

 

[fundy]

Think it may as well be scrapped.

If they're going to keep it then personally would go for a matchplay KO format probably on a team basis. Certainly wouldnt want to see it dumbed down to a drive, chip and putt competition, its either golf or its not

PS not sure the love drive will work

 

[BubbaP]

I think they want it to be considered like a major so will stick with similar format

 

[guest100718]

Standard 4 round comp is fine. Do you watch all the heats for all the other sports?

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Scrap it or go for mixed 4BBB KO - lose and you're out

 

[Dan2501]

54 hole stroke play followed by the Top 4 playing matchplay semi-final format (1st v 4th - 2nd vs 3rd) for the medals on the Sunday.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I'd like to see a matchplay knockout event for both the men and the women

 

[GB72]

In all honesty, if you want to grab attention then the early rounds need to be 9 holes and it needs to be knockout. Non golfers will not watch all day or for 4 days to see a competition build. Now a shorter format with the peril of elimination may attract the casual viewer. There is little point in asking golfers what they want if you want to spread the game, ask non golfers what would make it more interesting for them. I know shorter formats of the game have never caught on but that is amongst golfers happy with the alternatives. If golf is going to attract a wide viewing audience it needs to find its twenty twenty or rugby 7s

 

[351DRIVER]

Mixed event teams of 4

2 men
2 women

4BBB ROUND 1
foursomes round 2
4BBB ROUND 3
SINGLES

I would watch that format Olympics or not as it is different

....

I think Longdrive does work, face it you could have a 30 minute final and a result, this is what the Olympic viewing is about (If you are talking about casual viewers to new sports) at least newbies would get to see the WHOLE final without tuning out.

......

72 hole strokeplay should be scrapped, the last hole was good, but really the excitement needed to be HUGE or again in 4 years no one will care and most will not remember (except golfers in this country) that Rose won

 

[Green Bay Hacker]

When Rose got his hole in one, HID thought he had won the gold. Perhaps it should be something completely different like target golf to different distances or a Big Break(ish) format. The pro golfers would all disappear then and let the amateurs have a go for a medal.

 

[MashieNiblick]

Whilst I understand the objective of tying to promote the game let's not lose sight of the fact that an Olympic Gold medal has also to represent the pinnacle of achievement in the sport in question, so what ever format is chosen I think it has to meet that criteria. Accordingly I don't think shortened forms of the game, however appealing to the casual viewer, would be a good way to go. On that basis either 72 holes as now (and who could dispute that was a cracking finish with a worthy winner) or a mix of stroke play and match play, either 36 and top 8 into matches or 54 and top 4.

 

[walshawwhippet]

PS not sure the love drive will work

I don't know, might if its mixed.

I'd quite like 4BBB mixed pairs.
Similar set up to other team KOs

 

[Oohmeoldbacksknackered]

I'd prefer a team matchplay knockout scenario. Maybe a team made up of 8:
Men's single
Woman's single
Men's pairs four-ball
Womens pairs four-ball
Mixed pairs foursome
18 holes with a 36 hole final

But

The IOC love putting tennis up as the extra major and they'll want to continue doing the same with golf. Within the next 8 years all the top players will give it a go, same as the tennis.
Which is a shame because I didn't get any sense of Rose doing it for Britain, it was just another tournament to win.

Bloody pleased he did it tho'.

 

[Slab]

Thread title might be suggesting that it somehow didn't work. I don't see that and we need to remember this is the competition to find the Olympic Champion golfer

For me the format is correct, individual strokeplay over 72 holes to determine the champion golfer at the Olympic games. What else could it be!

Do any of your clubs run your club champs on a mixed 4bbb or some other alternative?

All for introducing team event once golf cements its place into the Olympics ongoing to run alongside the individual

I don't get the 'it was boring' comments. What Olympic event isn't less exciting in the early stages. Just as one example (because there's loads across every sport) I was watching heats for women's 400m hurdles this morning, some of those ladies weren't even pushing themselves because the competition was so poor
And the 'it takes too long' comments, the football's been running since 3 days before the opening ceremony! (again plenty other examples, like the weeks worth of sailing etc)

If you only have a short attention span for TV there's plenty highlight shows because there's not many sports you'll enjoy watching live (even Bolt is wasting time during run of the mill mundane (for him) qualifying in sprint events and that's one of the shortest events)

At least with golf, at any moment after it starts, there can be a moment of magic or drama becasue players have to give their all from the off (look at Rose's HIO)

 

[Capella]

I, too, would love to see a mixed format for Olympic gold. 4BBB and/or foursomes on the first day combined with single scores from a second day or something like that. With the PGA and LPGA being so absolutely separated, it would be such a great chance to have a competition with worldwide attention for a mixed format. It just is something the golfing world does not have on the higher professional level und could really profit from.

 

[USER1999]

Mixed five club foursomes bogey.

It's just perfect.

 

[Slab]

I, too, would love to see a mixed format for Olympic gold. 4BBB and/or foursomes on the first day combined with single scores from a second day or something like that. With the PGA and LPGA being so absolutely separated, it would be such a great chance to have a competition with worldwide attention for a mixed format. It just is something the golfing world does not have on the higher professional level und could really profit from.

Isn't the Tours the best place to introduce these kind of 'for TV' things as an alternative championship format though. Surely not at the Olympics?

 

[Imurg]

I'm not sure there is one that works.
Golf is a slow game. All the documents in the Olympics is on the exciting, tense or quick events.
We all know that Majors rarely get going until the back 9 of the final round so maybe start it there.
Look at the bike racing..they have a 160 odd lap race around a small track and it holds your view from start to finish.
Golf, for a non Golfer, is hard to watch, it moves slowly, even a good shot can seem very ordinary if you don't understand the game.
The closest in time length to a round of golf is the road bike race - that holds attention, even when no Brit is in with a medal shout - because it's fast moving.
Golf ain't.
For me, the only way to keep interest would be a combination of Long Drive, Target Golf, Bunker play and putting. Make it an event like Heptathlon that tests all aspects of the game without the 5 hour round and 300 yard walks where nothing happens.
But that's not real Golf....

 

[virtuocity]

Texas scramble. Close thread.

 

[Hacker Khan]

I'm not sure there is one that works.
Golf is a slow game. All the documents in the Olympics is on the exciting, tense or quick events.
We all know that Majors rarely get going until the back 9 of the final round so maybe start it there.
Look at the bike racing..they have a 160 odd lap race around a small track and it holds your view from start to finish.
Golf, for a non Golfer, is hard to watch, it moves slowly, even a good shot can seem very ordinary if you don't understand the game.
The closest in time length to a round of golf is the road bike race - that holds attention, even when no Brit is in with a medal shout - because it's fast moving.
Golf ain't.
For me, the only way to keep interest would be a combination of Long Drive, Target Golf, Bunker play and putting. Make it an event like Heptathlon that tests all aspects of the game without the 5 hour round and 300 yard walks where nothing happens.
But that's not real Golf....

What he said. No matter how you package it and how many shot tracers you use, 72 hole strokeplay is a very boring game to watch for the vast majority of people. As there there must be what, 10 mins of shots actually being played by any individual and the ball moving during a round? Rest of the time someone is either walking, waiting or faffing around lining up puts. And no one is being eliminated and no one wins or there is no tension until around at least 20 hours of golf has been played. It's like playing an Olympic cricket test match. At least the horse dancing is over in 10 minutes.

Idea of a combination of events as suggested sounds good to me.