Golf, more boring than Darts????

[SaintHacker]

I love watching cricket, and I'm a big fan of F1, two sports which are often called boring. I can see how golf can be boring to watch for someone who doesn't neccesarily get it. Personally I can't stand darts and really can't see what all the fuss is about but each to their own.

 

[patricks148]

I can only watch limited amounts unless it's a major or one if the other biggies, I watch more if it's a tour event in the UK. The tv coverage of US weekly tournaments is just plain boring after an hour or so. BUT nothing is more boring than American Football 😊😊

I think its an american thing
most of their sports are boring, American football, Baseball, Bass fishing:rofl:

when ever i see a US golf tournament thats mind numbing..

lets hope Cricket never breaks through in the US:rofl:

 

[Pathetic Shark]

BUT nothing is more boring than American Football 

Up yours!!! ;-)

 

[Tiger man]

What about walk on girls, ac/dc and Rory 'the machine' Mcilroy at Augusta?

 

[Green Man]

The top three are my three favorite sports. Baseball is getting close to over taking cricket though.

Just dawned on me I must be a right boring B*****d!

Ones I'm not interested in are Tennis, both Rugby's and I struggle to watch football for more than two minutes.

 

[chrisd]

Up yours!!! ;-)

That would be more exciting than American Football - how can anyone find anything to write about it ?

 

[MendieGK]

I can only watch limited amounts unless it's a major or one if the other biggies, I watch more if it's a tour event in the UK. The tv coverage of US weekly tournaments is just plain boring after an hour or so. BUT nothing is more boring than American Football 😊😊

That’s because you don’t understand it

 

[TreeSeeker]

Alot of those on the list, for me, are boring to watch but fun to play. Golf and Cricket should be near top of the list on that for me.

I have to say, given the recent comments, American football to me is a horrificly boring sport, i'd rather watch paint dry.

 

[Pathetic Shark]

That would be more exciting than American Football - how can anyone find anything to write about it ?

Right you, outside now!!!

 

[chrisd]

Right you, outside now!!!

I'll just take my jacket off 🤣

 

[3565]

Footy bores me senseless , rather watch Rugby Union or American Football at least they don't wince when they get hit, unlike the namby pambies in football. Cricket is a bore fest to me, and so is golf to a certain extent. I like to watch the skiing, biathlon and looking forward to the Winter Olympics at the end of the month.

 

[ScienceBoy]

That’s because you don’t understand it

It’s pretty simple, take this ball to that area over there.

 

[Capella]

Golf is not a sport that televises very well. A round takes too long, the playing field is too large, not all players start at the same time etc. It takes a lot of commitment to follow a golf tournament on screen to a level of where you get a glimpse of what's going on. And even if you watch all of it, you might still not get to see your favourite players at all, because the cameras are following other groups.

Don't get me wrong, I do love to watch golf. But that's because I am golf crazy myself. For someone who does not play, I think even chess or the world bass fishing championships make for better watching.

 

[need_my_wedge]

They were talking about this on Absolute Radio the other morning. I knew as soon as I they bought the topic up that golf was going to top the list. Partly because like any sport, if you don't like it, or you're not a fan, it will always be a borefest. As has been raised above, the time it takes for a whole field to play 18 holes, the TV commentators - particularly the US coverage, is just cringeworthy at times. I know SKY have been working hard to give it a boost, but unless you're a player/ fan of golf, it really won't get anywhere near the top of a list of must watch exciting TV sport.

I'd say I was pretty much golf mad, try to play at all available times (4 rounds a week during the summer would, play more if I had time). I watch a lot of TV golf, pretty much the only sport that I do watch (with the exception of a few Arsenal games - although I'd be hard pressed to class them as sport these days ), but even with my level of enthusiasm, I switch a lot of the US comps off - especially if there are no players in there that I like to watch or hope to win (and there aren't many US players that I want to win), it just becomes banal TV.

There are comps that are amazing to watch, there are players that get me sitting up in the chair, some shots are phenominal, but all that is meaningless if you don't play the game. People that don't play don't really understand how difficult it really is to nail a ball from 300 yds to 6 inches. I'm watching those shots admiring the hell out of them, non golf fans are just seeing golf.

 

[Hacker Khan]

I've recently cancelled my Sky Sports as golf was the only reason I had it, but I thought enough is enough and it ain't worth the price they charge. The trouble with golf is that it does not have an easily resolvable narrative or the interest of one team or competitor against the other for the casual viewer. In the vast majority of sports there is an outcome that gets resolved pretty quickly. So you can watch it and root for one person or team and get the satisfaction of seeing them triumph or not in a relatively short period of time. But in golf the narrative and action is all over the place. And often you have to wait 4 days for a winner to emerge from it all. I suppose the nearest equivalent is test cricket, but cricket had the brains to introduce 20/20 which solves a lot of those problems.

For a long time you have had a relatively boring sport to watch being run/broadcast by very conservative people who are not the most progressive when it comes to modernisation. Golf is (eventually) trying to sex up the broadcast with wizz bang TV productions, shot trackers etc which may help a bit. But at the end of the day if the main action on offer is endless 72 hole stroke play with god knows how many players participating at once on different parts of the course then there is only so much attraction it will ever hold.

The obvious exception to that in golf is the Ryder Cup. I've always said that the smartest thing the European Tour can do if they want to raise interest in the viewing public is to try and get that in front of as many eyes as possible. Previously that would have been done through terrestrial TV and I think that still has a part to play, but nowadays it could also be through a number of different ways, social media, etc etc. As that does have all that is needed to make an interesting watching experience, there are mini battles that get resolved pretty quickly (for golf anyway), it is one team against the other and you can see the passion in the players and crowd. There is no definite link to say that will increase participation as the game/clubs them selves needs to get the offering to the casual player sorted out better for that to happen, but at least golf will be in peoples consciousness as something exciting to watch.

 

[Roops]

That’s because you don’t understand it

Brilliant game. I could watch it everyday. Simple concept of moving a ball 10 yards, that encompasses skill, strategy and athletic ability.

 

[Pathetic Shark]

That’s because you don’t understand it

How can anyone not understand a play such as "Trips left Y Spider Banana 356 Reno flat, if blitz 59 Turner Delta"??

 

[Pathetic Shark]

I've just cancelled my Sky Sports as well. I have NFL GamePass and Major League baseball At-Bat for my live sports. YouTube has 10 minute highlights of each NHL game the following morning - same with the NFL if I don't want a full or 40-minute condensed game. I've not seen a live "soccer" game in nearly 20 years so it was becoming a waste of money.

 

[Orikoru]

To be fair, I used to find golf on TV boring until I began playing it more often myself - then you start to appreciate the skill that the pros impart a bit more. But I still say it's far more interesting than cricket. By comparison - in golf the coverage will constantly flick between players so you're always looking at a great/disastrous shot, always something happening, whereas in cricket it just seems like; one guy throws the ball, another guy sticks his bat in the way and it goes about 5 yards - they all stand around for 5 minutes before repeating the process. Once every fifteen minutes he might give it a good whack, but four times an hour is not enough action really.

Darts is ok. I wouldn't choose to watch it, but when it's on I can appreciate it because their skill is impressive - regardless of whether you consider it a sport or not. Darts is something we've probably all had a go at at one time or another so we know it's not easy to hit those doubles the way that they do.

American Football I find completely ridiculous. A match takes about 5 hours so they can fit 2 hours of advertising in. They all line up and push each other then chuck a ball down the end for some bloke to catch it. It's like rugby but with extra padding and much easier because you're allowed to throw it forwards. Ironically they call it a touch-down, but unlike rugby they don't have to actually touch it down, they just have to catch the thing.

 

[Hacker Khan]

To be fair, I used to find golf on TV boring until I began playing it more often myself - then you start to appreciate the skill that the pros impart a bit more. But I still say it's far more interesting than cricket. By comparison - in golf the coverage will constantly flick between players so you're always looking at a great/disastrous shot, always something happening, whereas in cricket it just seems like; one guy throws the ball, another guy sticks his bat in the way and it goes about 5 yards - they all stand around for 5 minutes before repeating the process. Once every fifteen minutes he might give it a good whack, but four times an hour is not enough action really.

Darts is ok. I wouldn't choose to watch it, but when it's on I can appreciate it because their skill is impressive - regardless of whether you consider it a sport or not. Darts is something we've probably all had a go at at one time or another so we know it's not easy to hit those doubles the way that they do.

American Football I find completely ridiculous. A match takes about 5 hours so they can fit 2 hours of advertising in. They all line up and push each other then chuck a ball down the end for some bloke to catch it. It's like rugby but with extra padding and much easier because you're allowed to throw it forwards. Ironically they call it a touch-down, but unlike rugby they don't have to actually touch it down, they just have to catch the thing.

You are referring to test cricket, 20/20 is arguably much more exciting for the casual viewer. Suppose it's about context, Ryder Cup V the 3rd day of a test match on a flat pitch, Ryder Cup every day. 20/20 V the 2nd round of a 4 day stroke play tournament then 20/20 for me. Trouble is that golf does not have an equivalent to 20/20 really.