Golf not exciting...

[MegaSteve]

During The Open week-end, whilst being interviewed, one of the upcoming talents [Xander Schauffele] advised he didn't find watching golf exiting... As noted by the writer of the piece, David Walsh, that should be of a concern... I think he may well have a point... All well and fair the converted finding it exciting [or not] but to get new faces into clubs there has to be some appeal to get them there... Talk of slow play being addressed needs to be put into action perhaps?

 

[duncan mackie]

I think the real point being made is that watching golf isn't really that exciting relative to playing golf.

I have to agree - despite watching a huge amount of television golf it's only really the last 9 holes on a Sunday that get exciting; and even then if someone's miles ahead they aren't either - regardless of the golf quality.

Then again watching motor racing isn't exciting either (most of the time...)

 

[Jamesbrown]

I’ll watch a Sunday on a major but that’s about it. Or some snippets of the week from the European tour or PGA Fb pages.

Golfs fairly boring. Commentary’s drab as
nothing is happening.
The only sport I do watch is darts.

 

[clubchamp98]

It’s a bit like football results are everything and if they can’t win they play so safe that it’s not great to watch.
There so slow it’s painful to watch.

They are like robots apart from a few exceptions.

The best one was the shortest course in the USA ( Cant remember name ) where shotmaking ruled not just long hitting.

Then there’s the adverts but not just adverts it’s the same ones all night, I know which ones coming next.

 

[Carpfather1]

It does get boring watching dj bombing the ball and ripping these pga courses in perfect conditions to shreds I prefer watching them over here playing the links with the wind ect

 

[Hobbit]

HID watches more golf than me, and she doesn’t even play the game. I watch very little, although I’ll watch every day of a Major it will only be half hour/hour bits till the final day.

It it is just boring as a boring thing on a very boring day. For example, a tee shot with a driver. The player hits it and you know it’s going 350, probably down the fairway. The best bits are when they hit into the greens or sink monster putts. Not forgetting when they play like us and dunk it in the water.

Love playing, but not watching.

 

[jusme]

know few people who watch hour after hour, It does get dull. I like many others dip in and out and dip in when it gets close or exciting - usually last few holes of a major

 

[huds1475]

Xander is prob one of the least exciting to watch to be fair. Don't know the context of his comments but he's a prime example of turning off viewing audiences.

One of the BBC commentators described him as very, very deliberate.

Classic BBC understatement.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

It depends who is playing and where. As someone said watching DJ bomb it on a wide open course, throw wedges and have a birdie fest can get repetitive although you have to admire the skill. Golf to many is never going to be exciting and it takes a Stenson/Mickleson or a Ryder Cup to prick the interest of the general public

 

[Deleted member 18588]

To the golf enthusiast the game can be enthralling to watch.

But the non-enthusiast is unlikely to find golf exciting viewing and no amount of gimmicks, including Shot Clocks, will alter that.

The time limits recently employed would not sufficiently alter the fact that our game will never be dynamic.

No matter, as some people apparently find F1 exciting and some will watch darts thereby proving that ultimately there's a TV audience for anything.

 

[Robster59]

You've also go to think of it as a bit of a Busmans holiday for him as well. As happy hackers, we can marvel at the skills of the professionals. For the pro's maybe less so.
I would also agree that the target golf most US courses seem to be set up for does tend to put people off because you're not seeing a range of skills. At The Open, people saw the pro's having to be more inventive and play a wider range of shots.

 

[Yorkshire Hacker]

I find golf really enthralling. I LOVED watching the Open this year. The last day in particular was one of the best days I have ever watched.
Probably my most memorable moment was watching Tom Watson almost win the Open, but aside from the Majors, I can watch almost any golf. I can even watch the Trilby Tour!
Watching the Pros.....they really are amazing. Their recovery from mistakes amazes me, and I think we can all learn from the way that they (generally) don't compound one mistake with another.
My two other sports on TV that I enjoy are Football and Motor Cycle racing. Compared to Formula One, Motor Cycle racing is out of this world for genuine "seat of the pants" excitement.
Football....I admire the artistry and skill of the top players.
Yes, I get good value out of my Sky Box!!

 

[Grant85]

Personally I love watching golf on tele. Clearly take a much bigger interest in the final day, and even then when there are a few players involved.

I think there is a lot of tournaments now and very easy for a lot of the big players to avoid each other apart from in the biggest events.

Sunday from the Open was just phenomenal. So many players involved and just an impeccable set up with eagles birdies, bogeys and doubles creating such amazing
drama. Sad that we can’t have more of that. Should definitely have a WGC at a UK links course each year.

Then we go to Sunday at the European Open. Richard McEvoy with an excellent win and an exciting finale. Very much a journeyman. But he beats two big stars in Reed and deChambeau. Kinda ruins the narrative of the top guys are better than everyone. In reality they are just a bit more consistent but they can still get beat by a guy who was probably 500 in the world 2 weeks ago.

I find it interesting and so it’s also exciting.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Like watching most sports it can be boring with bursts of excitement.

The recent Hearts v ICT game being a good example.
Fairly boring first 30 mins then the game bursts into life with three absolutely stunning goals in 10 minutes.

 

[MegaSteve]

I started playing in the late 80's along with just about everybody and his mate... Uptake of the game has plummeted in the last decade or so... Folk seem time poor nowadays and watching professionals seemingly take forever to complete a round ain't gonna encourage a new influx anytime soon...

 

[Grant85]

I started playing in the late 80's along with just about everybody and his mate... Uptake of the game has plummeted in the last decade or so... Folk seem time poor nowadays and watching professionals seemingly take forever to complete a round ain't gonna encourage a new influx anytime soon...

While id like to see things be quicker, I really don’t think pace of the professional game is going to change the number of people playing.

Golf is expensive & time consuming. There’s obviously far more to spend your time & money on nowadays.

More 9 hole competitions would help imo.

Manufacturers dont help, convincing folk they have to spend £300 on a driver every 18 months.

many clubs haven’t exactly modernised & are still seen as old fashioned.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

I love to watch the majors, but I have stopped watching general tour games as play is just so slow and tedious. Couple that with the overly samey courses and formulaic way of playing them leaves me bored with them.
When I do watch golf, I want to see the course holding its own and biting back. I don’t want to see the course being shredded with dart scores under par.
I also don’t like endless chit chat from the pundits brought in to fill up so much time.

 

[Grant85]

I love to watch the majors, but I have stopped watching general tour games as play is just so slow and tedious. Couple that with the overly samey courses and formulaic way of playing them leaves me bored with them.
When I do watch golf, I want to see the course holding its own and biting back. I don’t want to see the course being shredded with dart scores under par.
I also don’t like endless chit chat from the pundits brought in to fill up so much time.

Completely agree about the courses.

Was listening to the No Laying Up podcast about the Ryder cup. They made a good point about the venues, but the same applies to the PGA tour venues as well. When a course becomes a tour venue, there is then a premium to play it and they can obviously charge that bit more.
Basically a lot of these courses are built for the Pros with back tees at 7,500 or so, but with maybe 5 different tees for different players.

Clearly the average golf tourist doesn't care if he's played Quail Hollow the way the Pros have it set up, or more likely less 1,000 yards.

 

[shortgame]

I think the real point being made is that watching golf isn't really that exciting relative to playing golf.

I have to agree - despite watching a huge amount of television golf it's only really the last 9 holes on a Sunday that get exciting; and even then if someone's miles ahead they aren't either - regardless of the golf quality.

Then again watching motor racing isn't exciting either (most of the time...)

This for the most part.

I'll watch every shot I can of the Ryder Cup, The Open, and The Masters.

Some of the US Open and The USPGA, maybe The Players. Even then I lose interest if no-one I like is in contention

A little of say The Scottish Open if it's on a course I like or have played

Watch virtually none of the ET or PGA tour - it's dull as dishwater to me now. Used to watch it all a few years ago but over saturation did for me

 

[Slab]

No sport on TV is “exciting” why would the writer think golf should be any different?

Sure they all have their moments (as does any golf event) but as mentioned even cars knocking round at 200mph is not “exciting” for the most part

Some tournaments will have more exciting moments than others (just like any other sport) I really don’t understand what it’s supposed to provide to the viewer that no other sport does. Sure the viewing experience can be improved with action being taken on pace, changes to commentators style etc but it’s still not going to be wall to wall excitement

There was a thread recently about too much excitement being shown at the Phoenix event (& not that you’d want to but pretty hard to recreate that when there’s only a couple dozen spectators following a group round on a far flung ET event)

I watch pretty much any golf on TV across 4/5 tours plus the magazine shows etc. I don’t feel “excited” that often but I always enjoy it, something always happens to make it enjoyable (& not every sport can say that)

Not surprising that a tour pro doesn’t get excited as much as a proper viewer (he can actually do what he sees on screen & when he does he doesn’t seem very excited about it so why would watching someone else do it excite him to any degree!)

Even if you started spraying water canon from behind the green at players hitting approach shots it would lose any excitement after a few weeks