The European Tour...what is going on??

[ADB]

So today Philipe Eguilar played the back nine in 28 shots, holed his second on 18 for the win to be greeted with a smattering of applause from one man and his dog. What has happened to the European Tour???? No wonder all the decent players are on the PGA if this is the standard of competition...

 

[Deleted member 15344]

So today Philipe Eguilar played the back nine in 28 shots, holed his second on 18 for the win to be greeted with a smattering of applause from one man and his dog. What has happened to the European Tour???? No wonder all the decent players are on the PGA if this is the standard of competition...

The tournaments go to the people who pay the most amount of money - that money comes from lots of sponsorship

Clubs in the UK etc can't afford to hold tournaments anymore

 

[ADB]

Maybe so, but Jesus the crowds were better watching the Europro tour. Monty wouldn't stand for it and it's devaluing the whole Tour by having these two bit tourneys that the nig names can't be bothered entering and the crowds know a pig in a poke when they see it so stay away...

 

[Imurg]

There are too many "2-bit" events being held in far flung parts of the World where not enough people
either can or want to watch it.
Take next week - Madeira. Total purse €600k. You'll be hard pressed to find a "name" in the field so nobody is going to go and watch it - no offence to him but if Sam Hutsby qualifies to play then there's no field to speak of.
And yet the winner will get a 2 year exemption to the Tour....
There's not enough money in areas where golf is more popular to hold decent events...

 

[LanDog]

It all depends on the event, I was at the Irish Open in Portrush on the Thursday and Friday and the crowds were great. every green and tee box was packed.

But then you compare that to other events in remote areas that won't attract big sponsors and therefore big names.

The money is in the US now, which is unfortunate for players over there trying to break through and are stuck on mini tours or the Web.com tour.

I think its a fair argument to say that the European Tour is becoming a feeder circuit for the PGA tour now

 

[Dave1980]

It would be a shame if the ET became a PGA feeder tour. I think we need to lose the worldwide events on the ET and start playing some of the great courses in Europe.

 

[Siren]

It wasnt a 2 bit event to a guy I know who is hoping to gain a full tour card. He missed the cut but events like this mean the world to him and im sure Aguilar would say the same.

Maybe it is becoming a feeder tour, is that really a bad thing? We dont have many flagship events but as long as they are supported I dont see the problem.

 

[Rumpokid]

It wasnt a 2 bit event to a guy I know who is hoping to gain a full tour card. He missed the cut but events like this mean the world to him and im sure Aguilar would say the same.

Maybe it is becoming a feeder tour, is that really a bad thing? We dont have many flagship events but as long as they are supported I dont see the problem.

Supported by whom?
Agree with original post,the current tour format is pants for golf fans,unless plugged into sky..Highest bidder wins,even if only person there is a passer by..A sporting event is nothing without the fans being present

 

[HarryMonk]

In the tour's defence I think it was last minute moved to Laguna from elsewhere, therefore no tickets were sold

 

[Siren]

The Open, BMW irish and scottish opens are always packed, The welsh does kind of depend on the field but always 10k there minimum.

 

[Junior]

Wait till Wentworth and the Scottish open and sure enough you will see support. I agree that the ET needs to bring the tour back to Europe. Finding sponsorship is tough but it cant be impossible. Id even go as far to say give tax breaks on players prize money. If it generates more tournaments that attracts the worlds best then more people will attend. Hosting these events could stimulate local economy so why not ?

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Golf , like football sold it's soul to Sky TV.

Fine whilst the money is coming in but if your core product is not supported by the public it will not remain your core product for very long.
There is also no going back.

 

[BTatHome]

Doesn't help having prestige event in the US the same week, and many players preparing in the US for the Players.

Let's be honest, given the choice which would you prefer to be playing this week?

 

[MashieNiblick]

I hardly watch most of the Europrean Tour events, especially those which aren't actually played in Europe.

Agree they seem to have no atmosphere and very little significance and the courses all look horribly artificial.

There have been some great new venues on the Tour though like the recent ones in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I hardly watch most of the Europrean Tour events, especially those which aren't actually played in Europe.

Agree they seem to have no atmosphere and very little significance and the courses all look horribly artificial.

There have been some great new venues on the Tour though like the recent ones in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.

The problem is the money is in Asia - they love their golf over there and pay a lot of money to host the events

For the ET going to Asia is very lucrative

Bulgaria ( Tharacian Heights) for example is a stunning course but because of the layout you can get many spectators on holes so made a massive loss last year

 

[MashieNiblick]

Bulgaria ( Tharacian Heights) for example is a stunning course but because of the layout you can get many spectators on holes so made a massive loss last year

Interesting. I saw that it wasn't on the schedule this year.

I remember last year thinking I might not bother watching it then being wowed by how the course looked when I did.

 

[shivas irons]

It all depends on the event, I was at the Irish Open in Portrush on the Thursday and Friday and the crowds were great. every green and tee box was packed.

But then you compare that to other events in remote areas that won't attract big sponsors and therefore big names.

The money is in the US now, which is unfortunate for players over there trying to break through and are stuck on mini tours or the Web.com tour.

I think its a fair argument to say that the European Tour is becoming a feeder circuit for the PGA tour now

Totally agree it does depend on the event, some of the tours events are in such remote places that you will literally just get the locals turning up, but you can be assured that the Wentworth event will be well attended.

 

[c1973]

Golf , like football sold it's soul to Sky TV.

Fine whilst the money is coming in but if your core product is not supported by the public it will not remain your core product for very long.
There is also no going back.

Hard to disagree with this really.

I'd like to see a couple (at least) new tournaments in the UK. As mentioned the Scottish, Welsh and Irish Opens are well supported. Surely big business could get behind something new, particularly in England. Are the 'fans' Not there anymore?

 

[fundy]

Hard to disagree with this really.

I'd like to see a couple (at least) new tournaments in the UK. As mentioned the Scottish, Welsh and Irish Opens are well supported. Surely big business could get behind something new, particularly in England. Are the 'fans' Not there anymore?

Fans not the issue with UK based tournaments, its lack of sponsors and lack of desire from the players to play tournaments in the UK due to the way they are taxed (UK tax a % of all their earnings for the length of time they are in the country, so in effect the UK govt taxes a share of all their endorsements etc on top of prize money)

 

[Deleted member 18588]

Is nobody prepared to face up to the reason why sponsors cannot be attracted to European Tour?

Simply put the game of golf does not sell product in Europe and particularly UK, in the same way that it does in USA.

It is not a pull for corporate hospitality, again unlike USA, and the players do not have sufficiently high profile to attract either individual sponsorship or attention to the sport. The BBC considers golf to be so low profile that, apart from the Majors, it rarely bothers even mentioning the results of tournaments in either Europe or America and newspaper coverage is minimal.

If you were in charge of the promotional budget for a large company would you commit a significant part of it to sponsoring an event that will receive so little coverage?

Forget the size of the crowd, it is irrelevant, the Moto GP will probably get a bigger attendance than Wentworth and how much media coverage will that event get.

Until golf achieves a much broader appeal it is extremely unlikely to attract the sponsorship needed to hold events again in this country.