PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — TGL, the tech-infused indoor golf league brought to you by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, has finally hit the tee. And the verdict: Good start!
Bay GC won the first match of the TGL’s inaugural season, a 9-2 victory over New York GC, with Shane Lowry, Ludvig Åberg and Wyndham Clark playing like they were in a major tournament. Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick and Rickie Fowler, meanwhile, played like they were hitting a simulator.
But let’s be honest: the outcome of the match was a secondary concern. The real question of the evening is: is TGL worth watching? The answer: Yes, with a side of “it depends”.
Look, if you’re predisposed to hating simulator golf or believe that the only “real” golf is played outdoors with nature as the only soundtrack… well, TGL hasn’t and never will make it big -something to change your mind. It’s loud, it’s fast, there are fans boo bad shots…this is not Augusta National, my friends.
However, for what it is – a technology-intensive, fast-paced golf exhibition – TGL’s first night was a significant success. The evening moved quickly, the energy in the crowd was palpable, the players seemed engaged, and the tech show was virtually impeccable.
Will TGL attract new golf fans? Will it convert old-timers? That’s entirely TBD, but TGL has taken a solid first step.
In the hours before the game, precise spotlights traced the sky above the SoFi Center on an unseasonably cold night in South Florida. Inside, smooth jazz and club music filtered from the massive speaker system as a well-dressed crowd, heavily clad in blazers and zip-ups, arrived.
Patrons — or fans, as the case may be — paraded past craft cocktail stands, a floor-model Genesis SUV, a putting green and a fan shop featuring merchandise from all six teams. (T-shirts: $44.99 and up.) They found their seats shortly before 9 p.m. ET…just in time to sit in for a few extra minutes while the Duke-Pitt game ended on ESPN.
“It’s not a golf course, nor a country club! “” yelled emcee Roger Steele. “It’s a real club!” Remixes of everything from The Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” to Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” echoed through the arena, leading to both teams’ WWE entrances. Of all the flash-and-dazzle elements of TGL, the intros felt the most forced, mainly because most golfers can’t begin to summon the love-me-or-hate-me charisma necessary for the game. ‘one of these elements. presentations that shake the heavens.
Shane Lowry had the honor of hitting the first drive in TGL history, and he scratched it all the way down the center of the 480-yard par 4 opening hole titled “The Plank”:
“Everything happens pretty fast when you’re there, because it’s loud and you’re not used to that,” Lowry said afterward. “But yeah, I enjoyed it. I had an amazing two hours tonight. It’s a lot of fun out there and we’re not used to it. But it was good.”
Bay GC won the first point, then the next five, taking the largest lead in TGL history. New York GC finally broke out of its slide from the Jets and Giants by winning a point on the final triples hole. (TGL offers 15 holes of match play: nine holes of triples, where everyone plays, and six holes of singles, where players compete against each other.)
Playing golf in front of noisy crowds is always risky; Sometimes they can energize players, like in a home Ryder Cup, and sometimes they can be an active hindrance, like at the WM Phoenix Open after a few too many beers. The TGL crowd was encouraged to make noise, so the players knew what they were getting into. Still, hearing a crowd actively boo a player’s bad shots was a new experience.
“This was as bad as it could have gotten for New York Golf Club today,” Schauffele said. “It’s a shame to let my boys go down here, and it’s been tough. I heard a few boos from the crowd when I threw my chip down there, so I was definitely motivated to do a little better there. next time.”
Some players – notably Fitzpatrick – struggled with the green. Others, like Åberg, prospered:
Most holes were completed in about five minutes or less, and the entire procedure took about 1 hour and 50 minutes, give or take a swing or two. The shot clock forced players to maintain a fast pace of play, and the heated moments on the mic gave more insight into the players’ personalities than viewers usually get on tour.
“We had a great time,” Clark said. “I feel like no one had as much fun as us. We laughed. The things we said to each other in the locker room and to each other are a lot of fun. It’s fun to be here with these guys. We are excited to be part of this.
“I’m always so jealous of the basketball and football players because they can do this way more than us,” Aberg said. “It’s cool to play in a stadium. The crowd gets a little more active. The energy is different than a regular golf tournament.”
Woods and McIlroy were in attendance, monitoring the proceedings and providing hole-by-hole commentary on ESPN. Both are expected to play in the coming weeks, and both will offer a touch of star power to casual golfers.
“It’s something that’s fun for golf, and it’s not about trying to compete with what we do on Tour,” Fowler said. “It’s a complement to the game. Hopefully, who knows, it might open some people’s eyes to what’s possible.”
TGL returns next week and every week until the end of March. The first feedback is positive, and golf Twitter seems to be taking advantage of the opportunity for a little golf repartee during the week. A guaranteed two-hour competition, with little TV downtime and plenty of statistical details, seems tailor-made for the highly analytical and attentive golf fans of the 2020s.
The only question left now: can anyone stop the mighty Bay GC?
