With the first Major Men’s Golf Tournament now in the can for 2011 lets review some of the observation made during that wonderful broadcast of the Masters.
The Masters is one of the organizations in golf you have to respect. Like it or not, they know WTF (pardon my geek) they are doing. Why, you may ask? AAAH..because they know what they are doing and they do it VERY well.
The Masters Golf Tournament is not a PGA run event…it is a Masters’ run event and you can tell the difference. You would think the PGA would try to pattern their broadcasts to mirror the quality of the Masters. After this year’s broadcast many golfers who saw the quality of broadcast as asking why there is such a huge difference.
Don’t Care or Doesn’t Matter
So why doesn’t the PGA match the same level of quality of the Masters? Simple! Look at all of what the Masters controls..ticket sales, volunteers, promotions, sponsorship, who plays in the event, what fans are allowed to bring into the gates and..the big thing..how the TV coverage will be made and WHO will be allowed to report the play of the event.
All the Masters does seems to be the same thing the PGA does for their tour events, and in fact all but one aspect of what the Masters does the PGA does also. But it is that one aspect that makes the Masters the higher quality event. What is it? They focus on the Golf.
Where is TV Taking Golf?
Most everyone who has watched a PGA Tour event notices where the Golf Channel and the Networks spend a lot of time wading off the path to talking about things seemingly catered to Non-golfers. They have the chat with Johnny or Nick about some phase of the game: the commentators takes great pains to evaluate every swing of the players in the lead; they do fly bys of the holes to show their length or layout. Who are they doing this for? Not me for sure since I would rather watch Fred Couples…did we see Freddie play?
It is good they clue non-golfers in on what is going on but does the game of golf have to be dumbed down on TV to an absurdly low level? The Masters does not.
Sour Eyes
Commercials!!! I realize the PGA is a business and needs to feed the coffers of the multitudes involved with tour events, but why so many commercials? The Masters holds its sponsor’s pitch to just 4 minutes an hour. If they can do it, why can’t the PGA Tour?
Why do the TV coverage just show the three groups in the lead? The only time anyone gets to see who else is playing in the golf tournament is when one of them does something very special or real stupid. Sure, going to the event would solve that problem, but is that attitude good for golf?
With all the the technology out today why can’t more cameras be on the golf course following more players. Wouldn’t it be just as good for a Non-Golfer see one of the best in the world shot an 80 as it is to see the ‘Who’s That Guy’ of the tour shooting 63?
There is absolutely no doubt Golf needs help with its image and attracting the next generation to playing golf but is the golf televised by the PGA Tour helping that image or is it making Golf look like a colossal waste of time?
Why can’t all PGA Tour events be covered by the Masters? Seems their coverage attracts more people and answers more questions non-golfers have about the game. OR…is that too simple of a solution.
With the impact television and the internet has on today’s society why isn’t Golf looking to use these mediums to improve its image. Being the first sport to shirk off all the commercials and focus on just the game or sport instead talking down to viewers would draw in more people. At least it would be worth a try..nothing else the golf industry is doing is working.
Let me know how I can help.
