Made for TV matches, insane tournament prize money, celebrity collaborations and endless marketing spiel, golf has tried just about everything to widen its appeal and bring new audiences into the fold.
And quite clearly, if viewing figures are anything to go by, it’s not working. And this seems to be coming as a shock to the powers that be who can’t seem to figure out why sticking a camera on DJ Khaled hasn’t seamlessly brought the millions of hip-hop fans straight into the golf-watching demographic.
While golf, as a sport, has never been more popular, the main tours have very little to do with it. Golf participation numbers have grown because golf is a very pleasurable activity, even when you’re wading knee deep through fescue in the forlorn hope that that Pro V1 that’s cost you €6 might not be a total lost cause.
Time has always been finite, but the options available to fill the time that you have have never been greater, therefore, choosing to do something other than watch the PGA Tour broadcast from, say, TPC Deere Run, has never been easier.
That’s why venues matter. That’s why the Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down is likely to be the most watched event on the DP World Tour schedule for the season to date. Would it be better if the sun was shining, the gorse in full bloom, and the kaleidoscopic effects of green, yellow, and tan providing postcard perfect imagery? Sure, but even without that, even with gloomy skies, likely rain and the majestic vistas largely hidden, it’ll be an incredible spectacle because the golf course itself is an incredible golf course.
If I could only play one golf course for the rest of my life, it wouldn’t be Royal County Down, but that’s mainly because I don’t have the skillset required. Being pretty erratic off the tee, completely blind tee shots are enough to give me a mild panic attack, but they only serve to heighten the enjoyment of watching some of the best players in the world trusting in their abilities to crush a drive on a specific line. Throw in a 15-20 mph wind and it’s even better.
It’s a debate that seems to rage every year the Irish Open is held inland, but our links courses are what sets us apart from almost every other country where golf is played. The K Club is a terrific venue, an ideal host for a big tournament due to its location, its spaciousness, the parking available in the surrounding area, the facilities, services and general amenities that can be provided, and I’m a big fan of the golf courses as well. But unique, they are not.
When you have Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Pádraig Harrington and a few other big global names playing a DP World Tour event, it’s always going to garner interest from the wider golfing world. But when you put them on a course that is going to ask different questions, that is going to require different shots, and that looks vastly different from the golf courses that are typically beamed out on television screens week in, week out, it takes it to a different level altogether.
This is not just a formula for the Irish Open, this should be a formula for elite tour golf as a whole. Not every country has a Portmarnock, a Royal Portrush or a Royal County Down of course, but prioritising the best feasible courses in each country and building the tour around them would work wonders for professional golf as a whole.