3WAYSWE’DIMPROVEGOLFSIXES
22 Golf WorldAugust 2017
TherecentGolfSixeseventon
the European Tour certainly
polarised opinion. The majority
of the feedback seemed to fall
into two camps – it was either “a
vibrant and exciting revolution
that successfully brought the
sport to a whole new audience”
or “a bastardisation of the
ancient game that erodes its core
values to appeal to the lowest
common denominator”. There
didn’t appear to be much rational
thought in between these two
extreme stances. That’s where
I come in.
Let’s start with the bad news.
It did all feel a bit gimmicky. The
giant pink ‘six’ mascot was a step
too far for me and the coverage
was trying a bit too hard as well –
constantly telling us what a great
event this is and what fun
everyone is having just feels too
engineered. At times, it felt like
the kind of forced fun you have
on a team building exercise with
your work colleagues.
On the other hand, there were
plenty of positives too. At its
core, it is a good format that was
fun and entertaining to watch.
The football-style scoring system
was simple to follow and the
players embraced and enjoyed
the whole experience. I enjoyed
the player entrances and
pyrotechnics, and the shot clock
hole and nearest the pin decider
were positives. Splitting the
teams by nationality (as opposed
to the Zurich Classic’s pretty
random pairings a couple of
weeks earlier) is the right way to
go and the crowd certainly had ayoungerfeel than most other
golf tournaments.
The European Tour should be
applauded for trying new things
and it’s certainly on to
something with GolfSixes. Not
just pushing the boundaries with
an interesting new format, but
also the way it was positioned
and communicated with a
younger and more energetic
feel. We must remember that to
reach and attract new people
we must do something different
to the status quo, but it has to
be done in a way that doesn’t
alienate existing golfers and
fans. The first GolfSixes was
a good start, and with a few
tweaks it could be a very
valuable long term addition to
the European Tour’s schedule.PINION
tAlexanderoffersamorebalancedviewontheEuropeanTour’snewGolfSixesformat.
A strong event behind the gimmicks
GOLF
WORLD
EXPLAINS
How Ian Poulter
first lost then
unexpectedly
regained his PGA
Tour c ard ...1 3
Attract the star
names
Obvious, but so
integral to the success
and popularity of any
event. The crowds were
a tad sparse at Centurion
Club and the event
didn’t cause toomany
waves in America. But
get the likes of Rory,
Justin Rose, Henrik
Stenson and Sergio
Garcia into thefield
and it could be huge.Focusalittle
more on golf
Gettingridofafew
gimmicks and letting
the excitement of the
format, quality of golf
and personalities of the
player shine would
strike a better balance
betweenattractinga
new audience and
presenting an event
that even the most
traditionalgolffans
can enjoy.Take it
overseas
British golf fans are the
most knowledgeable in
theworld–butinmany
ways that also makes
us the most traditional.
Adding more GolfSixes
events (while keeping
an annual UK event) in
emerging golf nations
like Sweden and France
would deliver it to large,
more experimental
new audiences.Down but
not out
njurylimits IJP to just 13 eventsduring
2015-16 season, forcing him to miss four
nths and the Ryder Cup. He’s awarded a
orMedicalExemptionfor 2016-17. When
does return,hehas10eventstoearn218
dExCuppoints or $347,634, thepoints/
money needed equal to the top 125 in
thosecategorieslastyear,which
wouldkeephimexempt forthe
rest of this season.The chasing
game
Poults falls short of retaining his card by
asinglestrokeinthe9thevent,theRBC
Heritage. Needing to finish top 30 and bank
at least $30,624 in the final event, he misses
thecutandloseshisPGATourcard.Hevows
toreturn.“Youdon’tgetto#5intheworld
andhelpliftafew@RyderCupEurope
trophies and disappear. You come
back stronger and more
determined than ever.”Keith Pelley
congratulates
winners Denmark.1
2