I’ll start with a confession – no, I didn’t stay up. I thought about it, but instead of an evening nap I opted to go and watch ATU Sligo play Ulster University in the first round of the Sigerson Cup and record the TGL to watch in the morning.
And despite a one-sided affair playing out in the bitterly cold environs at Knocknarea Arena, it didn’t take long for me to conclude that I’d made the right choice when I started watching the TGL on Wednesday morning. The primary reason was that I could fast-forward through the ad breaks, even though they weren’t as frequent and as lengthy as I’d initially feared.
Being an American production, they’re still squeezed in at every possible juncture, most notably jarring in the audible format which seemed to kick in with no apparent warning and even interrupted Rory McIlroy when he’d joined the commentary team and was talking about Ludvig Åberg’s Ryder Cup debut.
But let’s start from the top. Anchor host Scott Van Pelt was hammering – that’s a word that will come up again – the team aspect from the off, and after triple-stamping the word, they cut to each of the three-man outfits standing next to each other, dressed in similar colours – some in differing shades though – and each sporting their own individual sponsors and logos. They sort of looked like a team, but also sort of didn’t. It seems like a missed opportunity to not have them identically dressed, complete with team logos and players’ names, but of course, companies pay big money to their ambassadors and it would require additional hoop-jumping to iron out alternatives so it’s understandable why they’re not.
The players enter the arena individually and to music, and the teenage pro wrestling fan in me couldn’t help but think they should’ve gone full WWE and cranked up the volume and thrown in fireworks. Imagine the drama if Rory McIlroy is lining up a shot and the commentator can go full Jim Ross with “Bah Gawd, that’s Patrick Cantlay’s music. Cantlay is here, Cantlay is here and that’s Joe LaCava with him. Business is about to pick up!”
That’s wishful thinking of course, as is my wish to see DJ Khaled scrubbed from anything to do with golf ever again. I’m not sure how many “celebrities” were in attendance, but it seemed as though he was the only one with how often the cameras panned to him and the fact that he was interviewed towards the end, boasting about how he was walking in putts without looking at them. Please, please don’t give him any oxygen going forward.
The technology itself is pretty cool. The screen is big – we get it – and if you somehow didn’t get it, they’ll repeat it ad nauseum until even the dogs on the street are aware, but it’s still just a big screen. The green is the really cool thing. It rotates, it has 600 hydraulic jacks underneath which allow the contours to alter for each individual hole, and it’s both slick and receptive, meaning putts roll quick but players are also able to spin the ball with chip shots. It’s an incredibly impressive piece of equipment and if my prayers are ever answered with that Euromillions win, I’m 100% getting one.
The arena itself also looks great. One can only imagine how it would’ve looked inside the tent that was originally supposed to host it, but the collapse that forced the year’s delay was a blessing in disguise.
First tee shot in TGL history. pic.twitter.com/WCGrfFBdRM
— TGL (@TGL) January 8, 2025
The actual golf was decent, though one-sided with all the big momentum shifts going the way of Shane Lowry and the Bay Golf Club team. As a result, it was effectively over as a contest long before they switched to singles for the final six holes. This makes it hard to adequately assess the format, but the three-man alternate shot certainly worked well on the par-4s and par-5s.
Having the players mic’d up didn’t quite produce any real fireworks, but then again, after god knows how many iterations of ‘The Match’, is anybody really surprised? The highlight was probably Shane Lowry declaring that he was going to be “the Scottie Scheffler of indoor golf”, and the Offaly man was definitely the most vocal throughout.
Now, let’s get to ‘the hammer’. Few things have ever been hammered as much on a broadcast as ‘the hammer’, which is apparently something that’s commonplace in practice round matches among the pros. Simply put, the side in possession of the hammer – it was the Bay Golf Club at the start and it’s a towel – are allowed to throw it at the opposition at any given point upon which the other side can choose to accept the hammer, meaning the hole’s value is doubled, or pass which results in concession of the hole. And if ‘the hammer’ – or ‘the hammer’ brought to you by FedEx, to give it it’s full title – is thrown before the opening tee shots, the opposing team have no choice but to accept.
Upping the pressure. pic.twitter.com/6P6IPmLTe7
— TGL (@TGL) January 8, 2025
An additional complication? Yes, but you can also see how it could add excitement to a match that could otherwise be slipping away from the losing side. In this instance, however, it only served to put the leading team farther ahead. We’ll reserve final judgement for later in the TGL season, however.
Now, the music. Not overly loud, but music was played incessantly in the stadium, no doubt for the enjoyment of the fans – there weren’t that many by the way, and those that were there didn’t seem overly enthused – in attendance who can’t hear the commentary or the players’ conversations. For the fan watching at home, however, it was just annoying. I’ve already heard all the U2 I need, thank you very much.
So, what’s the overall verdict?
If it was a stock, I don’t think it’s Wall Street value would be markedly different than it was prior to the opening evening.
It’s definitely different, I’ll give it that. I was mildly entertained, and I’ll definitely be tuning in next week to see Tiger Woods in action, but I’m certainly glad I didn’t stay up to the wee hours to watch it.
The runaway victory didn’t help, and that’s no fault of the TGL itself, so a closer contest might bring a lot more interest both from the fans at home and those in attendance.
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