The Buffalo Grove Golf & Sports Dome located on Old McHenry Road in Buffalo Grove will be having it’s customer appreciation day this Saturday from 11-2 Pm. Steve Kashul of the Golf Scene TV show will be the MC. Come enjoy free food, raffles, prizes, see new equipment from the club makers and more. Online visit Bgparks.org or call (847)-459-2321 for more information.
BY: RORY SPEARS, EDITOR & DIRECTOR OF CONTENT. Follow Rory on FB-Linkedin-or on Twitter @GogBlogGuy The 11th hole at Calusa Pines, Naples Florida.
The Waste-Management Phoenix Open is in the books. No local boy Phil Mickelson didn’t win, he didn’t even make the cut. Neither did the sport of golf’s cash cow Tiger Woods.
Yes, there was a time when Woods was the cash cow for golf, he drove up purses, ratings and the size of galleries. He actually did “move the needle.”
Well those days appear to be over, and those who make the calls at the TV networks don’t get it. While Tiger and Phil both didn’t win last year and they haven’t won yet this year, you have to wonder how long they will command the attention they do.
You see our world today, is not about who used to be. It’s about the latest and greatest and who’s hot or who’s not. While Mickelson has lost 15 pounds and claims to be ready to win this year, his game didn’t really show it. Woods meanwhile under the spotlight again was a disaster, wrapping up last place in Phoenix and missing the cut by more than a mile.
I have to admit I didn’t watch the coverage on Thursday or Friday or Saturday wall-to-wall, there was other golf related things on my calendar. But I saw enough and heard enough from disgruntled golf fans to know something isn’t right.
Links & Tee’s says thank you to all who attended the customer appreciation day last Saturday at the dome. Still plenty of time to enjoy the dome this winter. See what’s up at Links & Tee’s by visiting Addisonparks.org or calling (630)-233-7275.
That something was Woods golf game. At one point in Round 1, he was 5 over par. While the sponsors exemption kids from Arizona State were under par. Woods rallied to finish the day at just 2 over after he made on a par 5 hole on the back nine. Just the way he used to do. After the round the Golf Channel talking heads broke it all down, they didn’t expect this they said, they knew Tiger would be better on Friday. Well he wasn’t, shooting 82 in route to his worst professional round ever. OUCH.
Woods drivers go so far off line a few times per round, that reporters who were following him said on Twitter that Woods was in the next county or darn close to it. Woods chipping is a disaster, and the approach shots aren’t usually thisclose to the hole anymore. Woods missed the cut and likely went to the Superbowl before heading off to Torrey Pines in San Diego for this weeks tour stop.
Friday the coverage was all about Woods bad round, and Saturday the broadcast ignored the guys who made the cut, the leaders and focused on Woods. More than one person called the broadcast of round three an embarrassment. Why, why, why do networks keep doing this. The are turning off the fans and the TV sets across the country.
It’s gets old hearing the excuse about him moving the needle. I bet he does, but now it’s in the other direction. Good thing NBC didn’t have the broadcast or Dan Hicks would have spent the day talking Tiger and trying to force Johnny Miller to bite on Tiger talk all day long. Click, Click Click, the TV’s are going off, the channel is changing. Miller seems to get that, Hicks does not.
NBC should understand that the needle moving part. As the network that does Notre Dame football, NBC should understand when people hear the Irish are losing to Navy or getting pounded by USC they tune in. Just they way they will tune in to see Woods throw another tantrum after a bad shot, or shoot 82. Woods new number is 56, that is his world ranking. Never before has the 56th ranked player in the world received so much attention.
Golf Channel’s Facebook person couldn’t stop posting about Woods and got ripped for it, how that person or person’s keep their job is beyond understanding. Perhaps it’s time for media to move on to the players who are the stars of now. Rory McIlroy who won again at Dubai this weekend, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and players like that. It was funny to see all the kids dressed up like Fowler in the background of a Woods shot on TV. It’s obvious to see who the younger generation is following. Puma clothing not the Nike Swoosh is the logo of choice.
When Woods game returns, cover him. Until them let him go work things out if he can. Even Las Vegas is backing off making him the automatic favorite at majors these days, the smart money gamblers call Woods “sucker bet” these days. It’s been 10 years since he won a Masters, nine years since he won the British Open, eight years since a win at the PGA Championship, seven years since a win at the U.S. Open. That’s a long time between majors for someone who needs five more wins to pass the Jack Nicklaus record of 18 wins.
The Tinley Park Golf Expo, tee’s off this Friday at Noon, runs all weekend at the Tinley Park Convention Center.
If TV and the networks or ESPN don’t change their focus soon on how to cover golf, or whom to “track” on the course, there won’t be anyone left for them to cover it for. RS
Join the Gog Blog this Friday at the Tinley Park Golf Expo at the Tinley Park Convention Center at Rt.80 and Harlem Avenue in Tinley Park.
You can follow the show on Facebook too, Like their page. Booth space has sold out says show Director Gregg Tengerstrom from Silver Lake Country Club, and the GT Golf Academy.
