The wise say that there is always one, just one among a thousand, who notices the impending arrival of fatal things before the others.
Today, in the world of professional golf, this “just one” is Dottie Pepper, the highly esteemed on-course reporter for CBS, who, at the end of the fourth round at Torrey Pines last Sunday, after five hours and twenty-nine endless minutes of commentary, finally dared to raise her voice on the elephantine times of play.
Golf, Pga
“I believe,” declared the former LPGA Tour star, “that we all need to start using a new word when we discuss the pace of play, and that word is respect. Respect for the opponents, for the fans, for the broadcast, for everyone. Only by respecting the correct times can the game and its vision improve.”
It is a cry of alarm that cannot and must not go unnoticed by the upper echelons of the PGA Tour, especially when the data tells us that today the public, especially the younger ones, prefers to follow the 40 minutes of YouTuber golf online, rather than the five-plus hours of television of the stars of the American circuit. And again: it is recent news that the latest views of Tiger and Rory’s TGL League are explosive. In fact, the data tells of 682,000 average views against the 232,000 of the American Express of the PGA Tour. And what’s more, on this specific occasion, the godfathers of the operation were missing from the indoor arena of the TGL, namely Mr. Woods and Mr. McIlroy, who instead return this week close to the Pebble Beach tournament: it will be interesting then to study the next numbers and finally start to draw conclusions.
The rules of golf are relatively complicated compared to other sports because they are played outdoors, close to nature and animals. Respecting the rules is a basic element in the game of golf, which, almost always based on self-control and the free conscience of the players, often sees distorted results, sometimes consciously, but often unconsciously or through carelessness, due to the non-observance by many players of the rules of the game. In addition to the rules, golf adheres to a code of conduct, known as etiquette, which generally means playing the game with due respect for the golf course and other players. Etiquette is an essential component of this sport.
Tennis World USA