ROLL up, roll up. Everybody likes a circus don’t they? In the world of golf, for instance, the point-and-gawp intrigue that Tiger Woods continues to stoke up with his agonising, anguish-laden attempts at a comeback almost possesses the same kind of freakish curiosity you used to get when P T Barnum wheeled out the Bearded Lady to the slack-jawed gasps of bamboozled onlookers.
This week on the European Tour, Keith Pelley, the circuit’s chief executive, brings his big top of fun to Australia for the inaugural World Super 6 Perth, an elaborate coming together of various golfing bits and bobs which, on a first perusal, almost requires a comprehensive knowledge of the ins and outs of astrophysics to understand it.
It will start simply enough. After 36-holes of strokeplay, there will be the usual halfway cut before the field is reduced further after 54-holes with the top 24 players progressing to a six-hole matchplay stage of the competition that gives this Super 6 its name. From there, any matches tied after half-a-dozen holes will be decided on a purpose-built, 90-metre Knockout Hole. If the two combatants have still not been prised apart after one go at the sudden-death shoot-out, then they will return to the tee for a nearest-the-pin decider.
“It’s like playing darts and finishing with nearest the bull,” said Iain Stoddart, of the Scottish management company, Bounce.
Those involved with the World Super 6 had shrieked that it will “revolutionise golf” at its all-singing, all-dancing launch. In this Royal & Ancient game of great history and tradition, change is usually greeted with the kind of narrow-eyed suspicion you get from a head-turning posse of muttering locals when a stranger walks into a pub in a small, coastal town.
As a promoter and manager, Stoddart hears all the whispers on the street corners. Pelley, the excitable Canadian with a strong background in digital media, has breezed into the Tour’s Wentworth HQ with a can-do attitude and an up-and-at-'em approach. Beat the Pro competitions between players and punters during tournaments, short hole challenges with fireworks, night golf, music on the driving ranges? It may be a bit of a shock to the system for some of the hardy traditionalists, but Stoddart is very much open to suggestions in this age when golf is battling away in a jam-packed sporting marketplace.
“I think among a lot of the players there is a feeling of ‘why not give it a shot?’,” said Stoddart, who manages the golfing affairs of former Ryder Cup player, Stephen Gallacher, among others. “The Beat the Pro idea during the Dutch Open, for example, was greeted with a bit of scepticism and caution. Among the older, pros it was almost a bit like ‘oh aye, it’s just a bloody circus’. Afterwards, there was almost a glowing report of how it went. I think there has been a groundswell of enthusiasm. Yes, there will be a bit of trial and error but there's no harm in giving it a go."
Like T20 cricket or rugby sevens, those involved with golf are trying use the scalable nature of the game to broaden its appeal in these fast-moving times of rapid-fire gratification. Of course, you could just have a six or nine or 12-hole contest in a straightforward format which doesn’t tamper with the basics. When it comes to innovation, you have to be mindful of the integrity of the game after all.
“People look at adding speed and razzmatazz but golf is a hard game to put all that into,” added Stoddart. “You can take darts to the Ally Pally (Alexandra Palace) and have all these people singing and dancing but you wouldn’t do that with snooker. Likewise with golf. You have to keep the decorum of the game.
“But if we don’t look at ways of putting a spark into it then we are going to be left behind. You only have to look at the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) as an example. That’s grown hugely from a standing start in no time at all. Conor McGregor’s social media site probably makes Rory McIlroy look like an average Joe. They have to look at things to try and capture the imaginations. There are 12 minute intervals between tee-times on the first tee, for instance. What other sport would have such dead time? Keith is not afraid to try things.”
This week, it’s the World Super 6 that’s being trialled. We wait to see whether it’s a gimmick or a goer.
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