THAT SOUND YOU heard coming from televisions across living rooms and bars across our nation wasn’t polite golf claps coming from Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club, site of last weekend’s PGA Tour Championship.
No, it was the roar from crowds attending college and pro football games and like the viewer at home, ignoring televised golf.
My solution: don’t fight an uphill battle against a far more popular sport and end the main portion of the PGA Tour season by Aug. 31.
The ratings back me up.
Not many folks were watching Jim Furyk’s goofy swing claim the championship and a cool $10 million FedEx Cup bonus and $1.35 million for winning the Tour Championship.
The tournament drew a 1.3 rating, with each full point representing 1,159,000 households.
This was a drop of 61 percent from last year’s Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson duel.
With Tiger not qualifying and Phil struggling, ratings were sure to go down but I doubt they’d be this low if they weren’t competing against the most popular sport in the country.
In contrast to the low golf ratings, a matchup of No. 1 Alabama and No. 9 Arkansas drew a 5.0, and NFL games drew 14.0, 10.5, 14.2 and 13.0 ratings.
There’s plenty of time between January and August to play the majors and the bigger tournaments like The Players Championship, the Bay Hill Invitational, etc . . .
I chose the topic because I do enjoy watching golf on television but there is so much golf product on the airways and so little college and pro football (in terms of live, televised events) that the choice is pretty easy to make.
Ryder Cup in Wales
Televised football shouldn’t be a problem for the 38th Ryder Cup from Thursday through Sunday unless you are a fan of the “footy” of the English variety.
Live from Celtic Manor in Wales, the event features the U.S.’s best against the pride of Europe, and will be televised on NBC at 5 a.m. on Saturday and 4 a.m. on Sunday, Pacific time.
Not a lot of American football being played at those hours.
The U.S. has lost the last three Ryder Cups on foreign soil but do you really expect this American to go against our boys? Nope. Go USA! Bring it home.
Golftoberfest slated
Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course, 1965 Woodcock Road in Sequim, will host Golftoberfest on Sunday, Oct. 10.
The five-person scramble-format tournament is set up for players of all handicaps, and tees off with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
For $70, entrants receive 18 holes of golf, range balls, use of carts with GPS, cigars and beer stations on the course at three-hole intervals and a tasty German-style lunch.
Golftoberfest also has a KP contest and $1,500 in prizes (based on a 100-person field).
The tournament will have three divisions: Gross, Net and Callaway, and if players choose to walk the course, the fee is lowered to $60.
All those interested in pretzels, schnitzels, brews and birdies can contact the Cedars pro shop at 360-683-6344.
Discovery Bay events
Port Townsend’s Discovery Bay Golf Club’s night golf season begins on Friday and weather-permitting, will run several more Fridays through the fall.
The course’s men’s and women’s clubs will co-host their own Octoberfest golf outing and dinner on Oct. 10.
Discovery Bay also recently crowned a new men’s club champion.
Roy Sutherland added the tournament title to his resume with a low-gross 166 during both sunny and rainy conditions last weekend.
Sutherland also won the course’s Match Play competition this summer.
Greg Rutz won the low-net title with a 136.
Tim Durner finished second in low gross and Steve Lampert was second in low net.
For additional information, call the golf shop at 360-385-0704 or visit www.discoverybaygolfcourse.com.
Family Scramble
SkyRidge Golf Course of Sequim will hold a Family Scramble Golf Tournament starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 16.
The event is open to all blood relations or those related by marriage.
Requirements are a bit looser for this tournament.
You can play with your GHIN handicap or not, be young or old, good or bad at the game. The main thing is to get out and play.
The first 36 teams are welcome to play the 18-hole two-person scramble.
Cost is $90 per team and includes gross and net honey pots, range balls, KP’s, team long putt and lunch.
Special events are available for $5 and there will be a gross-only skins game.
Carts are available for $13 a seat.
To register or for more information, phone SkyRidge at 360-683-3673.
________
Michael Carman is the golf columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. He can be reached at 360-417-3527 or at pdngolf@gmail.com.
