Shortly after returning home from this year’s Masters, I received a survey from Masters.com posing a series of queries about this year’s tournament and how I spent my time on the grounds of Augusta National. One interrogative in particular stood out, and that was the question that wondered what I liked more: walking the Augusta National golf course or watching the actual golf.
I answered rather reflexively that my preference was the first of those options (though I do enjoy watching, say, Scottie Scheffler crush a drive or pure a short iron). And that got me thinking about what it is that I enjoy most about golf in general.
It also gave me some insight as to why television ratings for PGA Tour events have been plummeting even as golf as a participatory sport is thriving.
As for my rapid response to the survey question, it affirmed a long-held belief that the best part of the sport is walking a beautiful piece of property with people who share a passion for the outdoors and a love of the royal and ancient game.
To be sure, I take great pleasure in a well-struck shot and scoring well. And who among us does not like taking a bit of money from our mates in a Saturday morning Nassau.
Alas, I do not always play well or come out on top in my matches. But so long as the setting and sense of camaraderie are strong, I am a very happy camper.
... the best part of the sport is walking a beautiful piece of property with people who share a passion for the outdoors and a love of the royal and ancient game.
Ambling around Augusta National for a couple of days only reinforced those feelings, even if I was doing so only as a spectator, and I relished the remarkable visuals of the course that Bobby Jones and Dr. Alister MacKenzie laid out across the old tree nursery as I also connected with fellow patrons, most of whom were perfect strangers before those encounters.
As I contemplated those things, I thought back to the news stories I had read pre-tournament about the dismal double-digit drop in TV ratings. And it occurred to me that while those certainly are the result of the schism that the conflict between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf has created and the obnoxious greed that now pervades the game, it may also be that for many of us, we are realizing like never before that golf is simply and best enjoyed on the course itself – and with fellow players – as opposed to watching it on television in the comfortable yet quiet isolation of your own home. Especially with all the rounds we have been able to play through the pandemic and in its aftermath.
Is it really any wonder, then, that the TV numbers are down?
John Steinbreder
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