Inaugural TGL season hits high marks as golf broadens its horizons

With the inaugural TGL season approaching its climax, the scorecard for the tech-fused indoor team golf league backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy makes for some impressive reading.

Star power, entertainment value, great golf, eye-catching virtual holes – check.

Impressive TV ratings, smooth delivery of sophisticated tech, fun for in-person fans – check.

Six weeks on from its highly anticipated launch, TGL has proven to be additive to golf’s landscape and a growing success story. The league has achieved so much in so little time that many believe it will help advance the sport’s growth, especially among new and younger fans.

“It’s just a different form of golf,” said two-time major winner Justin Thomas, whose Atlanta Drive team have secured a spot in the play-offs.

McIlroy, whose Boston Common team include Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama, added: “I think people have enjoyed watching it on TV. There’s nowhere I can go that people aren’t talking to me about it.”

For sports fans in Asia, TGL is broadcast live primarily on Tuesday and/or Wednesday mornings, which makes for easy viewing on TV or a device. The transformative league comprises six teams (four players each) which are owned by some of the United States’ biggest sports franchise owners and A-list celebrities. They include Stephen Curry and Serena Williams plus Steve Cohen (owner of New York Mets), Arthur Blank (owner of Atlanta Falcons) and Fenway Sports Group (owners of Boston Red Sox and Liverpool).

With Mike McCarley, a long-time TV executive, serving as CEO of Tmrw Sports and with Woods and McIlroy fully vested in the innovative venture, TGL is taking small but confident steps in showcasing a unique, engaging and exciting product that is refreshing and different from the traditional 72-hole individual competitions.

Each TGL match is played over 15 holes with an emphasis on risk-reward and stunning visuals.

Three players are picked by teams each week to play, and golfers hit their tee shots and approach shots on real grass or sand, from 35 yards out into a giant, five-story simulator screen with state-of-the-art technology that is incomparable to the standard golf simulator. Within a certain distance, players move to the short game area which has a giant rotating putting surface with the technology to change the undulation of the greens.

After some initial glitches, the simulator has since worked flawlessly. The transition from golf shots being struck to the TV broadcast and giant display screens for fans in the arena have been seamless.

Players are also mic-ed up, which has led to plenty of thrash-talking, interesting insights into a player’s mind and loads of laughter, which offers a different dimension to the personalities of the golfers in a competitive environment.

The team concept has brought out the best of golfers, with the first nine holes using the Triples format – each team member hits a shot in sequence – before going into the Singles format over the last six holes in match-play mode. The one fun twist is “The Hammer” which, when an orange towel is thrown by any team/player, can make a hole worth two points.

There’s no messing about as players are on a Shot Clock to ensure they rip shots into the giant screen or hit a shot in the short game area inside of 40 seconds, and each match lasts no more than two hours.

TGL is primarily made for TV – there are 73 cameras capturing the action including 20 robotic ones and backed by six Full Swing monitors at both the front and back tee boxes, and six additional ones below a slope closer to the giant screen to ensure indoor shots replicate the real thing.

TV ratings have been above expectations – averaging 765,000 viewers across the six prime-time matches on ESPN with three of them reaching a peak audience of 1.2 million viewers. Additionally, the TGL audience is one of the youngest in sport with 42 per cent of its audience in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 age group.

Billy Horschel, who represents Atlanta Drive said: “I think for a new start-up, we’ve been very successful. The viewership has been unbelievable. And the further we go on, the more that we can have fans understanding what this is about and the excitement.”

The regular season concludes on March 4, followed by the play-offs semi-finals on March 18/19 and Finals on March 25/26. If you’re not caught up with TGL yet, don’t get left behind.