– The TGL (Tomorrows Golf League) made its debut early this morning at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach, Florida. The Bay Golf Club team, formed for this occasion by Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark, and Ludvig Aberg, dominated (9-2) against the New York Golf Club of Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, and Matthew Fitzpatrick under the watchful eyes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, the driving forces behind this initiative who did not want to miss the premiere. In any case, the result is the least important aspect. What mattered was seeing this new concept for the first time and gathering initial impressions and conclusions.
First tee shot in TGL history. pic.twitter.com/WCGrfFBdRM
— TGL (@TGL) January 8, 2025
– It is not the golf of the future, nor does it intend to be. It will never replace traditional golf. It is a new form of entertainment. Nothing more. Nothing less. Pure show. It is fast, fun, dynamic, with music, interactive with the players… It is Top Golf with top-level golfers. It is a very American concept, although paradoxically the spectacle on the first day was provided by two Europeans: Ludvig Aberg and Shane Lowry. They tipped the balance, hit the best shots, and the Swede, in particular, put on a display on the greens.
– It is played at full speed. If it somehow helps professionals realise that golf can be played faster and no one dies, then the invention is welcome. Each hole is played in about five minutes on average. They have 40 seconds to execute each shot, and the clock is ticking, especially on the greens. It starts quickly, and if they don’t hit within the stipulated time, they receive a penalty stroke. It wasn’t applied. You’ve never seen a PGA Tour player putt faster. Perhaps because of the speed at which it is played, it has suited the Europeans so well… Don’t rule it out.
– The venue is spectacular. Worth seeing. There are three giant screens. A central one with the hole layout where all the long shots are seen and two side ones where all the match information is provided. There is barely capacity for 1,500 spectators. It looks more like a giant cinema hall, a kind of theatre, than a sports arena like a basketball court.
Ludvig! Let’s gooo pic.twitter.com/pTXCoDE3BX
— TGL (@TGL) January 8, 2025
– The hole design is unique and very entertaining. They haven’t set limits on imagination. Everything you can’t see in traditional golf. There is a hole with lava surrounding the fairway and the green, several offering up to three different fairways from the tee, lots of water, narrow fairways… In short, what we can see in any video game. The limit is the designer’s creativity without making it unplayable, of course.
– At least on this first day, it’s missing, we don’t know if it will be introduced later, the ability for conditions to change. This time they played all the shots without wind and without water. It would be good to recreate those situations as well to make it more challenging.
– The green technology is impressive. It is built on a platform that can rotate 360 degrees and changes the undulations of the surface each time, so they play a different green each time. The grass is the same, but the pin positions are infinite. The main risk of this new concept is monotony, after all, it is always the same place, no matter how much the hole design changes on the screen. At some point, it became somewhat repetitive.
– The speed is the best thing about the TGL. The match started 17 minutes after three in the morning, Spanish peninsular time, and ended minutes after five in the morning. It is watched in less than two hours, although the actual play is just over an hour. The mandatory TV commercial breaks take up more than half an hour of the show.
– The format is curious, especially the first nine holes played in alternate shot by the three members of each team. On hole 1, for example, Shane Lowry started from the tee, Wyndham Clark hit to the green, and Aberg holed the putt to score the first birdie in TGL history. The last six holes are played one-on-one match play. Each team member plays two holes. Lowry played against Fowler, Clark against Fitzpatrick, and Aberg against Schauffele. There was no contest. The first six points of the alternate shot went to the Bay Golf Club.
– Each hole won is a point, and a tie is zero. The team with the most points wins. Although mathematically the duel is won as it is match play, it is played to the end because the total holes won will be used to break ties at the end of the regular phase. The top four teams from this first phase will compete for the title in semi-finals and a final.
Upping the pressure. pic.twitter.com/6P6IPmLTe7
— TGL (@TGL) January 8, 2025
– The hammer concept. It is a yellow handkerchief that can be thrown to the ground at any time to challenge the opponent. When it is thrown, it means they want to double the value of that hole. In other words, winning it is worth two points instead of one, while a tie remains zero. The hammer is used alternately between the teams. One team has it, and when they throw it, it passes to the other, who then has the power to throw it again whenever they want. Until they do, it does not pass to the other team.
– The first day of the TGL also showed that if you are playing poorly, it shows, you can’t hide behind the technology. What a crisis Matt Fitzpatrick is going through…
Strategizing over the @BestBuy Digital Caddie. pic.twitter.com/2b42slTDht
— TGL (@TGL) January 8, 2025
– The three players are accompanied by an assistant who acts as a caddie, explaining how to use the technology on their bench via a screen to design the strategy for each hole. Long shots are hit from the fairway, rough, or sand depending on where the tee shot landed. In the rough, it is dropped. The fairway and rough mats end up full of divots.
First point on the board for @nygolfclub.@TheBayGolf leads 6-1 heading into singles.
📺: @espnpic.twitter.com/2oDoHgwjKH
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 8, 2025
– Some celebrities were not missing among the audience at the TGL premiere, singers, NBA players, and other showbiz personalities.
– The result doesn’t matter, it is of no value. It’s just about having a good time, and it achieves that. Only the commercial breaks hinder an agile and entertaining show. It’s curious, perfect for channel surfing, coming and going, and apparently fun to watch live due to the setup.
