Television is often mentioned on here but I can’t remember a thread where people have debated the overall influence TV has on our sport. Maybe some of the thoughts below are off target and maybe there are better explanations for some of these points but I believe TV has a huge influence on the game and it’s not always properly understood. One way or another TV is not going to go away, and undoubtedly it would be a bad thing (IMHO) if it lost interest in golf altogether.
What influence does it have on today’s and tomorrow’s golf?
For TV
1 Shows us people and places we might never otherwise see.
2 Presents golf in a good light. Youthful and skilful not just an old snob’s game. Tiger etc
3 Hey it’s entertaining, the Open two weeks time!
4 Undoubtedly it does raise the profile and the number of people playing golf and that has to be a good thing.
5 It records great moments of future history.
6 It shows us tournaments and shots that we couldn't otherwise be at
Against
The money poured into the game. What the positive benefit of this is I’m not sure, however.
1 In the recent postings on the SI roundtable discussion people kept commenting on how all parties had their hidden agenda. What they didn’t say was that David Fay and Brad Faxton simply could not be seen to agree with Geoff Shackleford because this year they are renegotiating the TV deal and everything in Golf has to be seen in the best possible light. The need for short term TV revenues thus leads to massive lying/ignorance at the top of the game's structure and the implications of this were clearly discussed on the other thread.
2 Arnie and others think that a lot of the guys on tour don’t try hard enough to win because there are guys out there who have never won a tour event with more in their bank than I will ever earn in a lifetime. i.e. the money reduces competition and the striving for excellence that is the whole point of sport.
3 Water on courses. This is a big topic discussed here many times, but it’s clear that the water hazard is a bonus in TV terms. A splash is easy to show and dramatic! Is TV influencing the choice of courses? The more tour events are shown with water holes the more new courses will feature them – it’s what the public will demand as ’real’ golf courses - there will be even less diversity in future.
4 Gives a one dimensional idea of golf i.e. doesn’t show the skill levels and shot making ability of the top players. Bomb it and wedge it works fine for the TV producer.
Other trends.
1 Matchplay is being frozen out. It works brilliantly when you can guarantee the top names play each other e.g. Ryder Cup. But who can remember who beat Anika yesterday? For the TV audience is that tournament now over?
2 Today’s championship course set up with a fast green as the primary defence is another GCA truism. As well as the history/maintenance arguments is this because TV companies like to see narrow fairways and lots of putts- that’s how the game fits the square tube? Again it’s clear what influence this will have on the type of course being built to allow people to play courses ‘just like on TV’. Certainly the Masters effect on greens committees is well known and it’s not because the Chairman has just been to the real place and talked to their super.
Disqualified from discussion on this thread because it’s a GCA given and not the most important influence.
1 People copy the bad habits of the pro golfers they see on TV.
Am I generalising too much? If TV is influencing golf we need to analyse how and what that will mean in the future.
