I was watching this week's PGA tournament with two of my teenage daughters this Sunday, and as usual they were complaining about how boring it was. This is pretty much the standard scene on a Sunday afternoon at my house, me taking a nap and watching golf, them griping about how boring golf is. They've played a little golf, but they tend to gravitate towards team sports with a heavy cardio component, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, etc.
So we flipped back and forth between the downhill ski racing championships in Val D'Isere and Torrey Pines when one of them suggests that it would be much more exciting to have the golfers compete not just on score, but as a timed event. See who can play the fastest, add time for extra shots over par, and come up with a winner. They seemed to think that golf would then qualify as a "real" sport.
As someone who likes to play fast, I thought it was a great idea. Carrying their own clubs, start players off in five minute intervals, like the time trials in cycle racing. Clock starts when you hit your drive on 1, maybe pass a guy or two looking for their ball in the rough, clock stops when you hole out on 18. It would be a totally made for television event, foot speed important, maybe a little body contact close to the hole. And you need to be able to calm down for the 10 footer after just sprinting from 200 yards out! Sort of like the skills required for Olympic Biathalon.
X-Golf, golf for the next generation!! My kids thought it would be pretty cool!