Masters chairman gives 1 warning – after a question about the future of golf

Fred Ridley says he welcomes the idea that the definition of golf is expanding. There are long-established brands like the PGA Tour, the LPGA and the Masters — the tour he is chairman of — and there are brands like TGL and Top Golf, upstarts selling modern.

But Ridley also provides a warning. He knows what he doesn’t want to happen.

“We don’t want golf to become like any other sport,” Ridley said.

He was speaking on Thursday at Pilar Golf Club in Argentina, host of this week’s Latin American Amateur Championship, an event founded by the Masters, the USGA and the R&A – and, with this year marking its 10th game, a relative newcomer on the golf course itself. However, one journalist was curious: what would golf look like in the future, considering that “nowadays, the trend is to have more urban sports, more dynamic sports” – while “golf lasts about four hours?”

Mike WanThe USGA CEO offered a story as part of his response. He said he had been in last week’s opening for TGLtwo-hour simulator league with technology, supported by Tiger Woods AND Rory McIlroy. He said people told him they liked hearing the players back and forth — although, with a DJ playing music in the arena, he didn’t hear any of it. He said he had a different experience.

“I think that’s exciting for the game,” Whan said. “I think it’s exciting that the game can come to you wherever you are physically and interest-wise in a way that we can bring you into the game. I think this is just not an exciting idea for me personally. He’s proving he’s great for the game on the course.”

Whan said what you once thought about golf is changing.

“And I mean in a good way,” he continued. “Whether they’re talking about driving distance or whether we’re talking about a TGL kind of experience, a golf simulator around the world, I think we’re starting to offer the game in different bite sizes, if you will, depending on the location of the player. comes into contact.

“I know my young kids would find an hour and a half in a simulator to be ‘golf’ and when I was their age, I probably wouldn’t have considered it. I think this is good for the game. The game is big enough that we have room, frankly and honestly, and we should invite the game to be played in many different formats. There are many ways to enter this game. It’s exciting. I can talk to the United States. If you go back 10 years, three out of every 10 golfers who hit a golf course for the first time experienced the game before they got there, and today that number is eight out of 10.

“So think how different the game is if you’ve tried how to play it before you step onto the tee box for the first time. This is what actually happened in our game. That’s how our game has exploded around the world, and certainly in the United States as well.”

Ridley agreed that the newer versions of the Golf are well received. He said they create fans, and golf needs more.

But he also said why he plays. For him, golf it is not like other sports.

He hopes that won’t get lost amid the changes.

“I think it’s important to remember to think about what makes golf so special,” Ridley said. “Why do we all think we love the game? Why do we think it is the greatest sport and is it different from other sports?

“A lot of it has to do with the story and the integrity of the game. You play by the rules. You make the rules for yourself. The honor of the game. The community that is created by playing golf. I think as we try to expand our fan base, we have to keep that north star in our eyes because we don’t want golf to become like any other sport. I think that’s a very important thing to think about.”

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