Earlier this year, we got some big news in the world of golf on YouTube: their professional tour is in the works.
Called Your Golf Tour, the four-event circuit is being organized by Grant Horvat and Bryan Bros.
The concept here is quite simple. These are the best players on YouTube. While, typically, golf on YouTube is a mix of skill and personality—often the top influencers are based more on personality than skill—this tournament is about bringing together the most skilled guys.
Your Golf Tour will open at Pursell Farms in Alabama this year and close at Wynn Las Vegas with a three-day, $1 million stroke play championship. In between, we’ll take the Teeth of the Dog to Casa de Campo in Dominican and then Cutalong to Tributer Resort in Virginia.
Today, we found out who will actually compete for this money. We knew about Horvat and Bryan Bros. but there were 13 other names on the table.
There was a video yesterday (below) releasing the names and giving additional tour details.
The format for Pursell Farms is that each captain will select three players for their team. They will also bring in a random character player for each event. The wildcard can be absolutely anyone, but that player cannot be selected again (by any team) for the remainder of the year.
This means there will be teams of five players in each tournament.
Round 1: Nine holes of a scrimmage at Horvat Channel where each team has a pair of two-man attacks.
Round 2: Nine holes of alternative shots on the Bryan Bros channel, where the wildcard has to get into the line-up no matter what – so the captains will be forced to make a decision about who to bench from their team.
After those 18 holes, the bottom two teams based on cumulative team scores will be cut.
Then the final round of the event will be on the YGT channel with 5 v. 5 singles between the top two teams. This means that everyone, including the wild character, will play.
Horvat and co. said individual tournament formats may change as the season progresses, but players drafted will belong to each team throughout the year.
The prize money for the first three events is $250,000 for first place, $175,000 for second place, $50,000 for third place and $25,000 for fourth place. This will be shared among team members.
Going into year two, all four teams will have to cut a player. There will be qualifiers and expansion for the second season.
Here are the 16 players in the running.
Taking Sean
I will repeat what I have been saying for most of this year.
These guys have built YouTube channels based on their comedy and attitude – not necessarily their pure golfing ability. Their golfing ability is a big factor, but their channels wouldn’t go anywhere if they weren’t having fun as characters.
How do they maintain those traits while still competing for a lot of money? How do the videos feel?
When this starts to feel like a cash grab without the same layers of fun, the bubble may burst and there may be some resistance from the audience.
I think we’re going a little overboard with YouTube golf in general. It’s a positive overall, but I’m not sure there’s enough juice for an entire impact tournament, especially since some of these guys are far better players than entertainers.
Not for nothing, there are some unlikable characters on this list (Kwon, Morris, etc.). I think that kind of helps, honestly. It’s nice to go down against the players.
Ultimately, I’ll reserve judgment until I see the finished product.
What do you think? Is this a good idea?
Let me know below in the comments.
