Anyone who had the time and inclination to tune into this year’s PGA Grand Slam of Golf from Bermuda on TNT found themselves disappointed for a number of reasons.
Just as a reminder, the PGA Grand Slam of Golf is an annual event that pits the winner of each Major in a two (2) day Stroke Play event. This year’s competitors were supposed to be:
Masters Winner, Gerry Watson - US Open Winner, Webb Simpson - The (British) Open Winner, Ernie Els - and - PGA Championship Winner, Rory McIlroy
Rory has a “scheduling conflict” because he was committed to play elsewhere before he won the PGA Championship, so Keegan Bradley - last year’s Grand Slam of Golf winner - was substituted.
Ernie succumbed to an ankle injury, so Paddy Harrington was substituted.
RECENT HISTORY
The PGA Grand Slam of Golf has been contested in Bermuda since 2007. Then Premier Alex Scott successfully wooed the PGA to bring the event to Bermuda’s Mid Ocean Club in Tuckerstown. Mid Ocean was a familiar venue to Tour Players as it was the site of the Gillette Three Tour Challenge for many years, so the PGA knew they were in great hands.
Later in 2007, Premier Scott was succeeded by Ewart Brown, who immediately saw an opportunity to showcase Bermuda, presuming Tiger Woods would win a Major and come to the island to play in the Grand Slam of Golf. It was an excellent presumption until Tiger’s woes made such hopes prohibitive.
Premier Brown, a deeply partisan leader of the Progressive Labour Party, moved to have the event taken away from Mid Ocean Club, a private club, and moved to Port Royal, a public course. The courses are as diametrically different as their locations on opposite sides of the island.
BERMUDA STYLE GOLF
One thing remained the same, the challenge of golf in Bermuda, and a wonderful challenge it is. Golf in Bermuda is so very different inasmuch as:
* Fairway grass yields next to no divots since the grass is rooted in a sandy substrait ...
* The Rough, while not being very thick, is riddled with what I call “brillo grass” which is never easy for any player to exact a reliable shot ...
* Sand Bunkers are filled with an imported very grainy sand which routinely can cause sparks, and not the “thumps” we were all taught to try for ...
* Greens are lightening fast, but not the glass like surfaces the Tour Players are accustomed to ... The grass is quite grainy and grows rapidly as does all flora and fauna in these beautiful environs ...
* The entire course is affected by the affects of salt sea air which produces an average 60% humidity year long ...
All these facets showcase Bermuda golf, and present a superiour challenge for each year’s four Major winners.
DISAPPOINTMENTS
1. The PGA Grand Slam of Golf now enjoys a broadcast relationship with TNT. The official guide for the event claims the broadcast is in Prime Time. One would think that it would mean that their usually superiour broadcast would be seen on tape-delay in the evening. Unfortunately, it was broadcast beginning at 4PM Eastern on tape delay, so every sports portal had already reported on it. Prime Time on weeknights, as this event was, is not late afternoon.
2. The coverage of the event disappointed many fans of Bermuda. Commentators often alluding Bermuda golf to Florida golf, or describing a short air trip to Bermuda from airports that do not service Bermuda.
Instead of incorporating the services of any one of Bermuda’s epic golfers to assist the viewer in understanding the nuances of Bermuda, Commentators constantly substituted their hackneyed references that were inaccurate or simply asinine.
3. Only half of the participants who actually earned a place in the Grand Slam this year appeared. I understand Ernie’s injury, but not Rory’s “schedule conflict.” That left this year’s event to be somewhat empty. Considering that Ernie’s replacement, Paddy Harrington, won the event further makes my point. Paddy did what he came to do - prove that a third trip to Bermuda was the charm.
Bermuda deserves better. Golf fans deserve better.
I’m sure Bermuda benefits to a greater or lesser extent, but as their relationship with the PGA for this Grand Slam ends this year, maybe it’s time for the event to be reconsidered, just like the now-defunct Gillette Three Tour Challenge.
I have fond memories of the Gillette Challenge. It brought nine members of each Tour, the Men's, the Ladies, and the (then) Senior Tours. Nine Threesomes of one member each, playing their Best Ball.
That’s 27 Tour Players instead of just four. All enjoyed a fun event which encouraged fan participation where things like autographs were commonplace. That was not the case for locals for this event. One look at the Official Programme confirms that. The event was spirited and viewers always looked forward to it when it was broadcast over the long Thanksgiving weekend.
I was deeply dashed when the Gillette Challenge was cancelled. I would not be upset if the Grand Slam of Golf were. It has lost all of the reasons why it existed, and it has lost any ability to be of substantive assistance to Bermuda. It is treated as an afterthought everywhere except Bermuda.
The blame goes to a watered down event that Major champions do not feel compelled to attend. More blame has to be assigned to poor broadcast quality that resembles the idea that “It ain’t what it is, it’s what you call it.”
So, let’s call it what it is ... a nice event, but one which lost it’s way along the way. Too bad, I don’t even think they realize it ...