FRIDAY’S FEELINGS
THINGS I LOVE
Pick Your Poison
It’s been mentioned in this blog before that golf courses can take on many different personalities based on the conditions.
But Royal Troon is bipolar.
Mother Nature turned off the spicket to rain and cranked on the wind-o-meter. With the afternoon feature group of Rickie, Bubba, and HIDEKIIIIIIIIIII, the 1st hole told the entire story: 20-25 mph winds directly into your face.
That wind decided to change direction throughout the afternoon as well. Sporadic changes can create nightmares.
Lots of golfers attempted to keep the ball beneath the wind to no avail. The amount of uncertainty seen from everyone for the entire afternoon was astounding. Especially with the low cut surrounding those devastating bunkers, a miss by 1-2 yards is fatal.
You saw players start to overcompensate for the conditions, either trying to blast through the wind or aim too far in one direction.
It’s quite amazing how the conditions can turn on their head so quickly and create a brand new golf course from a few hours ago.
All-In Coverage
A bit of a mea culpa here. Yesterday I mentioned the awkwardness surrounding some of NBC’s broadcasts, especially Billy Ray Brown’s consistent presence.
That apparently is for a very legitimate reason – NBC has gone all-in for The Open in their coverage.
In the first hour of the broadcast, the network has minimal golf they can actually show. Instead of showing three dudes walking after their shots, the network is experimenting with different segments.
First, there’s the insight from Brown. He’s given some great historical insights and strategic planning spanning all of Royal Troon. Even a light-hearted moment of the camera capturing a massive airplane flying over the course as Brown looked on was entertaining.
Second, Mike Tirico and Frank Nibolo are fantastic at what they do. Those first 60-90 minutes allow plenty of space for each of them to give longer summaries about the course, upcoming pairings for the day, and really anything that comes to mind.
Third, a golf junkie like me loves seeing as many shots as possible. NBC does a great job showing big names or tournament leaders on the practice range getting ready for their round. The network even incorporated a split-screen to show distances, ball speed, etc. on the driving range.
That’s dedication that I love. Yes, the format may be different than what a viewer is used to. 11-12 hours of coverage a day is a feat that is appreciated and applauded. I believe NBC has put a product together that gives the golf fan the full perspective of a major championship.
Also – for efficiency purposes, DVR is a lifesaver for all this coverage + commercials.
How Golfers Combat the Rain/Wind/Cold
- The Quarter-Zip, fully zipped, with Beanie (Tony Finau)
- The Quarter-Zip, fully zipped, with Golf Hat (Henrik Stetson)
- The Quarter-Zip with Golf Hat (Bill Haas, Ernie Els)
- The Quarter-Zip with Golf Hat and Snow Pants (Matt Kuchar)
- The Sweater-to-Rain Jacket and Rain Gloves transition (Phil)
- The Short-Sleeved Windbreaker with Turtleneck underneath (Rafa Cabrera-Bello)
- a Spring Windbreaker because you have Polar Bear insulation in your body (John Daly)
On-The-Fly Rules Interpretations!
As an attorney, when you get a British man rattling off statutory numbers and letters along with the content of the rule, that brings you close to tears of joy and elation.
Not only did we get the exact wording of the rule, “Directly Attributable,” but the NBC’s British Rules Man did a superb job of defining the rule via the rulebook and then expounding on it.
There was a great overlay of a slo-mo replay relating to the rule, as Phil had issues with his ball moving after he had moved his ball marker.
Not only were the 3 minutes extremely informative, but it was done in a professional, concise and clear manner. Everyone was on the same page, the issue got resolved, and there was an expert in the booth able to provide further analysis.
The British Rules Man reappeared when Jason Day’s ball briefly disappeared. More great insight from that man, with succinctness prevailing over all.
THINGS THAT I LOVE JUST NOT AS MUCH
Whoever Opened up the PGA Video Vault
When Phil almost holed out at 8, NBC pulled out all the stops, and rightfully so.
First, cue the magical music. Entering the video montage of the Aces at the 8th, music inferring some historical feat gave a nice introduction to the historic footage.
Seeing Gene Sarazen hole out in 1973 is spectacular. First, there’s no grandstand behind the tee box. Second, the guys are KILLING IT in their outfits. Third, you notice that some things haven’t changed, such as the black-and-white flag pin with the yellow flag and red number.
Then, they showed another guy and I can’t remember his name. Sorry Second Hole-in-One at Royal Troon Guy.
Then, and you can’t make this stuff up, they cue up Ernie Els’ Ace in 2004 at the Postage Stamp. Of course, he was in the group with Phil, who came so close to joining that venerable group.
NBC opened the Vault on Thursday as well when Mickelson was chasing 62. That’s an even greater feat, as it requires footage from any Open championship and those not just occurring at Royal Troon.
It’s quite interesting that the sport doesn’t utilize this resource that much. For a game that is steeped in tradition, it makes sense for more old video to be used and value to the storyline of each major championship weekend.
Here’s to hoping that more networks will dig in and use some footage as well as NBC has.
Rain
It’s just part of the spectacle of links golf.
Weather conditions with The Open has always been part of the storyline. I understand that the game of golf is hard enough. The debacle(s) at Oakmont were mostly man-made (outside the monsoon, which the grounds crew did a marvelous job managing). No golfer this week came to Royal Troon without 2 entire sets of rain gear.
I’m a big fan when more uncontrollable challenges present themselves during a tournament. It tests a golfer’s mental fortitude, even more from a non-skills perspective. Sure, you can read a green. You need absolute silence and stillness to hit a tee shot.
But how well do you focus when there’s a steady shower? Can you maintain concentration when droplets are bouncing off umbrellas, jackets, bags, cameras, and microphones? Will you stay committed to your game plan? How will you adjust your putting stroke with the excess moisture?
I find that rain, especially when at The Open, adds another layer to the complexity and challenge a golfer faces.
It also gives me more reason to speak in my Scottish/British accent. It’s also raining at home, so I feel a little bit colder. And then I have a reason to drink more single malt.
The NBC Golf Song with a Tinge of Bagpipes
The song is familiar to many golf fans. The basic melody is played entering and coming back from commercials for all coverage on the Golf Channel and NBC.
However, with NBC having rights to their first Open ever, they’ve pulled out all the stops. Here’s one person that appreciates each one of them!
The song itself has a royal and majestic feel to it. There are lots of moving notes, strong timpani in the background, and a fanfare feel to it. This week, that melody is lead by a strong set of bagpipes. There’s some flute and/or piccolo interwoven throughout the bridge, and it adds to the Scottish/non-American version of the song.
Well done, NBC.
That Caddies Never Have their Own Umbrella
They’re humans too!
While he does have control over that umbrella for most of the time, these caddies are completely exposed to the hazardous conditions. Whenever the golfer grabs the umbrella from the caddy’s hands, it’s game over.
The hardest time has to be when the golfer is finishing up a short putt on a hole, because the caddy knows exactly what is happening next:
- putt made
- golfer hands caddy the putter
- caddy hands golfer the umbrella
- golfer treks to the next tee box
- caddy is standing in the rain, walking towards the bag, snap the cover back on the putter, pick up the bag, and run in the rain towards the next tee box to catch up with the golfer
I’ll put this on my Invention List – an easily foldable and openable (is that really a word) umbrella that the caddy can have in his pocket to pop up and utilize when the rain becomes heavy.
This will be about #2,629 on that list.
THINGS THAT I DO NOT LOVE
Banning the Bean Bag Area at the Open
PERSON 1: “Let’s say you’ve already paid your admission to the tournament.”
PERSON 2: “Ok…”
PERSON 1: “And when you get in, you could go see the best golfers in the world, be 10 feet away from them, and walk one of the most iconic courses in golf history.”
PERSON 2: “Yea…”
PERSON 1: “But instead, we create an area similar to you sitting on your couch at home and you can watch all the golf you want on a big screen and be a complete lazy ass!”
PERSON 2: “OMG THAT’S THE GREATEST IDEA EVERAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”
5,000 bottles of champagne roll in, party ensues, man wins Nobel Prize.
*scene*
GTFOH
Please get rid of this yesterday. Many thoughts on this, including:
- Those beanbags are an awkward size. Does it fit 2 people? Do you want it to fit 2 people? Is this the Scottish version of a Drive-In Movie Theater?
- All I hear about are pubs, beer, heavy food, and the ability to bring your golf clubs into a bar. How sanitary do you think these things are?
- New Rule: If it starts raining and your ass is sitting in one of those, you are required to keep sitting there. Without an umbrella.
- Please, please for the Love of God please don’t let some American golf course think this is a good idea because then somehow America will become fatter. I don’t know how but it will happen.
Camera Angles on Putts
I’ve been fortunate to attend major championships in golf. I saw Rory win at Congressional and Jason Day win at Whistling Straits.
One of the more difficult things when watching golf in person is finding and seeing the hole when golfers are putting. Usually, the gallery is large so you don’t get a good angle. Other times, the green is elevated and you’re unable to tell where the hole is.
No.
These last two days, that latter issue is happening too often. Certain holes only show the golfer from a side profile. The camera is about 80-100 feet away and not at a high enough angle to truly see the hole. It’s difficult to find out the length of the putt, any break in it, and whether it’s uphill or downhill.
When the screen doesn’t show some white circle sticking out around a bunch of green grass, that’s a viewing problem.
Even if green-level cameras are unavailable, there has to be a better solution.
#FindTheGolfBall
This gives flashbacks to pre-HD golf when everyone watched Tiger destroy the field on ESPN.
Back then, before athletics were multinational and technological behemoths, losing where a golf ball ended up was understandable.
At the rate it’s happening at Royal Troon, there is a cause for concern. These actions are occurring far too often:
- Golfer hits shot
- Camera pans to golfer’s reaction and expression
- Camera pans to set camera surrounding green
- Camera pans left, looking for ball
- Camera pans right, still looking for ball
- Camera zooms out, surveying the entire green
- Camera eventually finds the ball, zooms in
- Transition to next golfer
Rule #1 in golf programming is to always see the golf ball when it’s moving. There is nothing more frustrating than not seeing one land, roll, and/or settle.
The production staff had weeks, likely months, to scout the course and determine what holes, blind tee shots, and long approaches on par 5s could give problems to the cameramen. If that vetting did occur, then the execution has been subpar as of now.
Picking up more of the Golfer/Caddy interaction
It’s a give and take for broadcasters. With so much different personnel between head anchors, interviews, and analysts following groups, remembering this priority can be difficult.
We got some of that on the 5th with Phil and Bones. I know it’s dependent on the golfer, but for a Hall of Famer, Phil relies heavily on the opinion of Bones when it comes to club selection and shot type.
Sometimes, being able to listen into that interaction is dependent on the golfer. For me, I never want to miss any interaction that Phil, Jordan, Rory, or Jason has. That mostly has to do with the golfer, but the relationship they have with their caddy is great discussion and theater.
Just a bit more focus on these events would be another feather in the coverage’s cap.
Golf Moola 