Lessons To Be Learned From Wachovia
Hello. Well, the computer's still up, so it's time to review last week's tournament, the Wachovia Championship held in Charlotte, NC.
Dave Hodge gave the tournament a "thumbs down" on tsn.ca for his 'TSN The Reporters' show. Among things Hodge didn't like were "Oscar-style gift bags", director's chairs and a food tent at the driving range, and the new cars the players get to drive for a week.
Dave Hodge is my broadcasting hero. I was shattered when he was booted off of Hockey Night in Canada, only to finally recover when I met Ron McLean, a great guy.
Dave, I couldn't disagree with you more.
This tournament is only 4 years old. It's played in a golf oasis, between the Masters and US Open (quick, name two other tournaments in this time period. Time's up!). And yet it had a field other tournaments (especially the Canadian Open) only dream about. 4 of the Big 5 were there. Tiger would've been if his father hadn't passed away. Apparently Quail Hollow is an excellent course, but the things mentioned above are big factors.
So is the pro-am. The Wachovia only allows two amateurs to play with a pro, instead of the usual 4+. My Canadian Open pro-am participant friends tell me it's a 6+ hour round, something players named and not named Tiger don't enjoy.
There are valuable lessons to be learned here. The most important is this: the players are the show. Do what you have to do to get them to enjoy coming to your event, and they will come. If you don't, they'll give you "I've got a headache" excuses.
Is everybody happy with this arrangement? Absolutely not. As a fundraiser, I'm all for raising as much money as possible at a pro-am. I also think pros should feel obligated to play different stops each year.
The thing is, those points of view are not reality. And if the "lesser" tournaments, including the Canadian Open, don't catch on, they will be complaining about why their field isn't strong.
The above points are all things the Canadian Open could be doing to strengthen their field. They could also approach the European Tour about having the Canadian Open count for both the PGA and European Tour money lists and Ryder Cup/President's Cup points. And jack the purse up to $10 million US. And lots of other things to get a great field.
The Wachovia has proven there are no excuses. Get to work Canadian Open. September will be here too soon.
Regards,
Steve
Dave Hodge gave the tournament a "thumbs down" on tsn.ca for his 'TSN The Reporters' show. Among things Hodge didn't like were "Oscar-style gift bags", director's chairs and a food tent at the driving range, and the new cars the players get to drive for a week.
Dave Hodge is my broadcasting hero. I was shattered when he was booted off of Hockey Night in Canada, only to finally recover when I met Ron McLean, a great guy.
Dave, I couldn't disagree with you more.
This tournament is only 4 years old. It's played in a golf oasis, between the Masters and US Open (quick, name two other tournaments in this time period. Time's up!). And yet it had a field other tournaments (especially the Canadian Open) only dream about. 4 of the Big 5 were there. Tiger would've been if his father hadn't passed away. Apparently Quail Hollow is an excellent course, but the things mentioned above are big factors.
So is the pro-am. The Wachovia only allows two amateurs to play with a pro, instead of the usual 4+. My Canadian Open pro-am participant friends tell me it's a 6+ hour round, something players named and not named Tiger don't enjoy.
There are valuable lessons to be learned here. The most important is this: the players are the show. Do what you have to do to get them to enjoy coming to your event, and they will come. If you don't, they'll give you "I've got a headache" excuses.
Is everybody happy with this arrangement? Absolutely not. As a fundraiser, I'm all for raising as much money as possible at a pro-am. I also think pros should feel obligated to play different stops each year.
The thing is, those points of view are not reality. And if the "lesser" tournaments, including the Canadian Open, don't catch on, they will be complaining about why their field isn't strong.
The above points are all things the Canadian Open could be doing to strengthen their field. They could also approach the European Tour about having the Canadian Open count for both the PGA and European Tour money lists and Ryder Cup/President's Cup points. And jack the purse up to $10 million US. And lots of other things to get a great field.
The Wachovia has proven there are no excuses. Get to work Canadian Open. September will be here too soon.
Regards,
Steve
posted by Irrelevant at 1:17 PM
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Very pretty site! Keep working. thnx!
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