Check out the ‘party hole’ set to light up LIV Golf Adelaide
By Matt Chivers
When the PGA Tour announced a new schedule of designated events with no cuts in 2024, comparisons were drawn to the LIV Golf League and the format of Greg Norman’s new start-up.
“The irony, it’s incredible,” Ian Poulter tweeted after the announcement. He also posted a quote image that read: “Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery – it’s the sincerest form of learning.”
“I’ve spent the last year reading how good full fields and cuts are!” Lee Westwood said on the same platform.
The PGA Tour’s new designated schedule very much divided the opinion of players from all corners of the professional sphere.
The knives were out and being planted one by one on a new schedule that closer resembles the Saudi-financed tour with the removal of 36-hole cuts at eight new elevated-purse events.
LIV has a very unique format with just 54 holes and 48 players at each tournament, as well as 12 teams competing for a share of $3 million at 14 events in 2023.
One of the main slogans that the breakaway tour has pushed is “golf, but louder,” and LIV could be moving a step closer to its desired decibel level with an innovation first introduced on the PGA Tour.
As shown by a news feature on 7 News in Australia, LIV Golf will introduce a party hole at the event in Adelaide at the end of April.
It’s the event that Norman – and his most-wanted recruit Cameron Smith – have always wanted, to deliver the project and more golf to their home nation.
Previously, there have been questions about the PGA Tour’s effort to host events in Australia, so LIV Golf wants to provide an unforgettable experience for the fans.
The par-3 12th hole at the Grange Golf Club, the Watering Hole, will have stands running down sides and around the green with bars and booming music to rile the spectators.
Brooks Koepka, whose first and latest PGA Tour wins came at TPC Scottsdale, said he is “excited to see the hole”.
He added: “I’ve always loved playing Phoenix. Having an amphitheater type crowd around a hole has always been pretty special.”
“I just love it. I love when the fans get a little rowdy. They’re screaming, they’re booing when you when you hit a bad shot, and cheering you on when you hit a good one. It’s going to make that hole exciting. I think it should bring a different atmosphere, which will be cool.
“It’ll be most fans we’ve had so far, so it’s exciting.”
There is also talk that players will have walk-on songs as they reach the hole.
Koepka has decided on ‘Dreams and Nightmares’ by Meek Mill, while Dustin Johnson is “fluttering back and forth between a couple” and Bryson DeChambeau is “thinking about something”.
LIV intend to give golf fans something they’ve never seen before in Australia, but it has certainly been seen before on the PGA Tour.
It was only in February that we saw ravenous spectators almost fighting their way to the front of the queue to burst into the grounds of TPC Scottsdale.
Once the tape was raised, they flocked to the 16th hole, the Stadium hole, to set up camp for the day. This landmark at TPC Scottsdale provides the most raucous and hostile atmosphere in the sport.
The WM Phoenix Open has become one of the most eagerly anticipated events on the PGA Tour schedule for this exact reason.
If you find the green, you’ll receive a welcome cheer. If you miss the green, boos and jeers will ring through your ears.
Tour fan favourites Joel Dahmen and Harry Higgs raised the roof when taking their tops off in 2022, which caused an abundance of beer cans to be thrown on the green.
LIV Golf appears to have caught wind of the success and popularity of the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale, which was once again graced by the quality of Scottie Scheffler who defended his crown from last season.
Are you a fan of ‘party holes’ in professional golf? Tweet me and let me know!
Matt Chivers
Now on the wrong side of 25, Matt has been playing golf since the age of 13 and was largely inspired to take up the game by countless family members who played golf during his childhood.
Matt is a member at Royal Cinque Ports in Deal playing off a 5 handicap, just a pitching wedge away from his hometown of Dover where he went to school and grew up. He has previously been a member at Etchinghill and Walmer and Kingsdown in Kent.
Having studied history at the University of Liverpool, Matt went on to pass his NCTJ Exams in Manchester a year later to fulfil his lifelong ambition of becoming a journalist. He picked up work experience along the way at places such as the Racing Post, the Independent, Sportsbeat and the Lancashire Evening Post.
Matt joined NCG in February 2023 and is the website’s main source of tour news, features and opinion. He has reported live from events such as The Open, the Ryder Cup and The Players Championship, having also interviewed and spent time with some of the biggest names in the sport.
Consuming tour golf on what is a 24/7 basis, you can come to Matt for informed views on the game and the latest updates on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour and LIV Golf.
What’s in Matt’s bag: Cobra LTDx LS driver, Cobra LTDx 3-wood, TaylorMade P7MC irons, Ping Glide 4.0 wedges, Odyssey putter.
