KO blow: Do you want to see more mixed-format events on tour?
The 2020 European Tour schedule has been released and, despite claims from CEO Keith Pelley that the tour’s rebrand was designed to showcase its “innovative tournament formats”, the likes of the Belgian Knockout, a mixed strokeplay and matchplay event, are nowhere to be seen.
So with 47 of 49 events in the 2020 season confirmed as 72-hole strokeplay, we’re asking if there needs to be a bit of variety…
‘Ask any European Tour player – matchplay is far more interesting’
I’ve played golf for a number of years and I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I’ve played alongside someone and not had some sort of matchplay going on, writes Joe Hughes.
It’s simply more interesting than strokeplay and surely a good portion of pros would say the same.
We are always talking about growing the game and, as a person on the younger side of life, the tours need to adapt to encourage the next generation of tour pros – and not churning out 72-hole strokeplay drivel each week could be a start.
Yes we’d all do it for the money, but where else is the attraction to playing pro golf if you’re just the doing thing week-in-week-out?
The European Tour have made a mistake cutting the Belgian Knockout and World Super 6. They need to invest in those events to make them more attractive to the world’s best players and iron out the formats to make them as thrilling as possible.
If this happened then we would have some thoroughly refreshing weeks which offer not only the players but fans like you and me a break from the norm.
‘I know what kind of tournament I’d rather win’
Call me old fashioned – though I prefer the term ‘traditionalist’ – but I’m really not fussed about matchplay unless it’s a team event, writes Alex Perry.
The WCG-Match Play I can just about get on board with because it’s the top 64 players in the world, but once you get to the weekend, where we spend more time watching adverts than we do golf, is a bit of a snoozefest.
Tournaments like the Belgian Knockout and GolfSixes don’t really get me tuning in.
Yes, they’re great fun and if they’re solely aimed at getting more people into the sport, them I’m all for it, and I’m happy to have a week off from watching golf every now and then.
Do you really believe Belgian fans, for example, want to watch a mixture of strokeplay then nine-hole matchplay nonsense in their one chance to watch live golf without needing a passport? I’d be surprised.
Strokeplay over 72 holes determines the best player in that particular week. And for me there will always be an asterisk against the names of the winners of these sorts of events. Harsh? Probably, but I know what kind of tournament I’d rather win.
Do you agree with Joe or Alex? Let us know in the comments below, or you can tweet us.
Alex Perry
Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.
