Hi Dave,
We have the good fortune to have a Nationwide Tour event here in Livermore
this year and for the next four (at least). We also have an LPGA event
(the Long's Drugs Challenge) in the area and I have gone to that for most
of the past 6-years. As far as spectator density they are very
comparable. As you mentioned you can get up close and it's easy to follow
groups, even the leaders. I usually go out on Thursday or Friday and the
crowds are light at both. I hit the Nationwide event on Saturday and even
then it was still very manageable.
As far as the men and women as golfers, I think the men have an edge - at
least in strength and the benefits thereof. The PGA started getting the
Course at Wente (where the Nationwide event was staged) ready for play
right after the first of the year (the event was first of April). I played
the course about a week and a half before the event, they had just mowed
the rough - to 4 1/2 inches - and the PGA was supposed to inspect it and
then they were going to do one final mowing before the event. Then it
rained, and rained, and rained. It sort of cleared up for the Tournament
(only one day got badly rained out), but they never did get back in to mow
the rough again. It was brutal. I couldn't hit out of it when I played,
yet some of these guys were hitting out of this stuff like it wasn't
there. Granted, a lot of that is technique, but it's also strength. The
course the LPGA event has played on (and I've seen it on four) are not
prepared anything like this. They're pretty much a standard cut. The
Course at Wente was "over the top", because of the weather, but from what
the guys in the pro-shop were saying, even if it were prepped the way the
PGA wanted it would still be tougher than what the LPGA events are played on.
I, too, prefer watching the women play. I can identify more with their
game, and the courses they play on.
Regards,
Alan
At 05:19 PM 5/30/2006 -0400, you wrote:
Note changed "Subject" line...
At 04:16 PM 5/30/2006, Bernie Baymiller wrote:
Incidentally, has anyone besides me and my wife found the LPGA events
more interesting to watch than the PGA events since the Masters? Geez,
this past week the Colonial scores on Sunday were going backwards...I
never saw so many bad shots in a round since the tricked-up Open a couple
of years ago. These guys aren't very good...at least last week. :-)
Man, you're full of good topics today, aren't you!?!
This one strikes a chord with me; I have some strongly held opinions here.
First a summary, then I'll explain:
(1) The guys are good. At least compared to the gals. The few
data points we have support that.
(2) On TV, when both tours are on, I'll watch whichever happens
to be more interesting at the moment. Except the Seniors.
(3) In person, I'd rather watch the ladies.
Details...
(1) The guys are good. At least compared to the gals.
The most significant data we have to make a comparative judgment
are Annika at the Colonial and Wie at [??? I don't remember which
tournament]. Neither made the cut. A particularly telling point: Annika
played very well the first day, and was right on the cut line. Think
about it; the dominant female player in the world (and she WAS dominating
that year) on a good day, and the best she could do would have been the
last one in on the cut.
(2) On TV, when both tours are on, I'll watch whichever happens to be more
interesting at the moment.
This often means clicking the remote every time a commercial
comes on. In the last 1 to 1-1/2 hours, I'll usually walk out, while I
tape the more interesting one for later viewing. (I'm not going to sit
through the commercial density they impose the last hour.)
The Senior tour events are another story. They are major yawns,
At least on TV. I like to watch ball striking, where there's some premium
attached to getting it right. When the Seniors are on TV:
- They usually play courses that don't punish misses, and
- Most of the coverage is of geezers putting, not ball-striking.
I don't need to spend my time on that.
(3) In person, I'd rather watch the ladies.
Not just the ladies, but the Futures Tour. Until HP and Lucent
dropped to shadows of their former selves, they sponsored an annual
Futures Tour event in Monmouth County, where I live. I attended it
regularly. Here's why I prefer it to the Big Tour:
- Because it's much less crowded, I can get close to the action.
I can follow the pairing I want, even the last group. I can watch the
course management strategies of the players. It's really hard to
accomplish that with the men. (In all fairness, I suspect the Nationwide
or at least the Hooters Tour events might be more spectator-friendly.)
- Watching the men is an exercise in amazement, but not a useful
golf lesson. OTOH, the women don't hit the ball any further than I do,
but they score a hell of a lot better than I. There's always a lesson
there, and I do try to learn it. (BTW, that was true a few years ago,
when the Futures Tour was playing here. Now all the ladies have pumped up
their distance copying Annika's workout regimen, and I'm starting to lose
a little distance with age.)
- Watching the women swing a golf club is conducive to improving
my swing. If I tried to copy Tiger Woods or Jim Furyk or Sergio Garcia,
I'd probably injure myself. But watching the women pros swing a club
gives me nothing but good swing thoughts.
In this vein, last Fall I had the good fortune to be at the range
practicing in the next stall to a girl who was warming up for LPGA
Q-school the following week. As SHE practiced, MY shots got better --
significantly and definitely not coincidentally.
One of the best days I've spent watching a tournament of any kind
was a Futures Tour event in [2002? I think so]. I followed the last
group, which was Lorena Ochoa, Christina Kim, and Susan Ginter. Great
watching, and I got a lot of insight into the games of the first two --
who by the following year were on the LPGA tour. The bonus for the
spectators was a five-hole playoff between Ochoa and Kim. Fun stuff!!!
Cheers!
DaveT
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