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To ask Grant a question, or
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OPI NI ON GRANT DODD
player andcaddie, togainan
understanding of the decision-
making process involvedat the
elite level of golf.
Most importantly,
broadcasters need to be able
to talk to players between
shots, to get their reactions
to changing situations. To
do so, players will need to do
away with their attachment
to the past and the practice of
keeping the viewer at arms
length. They will have to be
bound by anunderstanding
that they have to give more
of themselves to the game
that provides thema living.
Interactivity is a key, and it
will need to be animplemented policy
that is signed off by everyone with a
stake inthe game.
Golf needs to be become faster paced
and more dynamic. At the 2013 Australian
Open, groups of two were taking over
five hours to play onthe weekend. Given
that the measures put inplace to solve
slowplay have clearly failed, the solution
is to institute a shot clock for all players.
Allowing 40seconds for every stroke,
regardless of circumstances, will place an
onus oncompetitors to build routines that
fit withinthat time frame. The beauty of
such a change is that it will only affect slow
players. The direct result will be a greater
sense of energy, and less dead time on
screenwatching players analyse and
prepare for their next stroke.
The old saying goes that the definition
of insanity is doing the same thing over
and over, and expecting a different
result. We knowthe result of putting
all our eggs inthe golfer superstar basket;
weve beenthere before. What Australian
golf does inthe next fewyears to the
nature of the broadcast product will
decide whether we simply enduprevisiting
the past, or become the architects of our
ownfuture.
I
Nlast months AustralianGolf
Digest, I posed a questionof two
parts. First, canAustraliangolf
prosper commercially without a talisman
leading the way? And second, what can
be done froma broadcast perspective
to build a product that is palatable to a
wider audience?
The impetus for such a discussion
came after the hugely successful 2013
AustralianOpenbroadcast where TV
ratings hit a high not seenfor golf in
many years. The final act inAdamScotts
triumphant summer play didnt end
according to script, but it did leave the
sporting public wanting more. However,
those anticipating a curtaincall have the
best part of twelve months to wait given
the paucity of events onthe Australian
tour inthis day and age.
But more of what? More golf, or more
AdamScott? Oncurrent evidence,
the latter seems the most likely given
Scotts ascensionto demi-god status
following his Masters winin2013. The
one variable last year over the years
that immediately preceded it was that
we had a home-grownmajor champion
onboard. The response was both
immediate, and measurable. All well and
good for as long as the Queenslanders
formand place at the top of the world
golf rankings remains, but will people
continue to switch ontheir televisions in
such numbers if and whenhe no longer
holds such a lofty place inthe public
consciousness?
The logical answer, based uponwhat
we have observed during the winding
downof the Greg Normanera, is no.
For this reason, golf needs to innovate
while it has the opportunity to capture
the imaginationof those vacillating
betweenbeing a watcher, switcher, or
a participator. To do so, the product
needs to evolve so that it is less about star
factor and more about the intimacies and
intricacies of the contest.
The first andmost obvious change to
broadcasting golf is that the viewer needs
tobe takenontothe course, among the
players, caddies, andcrowd. They needto
hear what is happening, tocomprehend
the nature of the dialogue between
Eyesofthe
masses
How to keep Australians
tuned into golf even after star
power fades. By Grant Dodd
AGD0414p028 28 5/03/14 2:12 PM