2020 PGA Tour
- Thread starter TFP
- Start date
Yes, a lot of does depend on massively expanded testing capacity. Everyone involved will be tested every day. The travel is a real concern but the hope is that by July things are bit more normal in that regard, especially with mass testing. PGA Tour also has the advantage of being voluntary. Players who aren't comfortable with playing/travel are not required to play. They can also have anyone they want be their caddie. It won't surprise me at all to see players use family members (wife/kids) as their caddies for the first couple of tournaments.
ShotLINK and scorers are all volunteer staff and there are plans in place on how to handle staffing that aspect that cover all bases down to not even capturing most stats. Once on site, staying 6+ from people is easy for them so this is a low risk group.
Security is another large group, especially with needing to keep all fans out. Other than incidents that require more than one person to handle, these people should be able to stay 6+ feet away from people.
It's the other workers who will have less of a choice. The production trucks are what they are. There will be lots of close contact during setup and during production and there's no way to avoid touching things others have been touching. Accurate and plentiful testing is most important here.
ShotLINK and scorers are all volunteer staff and there are plans in place on how to handle staffing that aspect that cover all bases down to not even capturing most stats. Once on site, staying 6+ from people is easy for them so this is a low risk group.
Security is another large group, especially with needing to keep all fans out. Other than incidents that require more than one person to handle, these people should be able to stay 6+ feet away from people.
It's the other workers who will have less of a choice. The production trucks are what they are. There will be lots of close contact during setup and during production and there's no way to avoid touching things others have been touching. Accurate and plentiful testing is most important here.
Isn't it feasible to give the players carts with wheels instead of them having caddies? Don't colleges do it that way, at least on the women's side?
I thought of that, but then who is going to service, charge, maintain, park, etc. the cars?
As others have pointed out, testing is an issue. So long as caddie and player both test negative, I'm not sure the presence of a caddie is a problem.
The real problem is off-course interaction. Travel to/from each event. And housing during events.
Unless they are all outfitted with a custom Winnebago to travel around the country and ordered to stay on the property for the duration of the tournament, players/caddies will be mixing with (lots of) people every week.
I think Ale was referring to a push cart like this :
Edit: which I don't think solves much, to be honest. The issue isn't them carrying the bag it's the caddies keeping yardage, clubbing them, raking bunkers, reading putts with them, etc and generally being a shrink/coach on the course. Physically carrying the bag is probably pretty low on the list of concerns for these guys.
Yes on the carts.
I mean the lack of distancing between the caddie and the golfer in the course (pun not intended) of being the shrink/coach, where one can pass the CV to the other. You can separate the golfers from each other a lot easier (depending on the science of the droplets drop speed at the tee/green/hole) given the nature of the sport.
I mean the lack of distancing between the caddie and the golfer in the course (pun not intended) of being the shrink/coach, where one can pass the CV to the other. You can separate the golfers from each other a lot easier (depending on the science of the droplets drop speed at the tee/green/hole) given the nature of the sport.
It won't happen, but man i would love to see a couple of tournaments where these guys had to go without their caddies. I'm sure some would be largely unaffected, and some would be complete basket cases.I think Ale was referring to a push cart like this :
Edit: which I don't think solves much, to be honest. The issue isn't them carrying the bag it's the caddies keeping yardage, clubbing them, raking bunkers, reading putts with them, etc and generally being a shrink/coach on the course. Physically carrying the bag is probably pretty low on the list of concerns for these guys.
What to we think the average score would go up per round with no caddies on the course? +2 is my off the cuff guess
No gallery probably has a much much bigger effect than no caddies. But both would have a pretty large impact.
Regarding the gallery, many balls that are found by the gallery or blocked by the gallery while flying OB will be lost. Areas won't be tramped down, which will often result in much worse lies on wayward shots. I think the lack of a gallery will have a bigger impact.
Spieth without Greller would be fun. But I agree that the majority of players would be fine. They'd probably let them use range finders in the no caddie scenario.
Agreed that no gallery or grandstands would be a bigger impact. "Miss way right" wouldn't necessarily be as beneficial as in years past, and removing a bail out grandstand could lead to a few more train wrecks.
Agreed that no gallery or grandstands would be a bigger impact. "Miss way right" wouldn't necessarily be as beneficial as in years past, and removing a bail out grandstand could lead to a few more train wrecks.
I don't exactly understand the anti-pro caddy thing. They're coworkers. There are lots of jobs where a couple people need to be around each other all day right now. It's a minimal risk next to thousands of people in galleries around the course, which I don't think the tour is going to be able to do anytime soon. I get that some people are living like hermits but there's going to need to be some level of risk acceptance going forward.
2018 Ryder Cup on today. Good lord, what a shitshow. Turned it on in time to see DeChambeau follow Molinari into the water off the tee on a par 5 in foursomes and eventually losing the hole. DJ just pulled an iron off the tee and into the deep shit.
Golf is the one sport that can be played 100% safely. One person. A club. A ball. A hole. Outdoors.
And yet they still are making this hard on themselves.
Someday. Hopefully soon. Everything will be normal. Until then, carry your own bag, use a cart, play alone.
And yet they still are making this hard on themselves.
Someday. Hopefully soon. Everything will be normal. Until then, carry your own bag, use a cart, play alone.
Why? The yardage books / guides provided to each player will suffice. Players should be able to read them without assistance. There is sufficient information in them to figure distances to within a yard or 2.
The players and caddies aren't really that big of a deal. By June they should (hopefully) be able to get 900 tests so they could test every player and caddie could be tested every day before start of play. The Tour can arrange for lodging and individual transportation for each player/caddie combo to make sure they are essentially isolated from each other. Most of the rest of the people onsite are rotating volunteer staff and security. They are by far the biggest risk of spreading infection.
In my opinion, they should change as little as possible about the actual game and I think that's pretty easy. The broadcast, stats, fans and such are where things should be drastically changed until things normalize.
In my opinion, they should change as little as possible about the actual game and I think that's pretty easy. The broadcast, stats, fans and such are where things should be drastically changed until things normalize.
Players can do it of course, I just figured it could be a compromise if they don't allow caddies to start.
I'm not sure I understand this. Is this a different use of the term "slope" you are using? Maybe I have it wrong, but to me, slope is the indication of relative course difficulty for a bogey golfer compared to a scratch golfer. How would use of a range finder change that? On the PGA tour, I think slope would translate as only an indication of the difficulty of the tournament setup to which all players would be exposed. Like I said, I could be wrong.
Modern rangefinders have the ability to detect up/down hill and show you an adjusted yardage based on how far up/down hill your target is. The feature is illegal in all tournament play.
Oh, you mean physical, topographical slope. Not slope as in course rating and handicap calculations. Got it.
Looks like the teams are actually Phil and Brady vs. Tiger and Manning.
View: https://twitter.com/PhilMickelson/status/1253106093083025409
View: https://twitter.com/PhilMickelson/status/1253106093083025409
Seriously. Tiger+Tom would have amplified this even more for me. Of course, I'll still be watching every single second of it.
We have some live golf coming on 5/17. DJ/Rory vs. Fowler/Wolff at Seminole Golf Club. Skins competition, with the winnings donated to Covid related charities.
Yes. Thank God we have something.
Also, I watched the final round of the 2001 Bay Hill invitational last night. What a leaderboard. At one point the top four was Tiger, Phil, Vijay and a 21 year old Sergio. Tiger wins his 25th event by birdieing the last.
Also, I watched the final round of the 2001 Bay Hill invitational last night. What a leaderboard. At one point the top four was Tiger, Phil, Vijay and a 21 year old Sergio. Tiger wins his 25th event by birdieing the last.
Seminole is by reputation the best actual course in Florida - I can't wait to see it from start to finish.
I'm a Donald Ross fanboy and have never seen a Ross design I didn't like. I'm more than pumped for this, Seminole is a gem.
PGA Tour returning to the video game world:
View: https://twitter.com/pgatour2k/status/1258033781807763456?s=21
View: https://twitter.com/pgatour2k/status/1258033781807763456?s=21
Haven’t played a golf video game since they stopped making the Tiger ones. I’ll take your word that it is good? Sounds like this new game is 2K + TGC + Tour license. Obviously Sawgrass is in it, curious about other course. I hope it’s not just TPC’s.
TGC was OK. The swing mechanic is a bit polarizing. It's analog and I personally found it clunky and unresponsive. No idea if they've changed it for this game though. I don't think it was a better game than the last Tiger game before the shift to PS4 gen.
The Match 2 is scheduled for 5/24 @ 2pm on TNT.
View: https://twitter.com/pgatour/status/1258458398984753158?s=21
Phil/Brady vs. Tiger/Peyton at Medalist in Florida
Best ball on the front 9, modified alternate shot on the back. They’ll also have on course challenges. All 4 players will be mic’d up.
Live golf 2 Sunday’s in a row is on the horizon.
View: https://twitter.com/pgatour/status/1258458398984753158?s=21
Phil/Brady vs. Tiger/Peyton at Medalist in Florida
Best ball on the front 9, modified alternate shot on the back. They’ll also have on course challenges. All 4 players will be mic’d up.
Live golf 2 Sunday’s in a row is on the horizon.
Clears Cleaver and I played Seminole back around 2010. He won it in a charity auction and was nice enough to ask me to join him. It’s incredible. Greens were lightning fast, even if not at their highest speed at the time we played. A couple times a member of our group putted off the green...into a bunker.
Coolest locker room I’ve ever seen. And the best chicken salad sandwich at the turn.
I'm so excited to see it. I could care less about the golf honestly. It's too gimmicky.
Is there a SPGA thread?
Vijay being tone-deaf.
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/tour-pro-rips-vijay-singh-on-twitter-for-entering-korn-ferry-tour-event
Vijay being tone-deaf.
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/tour-pro-rips-vijay-singh-on-twitter-for-entering-korn-ferry-tour-event
Why? He's not eligible to play in the Colonial, this is the next highest tour event he can play that weekend. He's not doing anything wrong.
If KFT guys are worried about playing against a 57 year old who can barely make cuts on the PGA Tour, then they're definitely not gonna win anything or make it to the PGA Tour. I despise Vijay but have zero issue with him playing there if he's qualified like everyone else.
If KFT guys are worried about playing against a 57 year old who can barely make cuts on the PGA Tour, then they're definitely not gonna win anything or make it to the PGA Tour. I despise Vijay but have zero issue with him playing there if he's qualified like everyone else.
Vijay is 57 and avoided the senior tour during his first few years of eligibility. I suspect he views himself as a tour pro still, not a guy to be put out to pasture on the senior victory lap circuit. That hasn't been an uncommon perspective, especially for some of the elite players as they age, and Vijay was always a grinder. If some 20 and 30-somethings can't beat 57 year old Vijay in his reduced state that's their problem.
Tour is on track to re-start the season on 6/11 at the Charles Schwab.
View: https://twitter.com/bobharig/status/1260664530448809984?s=21
Some details on their plan to re-start and hopefully continue on with the season.
- Weekly testing of players and caddies as well as daily medical questionnaires and temperature readings.
- Hope to have players and caddies housed in 1-2 hotels at each host city.
- A player who tests positive will be forced to withdraw. One positive test will not shut the whole thing down, but there is obviously some threshold where they’d have to do that if reached.
- There are 25 international players overseas right now. They are working to facilitate the players return. The players would have to quarantine for 14 days upon their return.
- On course, caddies will be allowed but they want the players and caddies to stay 6 feet away. This seems unlikely.
- Sanitizer will be available to wipe shit down like clubs, flagsticks, bunker rakes
- No fans for the first 4 events at this point. They will still have ropes around the courses.
- On course personal will be players, caddies, officials, walking scorers, ShotLink, media, trainers, coaches
View: https://twitter.com/bobharig/status/1260664530448809984?s=21
Some details on their plan to re-start and hopefully continue on with the season.
- Weekly testing of players and caddies as well as daily medical questionnaires and temperature readings.
- Hope to have players and caddies housed in 1-2 hotels at each host city.
- A player who tests positive will be forced to withdraw. One positive test will not shut the whole thing down, but there is obviously some threshold where they’d have to do that if reached.
- There are 25 international players overseas right now. They are working to facilitate the players return. The players would have to quarantine for 14 days upon their return.
- On course, caddies will be allowed but they want the players and caddies to stay 6 feet away. This seems unlikely.
- Sanitizer will be available to wipe shit down like clubs, flagsticks, bunker rakes
- No fans for the first 4 events at this point. They will still have ropes around the courses.
- On course personal will be players, caddies, officials, walking scorers, ShotLink, media, trainers, coaches
Most of those make sense, but the caddies staying 6 feet from the players makes no sense at all. Will the players carry their own bags, clean their own clubs, and pull their own clubs? I highly doubt it.
Weekly testing is ok, but a test at the start of and end of the tourney would seem a better solution if daily testing is not an option. At least then they're all basically isolated for 6 days in the hotel and will know after missing a cut or not playing in the next event that they are safe to return to society.
The on-course personnel will be extremely limited. Broadcast trucks are being retrofitted with plexiglass barriers and such but they are super enclosed spaces with 15-30 people working in shifts on the same physical gear. Expect the quality of the broadcasts to be lower than the standard for a bit.
I think the biggest thing for them is the verbal communication; it'll look weird to see every club wiped down and then when it's pulled laid down and the caddie walks away (or however they end up doing it) but I guess I don't see the point of it - are the players going to be quarantined from their caddie at the hotel? If not, then does 3 feet on either side of the bag work? What happens if you violate it, penalty stroke?
It will be even more fun when people call in over night to complain that player X was too close to his/her caddy, and should have been assessed a penalty.