The Sun Rises on a New Day in North American Team Golf

Montego Bay, Jamaica 

In the 5 AM pre-dawn gloom the Jamaican sea and sky are still welded seamlessly in dark navy blue on the horizon, but already the golfers’ rooms are full of light and movement.  Soon the sun will rise and set the sapphire sea all aflash, gilding gold upon the water, but to the young PGA pros-to-be, the sun is rising on a great opportunity:  the chance to play for flag and country in a warm-up for the PGA Tour and Ryder Cup.

The Pro Team Golf league represents unprecedented vividness in the way team golf and match play will be played in the future in North America.  The growth of team golf will give North American players exponentially more experience in Ryder Cup match play formats.  An innovative scoring system will provide a whole new way of playing match play formats and the television opportunities from a looming Golf Channel deal will bring team golf and fresh faces into America’s living rooms with the highest profile.  Finally, the Internet user-to-team owner interface allows fans to impact actual strategy decisions for their favorite team. 

Other team golf leagues exist, but none of them feature the number or quality of touring pros as those signed to the PTGL.  According to Tom Belton, CEO of PTGL, “The NGL [National Golf League] has teams in California right now and there is a World Golf League.  We are different because we have a high number of Nationwide players and Canadian tour players that have notched victories and competed at the highest level, such as major championships and Walker Cup teams.  These are touring players that are top flight guys.”

Later this year, eight cities from across the continent will host teams of Nationwide and Canadian Tour players.  Who are the owners?  “We have interest from a wide variety of business men and women in many communities that have strong business ties in their respective communities” Belton says energetically.  “There are groups of professional athletes, not PGA professionals, but other sports.  We are interested in people with golf industry experience of course if they are interested in a franchise.  A three member board selects groups for franchises.  Golf industry experience is a plus but passion about golf and the idea of fan interaction and participation is critical – and of course we want individuals with pristine financial pedigrees and good character.  League Commissioner Dave Braun, the chairman of the board and a co-founder, and Director of Team Development Dick Newbert will screen applicants for franchises.  There is a licensing and revenue sharing agreement that spells out financial obligations and requirements between the team and league.  We have an owners manual involving player eligibility, venue rules, processes – just like the NFL and other leagues.”

Players are then signed to an eligibility list.  There is a draft each year and each player must be under contract in order to be eligible for any purses.  The minimum purse the first year is $2,000,000.  Owners pick up all reasonable travel expenses, a minimum app fee (the same for each player, between $1,000 and $2,500 and the each team must have some form of extra compensation – bonuses based on wins, cash won, double points selections  by the fans or equity in the team- phantom or real.

Teams will compete in an eight week season throughout the year that does not conflict with Mini-tour and Q school.  Each weekend there will be four teams at one venue, playing the other three teams over the weekend in nine-hole matches.  There are four “four balls,” then four “foursomes,” then 8 singles matches. 

But tomorrow when the eight players each from Canada and the U.S. will face off in a new match play format, scores are not kept the traditional way – where the winning player scores only one point.  Instead, the winner gets not only the holes he won, but the remaining holes as well.  So if a player wins 3&2 he gets five points.  A player winning 6&5 gets a whopping eleven points.  Moreover, the fans vote for a player whose points are doubled.

            Most importantly, players will get at least twenty-four more matches of doubles play than they otherwise would have.  “American players never play doubles formats” notes Canadian team member Brad Fritsch.  “I think that’s one reason why the Europeans win – they play alternate shot and best ball in weekend games growing up.”  Belton agreed, noting that “as our players make it to the PGA and ascend to the team, they’ll have more experience.  We’re also developing proprietary software tracking every conceivable statistic.  We’ll have reams of data which coaches can use and analyze what team synergies work.  College coaches could use it as well.” 

            The players are certainly excited.  Take Brock Mackenzie for example.  While former pro football and basketball players trade drinks and jibes with league officials and the other celebrity guests and team members, Brock is chipping ball after ball, hour after hour on the practice green while his girlfriend Hannah watches dutifully from her greenside beach blanket.  Chip, chip chip…watch, watch, watch.  Occasionally they trade the serene smile of lovers – the contented look of a woman in love, tranquil in the knowledge her man has eyes only for her and the equally devoted, confident wordless reply.  Then it’s back to work.  Chip, chip, chip…watch, watch, watch.

            “I’ve actually enjoyed the doubles matches I have played” Brock notes enthusiastically between pitch shots.  His experience in the 2003 Walker Cup gives him a leg up for the matches tomorrow.  With younger players more familiar with the formats, doubles will no longer be an impenetrable, recondite quagmire. The decades of being crumpled like paper-mache before the cameras on the grandest stage may be in the past. 

More than just a game and fantasy league, the PTGL contributes to strategy, policy and creative business models.  Yes, the league is a great golf experiment and player and team golf incubator.  But more importantly, in stark contrast to the sloth and moral degeneracy of basketball, the runaway corporateness of football and the incompetent leadership and weakness of will of baseball, the leaders of the holistic fledgling league underscore the family aspect of the organization – from team owners to league officials to the fans themselves.

Yet we all know a league’s long term success or failure depends on early marriage with network TV and a legion of rabid fans who develop a vicarious personal relationship to the game.  The fans must know that on a date and time certain each week, this golf program is on the tube.  Good or bad, that’s the American way of sports – golf included.  Plus the competition will help grow the entire game – PGA, LPGA and European Tour just like the World League and USFL helped the growth of pro football and help it topple baseball from its decades long perch as America’s game in just a few short years. 

According to Ed Ellis, director of operations and league development, “there will be a one hour special on the golf channel in late January/early February showcasing the inaugural USA v. Canada team match and highlighting the league, its cities, its players and the fan interaction.  The slogan ‘drive the game’ is really true when it comes to the fan interaction.”  As the league expands, more matches will be televised from great golf venues and the golf channel reaches between an estimated 40 and 60 million.”

The anticipation is palpable.  All the elements for success are in place, none more important than hungry, driven, accessible and energetic players.  Steve Gangluff, a grizzled veteran of several tours wears a steely gaze and infectious confidence.  Stuart Anderson rouses his team with a colorful striped pants and an intimidating mountain of a build.  Dustin Risdon dominates the Pro-Am with a set of clubs pieced together from three different bargain racks.  Brian Guetz ends the day with fireworks – a hole-in-one.  As the players turn in, tomorrow promises to be as much a battle of will and determination as well as skill. 

Nightfall once again welds sea and sky into turquoise union.  As the moon spreads a thin veil of silver over the course, tomorrow’s matches burn like a proprietary torch illuminating the future of team golf and American Ryder Cup hopes.  All that remains now is to watch for the turn of the tide.