by I attended my first LIV Golf event on Saturday at Maridoe Golf Club in Dallas. After experiencing it firsthand, I came away from the experience undecided on whether I’m more bullish or bearish on LIV Golf’s future. The event felt a bit like a party thrown by a high schooler with extremely wealthy parents but maybe not a ton of friends. It’s a good hang, and the party is well-orchestrated, but there just aren’t many people there.
Here are some observations from the day:
LIV's flying colors, but did they pass the test? (photo courtesy LIV Golf)
Logistics
That the event was so impressively coordinated leads me to believe the LIV operations team is very competent. Parking was free and straightforward, with ample shuttles transporting people to and from the golf course.
Ticketing
I purchased a grounds pass in advance for $55 after fees. However, I spoke to one gentleman who’d shown up to the gate without a ticket, attempted to purchase a ticket with his credit card, and was granted entry simply by providing LIV with his contact information – no charge to his card.
Another option for free entry was to donate a dozen golf balls, a charity initiative sponsored by HyFlyers GC. My suspicion, based on how he is playing, is that any donated golf balls went directly into Phil Mickelson’s bag.
The Music
Describing the atmosphere at a LIV event as laid back would be a massive understatement.
From the moment you step onto the grounds, there’s a constant stream of pop music playing through the many speakers scattered throughout the course. I didn’t find the music distracting, per se, but it is constant.
The music sets the tone. It establishes that the LIV Golf experience is different from your traditional pro golf tournament experience. In my opinion, it also diminishes the competitive atmosphere. The music doesn’t stop down the closing stretch of the day or during any other intense moments of the actual golf competition. Nothing about Saturday, the semifinal of LIV’s season-ending Team Championship, felt intense.
Concerts aside, music is a pervasive, inescapable, and occasionally unwelcome fact of LIV life (LIV Golf)
One of my biggest takeaways is that those who want the music to stop, myself included, have different priorities than fans LIV Golf is trying to capture. LIV is not catering to the fan who wants to listen in on a club selection conversation between Paul Casey and his caddie or experience the other typical sounds of a golf tournament. The environment is configured for fans to have some drinks and enjoy themselves, and it succeeds in that. It’s just not really about the golf itself.
The Fans, or Lack Thereof
Attendance was strikingly sparse. There are many more fans at a Thursday round of any PGA Tour event I’ve ever attended. Bryson DeChambeau commanded a decent-sized crowd, but we’re talking about hundreds of people following him, not thousands. There appeared to be about 100-150 people following the Sergio Garcia, Abraham Ancer, Cam Smith, and Matt Jones group. And that group had much more starpower than many of the other groups. Some of the lower-profile pairings had ~10-15 people following the action.
A sample shot showing the relative lack of buildout at Meridoe (LIV Golf)
I’m not sure that the lack of local advertising caused the low turnout, but I didn’t see a single advertisement for the LIV event while driving throughout the Dallas area. LIV’s marketing strategy has clearly been more social media-centric, but I doubt many Dallas residents were even aware the tournament was taking place.
I was surprised at how little infrastructural buildout there was too. Few holes had any infrastructure, and most holes had only rope lines. A handful of hospitality tents were constructed around the course, mainly concentrated near the 18th hole. I’d say at least two thirds of the fans in attendance were either sitting along the 18th hole or hanging out in the Fan Village area, which had food trucks and activities for little kids. (I successfully knocked the LIV volunteer into the dunk tank with one throw after the three-year-old in front of me missed the target about five times, but that’s neither here nor there.)
It’s Not About the Golf
While some of the spectators were genuinely interested in the golf, the overwhelming majority of people on site weren’t paying much attention to the matches. Most fans seemed far more interested in drinking and hanging out than watching any of the golf. The golf itself was mostly just happening in the background.
Your 2024 LIV team champs (LIV Golf)
I talked to one fan following the aforementioned Cam Smith group, who was decked out in Ripper GC gear and had a hard seltzer in hand. He told me he supports Ripper because he’s a huge Cam Smith fan. When I asked about the status of the match, he was not sure where it stood. That interaction was representative of most people I saw or spoke with. Hopefully that fan celebrated Ripper GC’s team title responsibly on Sunday. Or not, really, how often do you get to see your team win a title?
The winning moment for @rippergc_ 🏆
The 2024 Team Championship title is going Down Under 🇦🇺#LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/Pq4TozFWyZ
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) September 22, 2024
The Heat
Predictably, it was a sweltering hot Saturday afternoon in Dallas. Maridoe Golf Club does not offer many shaded areas, nor were there many locations to escape the sun.
Over the course of the day, I only saw one person pass out from the heat. She was promptly assisted by a fireman in a Smash GC hat.
The Merch
Given the sparse attendance, I was impressed at how crowded the merch tent was. Fans were enthusiastic about the merch. Most of the items were pricey, and a solid chunk of inventory was getting moved through that tent.
The Pace
A day at a LIV tournament moves fast, which is one of LIV’s strongest selling points. The condensed playing window gives fans the ability to watch the entirety of the action without tying up their entire day, an appealing feature. Nearly every other professional sport is prioritizing improvements to pace of play, like Major League Baseball’s recent adoption of a pitch clock. All golf tours should actively consider ways to make the action faster and more engaging. Some of LIV’s quick pace can be attributed to putting all the golfers on the course at the same time via the shotgun start format, and some of it can be attributed to the small field size. Those specific elements can’t be replicated everywhere, nor should they be.
The Format
I spent the majority of my Friday afternoon chatting with folks in Dealey Plaza, soaking in knowledge from a mix of official and very unofficial tour guides. But as far as I’m concerned, the biggest unresolved mystery of the last century is why LIV changes from a true team format to pure individual stroke play for the final day of their Team Championship.
This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
