TGL First Impressions

Some live notes taking in a late-night TGL debut.

First thought: That’s a big screen.

Tiger and Rory were in the building, so why didn’t one of them play? Was this a real swing-and-miss, or a strategic move to save some ammo after the initial curiosity might wane? Maybe they didn’t want to risk burning out too soon? I know they called a little golf on the broadcast but still.

Scott Van Pelt elevates things. That said, we don’t need all of the pre-match interviews and smoke machine introductions. Even LIV Golf might say it’s a bit much. But I can’t say enough good things about the DJ. Shane Lowry walking out to “Snap Yo Fingers” is wild.

It took 15 minutes to see the first golf shot. That’s too many minutes. Let’s see this golf-adjacent product. It’s pretty good! And it’s fun to watch professional golfers have fun.

We’ve been critical of the hole designs (we even created our own TGL course), but credit where credit is due.

Our guy Beau Scroggins had an additive idea for the broadcast in the Fried Egg Golf group chat: a picture in picture of the line of the putt. They have to know it given they know how the green is shaped. Let’s see the break!

The hammer being sponsored, excuse me, “delivered” by FedEx. A CEO (Tiger Woods) interview. An abusive amount of “Playing Through.” We see you, PGA Tour. We see you.

The pace of play made maybe the largest impression on regular golf watchers, but towards the middle was it even too fast? Are we allowed to even lodge that complaint? Did we lose out on some chances to hear player interactions and discussions of how to play the holes? It got hard to keep up on some of the golf shots and decisions being made. Speaking of, Matt Barrie – stop talking over player conversations!

Shoutout the crowd (or maybe just this guy) for doing a fake shot clock like high school or college basketball and booing players for laying up. We also have a fun new game within the game.

Oh, TGL. You were doing so well! And then you had Marty Smith interview DJ Khaled during a golf hole that lost all context. This was a low moment. LET THE GOLF LEAD!

The triples alternate shot format had the match off to a hot start, then The Bay absolutely rolled New York in the session. The match lost its juice at intermission (yes, there’s an intermission between sessions) before singles. I watched the entire thing and can’t recall much from the second session. Will it be more exciting if it’s closer on the scoreboard? Or was this only fun because of the novelty? Either way, I think 15 holes might be too many.

As soon as the match was over, the Shotgun Start Podcast’s Andy Johnson and Brendan Porath went LIVE on YouTube to recap the TGL’s debut. The guys discuss the match and golf hole designs, dish on the broadcast and its reception, and then call in Producer PJ to debate if the NYGC roster needs to be blown up after a 9-2 loss. Watch the episode on YouTube or listen on Apple and Spotify.

This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.