New York Bagel Boys

Ahead of Atlanta Drive’s debut and the return of New York Golf Club for TGL’s Week 3 match, the Fried Egg Golf staff got together to compile a list of what we wanted to see from the new simulator golf league’s third night of action. Did we get what we asked for? Not so much.

Better Golf. Play Like The Bay

Well, there were fewer shots in the hazards this week, but once again the match wasn’t really close, and the golf failed to compel. At times TGL can be really fun and this week wasn’t as bad as last week, but Tuesday night was still pretty flat across the board.

New York Golf Club has only scored one point in its first two matches and failed to get on the board Tuesday en route to the league’s first shutout. Leave it for the team from New York to be the first to get bagel-ed.

Players That Care Where Their Shot Ends Up

Billy Horschel had more fun than anyone and helped carry some dull moments. Matt Fitzpatrick was lying down on the ground to read putts. Patrick Cantlay didn’t say much but clearly cared about the outcome. Players need to buy in and be invested in this, otherwise, what’s the point? (Looking at you, Cam Young).

Discussion of Hole Strategy

Nope. That didn’t really happen. We got a bit of hole setup, but zero follow-through or analysis of what actually happened with the shots. Andy Johnson was critical of this on last night’s Shotgun Start live show, calling it “basic sports commentary.” He’s absolutely right. Now, the pace of play is quick so you lose some opportunities to really break down the shots, but it’s not so fast that you can’t do it a few times on the more interesting holes.

In other course news, TGL spoke with players and adjusted where they hit approach shots from because there was apparently a depth-perception issue with the screen (if you haven’t heard, it’s pretty big). A positive change that should improve the product? We love to see it.

Golf Knowledgeable Guests in the Booth

Marty Smith asked European captain Luke Donald how playing TGL matches will help his players in the Ryder Cup with a straight face. Then he asked the Auburn men’s golf coach what his team can learn from TGL. I mean, c’mon, man.

Lucas Glover was riding the pine pony for Atlanta Drive and did a quick interview during the match. I can’t remember anything from it besides Matt Barrie making a bad joke about Glover and Smith’s accents. As an appreciator of the amateur game, I loved seeing the national champion Auburn men’s golf team get a quick bit of airtime. Was the interview additive? Nope. But I liked it. Speaking of additives.

An Intermission That Adds to the Product

Another swing-and-miss here. Scott Van Pelt is great, but the intermission does nothing for the broadcast and slows down the match’s momentum. What if we cut out the bad interviews and intermission altogether and broke down some of the golf and strategy instead?

“Proper” Hammer Usage

Not only did we not get proper hammer usage. We didn’t get any hammer usage. Early in the match, Justin Thomas explained why he was sitting on the hammer: “If you just put me and Billy out here we’d be throwing this thing left and right and have no idea what we’re doing. Pat is the voice of reason.” In the first two weeks, the hammer wasn’t used properly. Now it’s not being used at all. That’s a real tough look. That said, our guy PJ Clark enjoyed seeing Cantlay, “The Distressed Debt Investor,” in the weeds on the +EV of hammer usage.

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