WRX Forum Buzzz
Today from the Forums: “How would you improve golf television coverage?”
Today from the Forums, we take a look at a discussion on how WRXers would improve golf TV coverage. Golf TV coverage has come in for its share of criticism in recent weeks on the likes of social media, and FairwaysToHeaven kicks off the discussion with his six ideas to improve the broadcasts:
- “Fox seems to lead the way with the drone footage, and it was pretty impressive at Pebble for the US Open. Not sure if its money or logistics that prevents more use of drones, but check out this feed… You can’t tell me networks, if they actually cared about quality of coverage, couldn’t incorporate drone usage more.
- We absolutely need more handheld cameras to eliminate the generic top-down views from towers to greens. Give me more views as if I’m watching from the sidelines rather than a tower. No more tracking ball through the air which gives us ball in sky look.
- We must show off the course elevation. Current tv camera angles not only eliminate elevation and undulations but eliminate hole layout, sense of distance to pin, etc. and many shots are so generic the viewer wouldn’t be able to tell if it was footage from any other course in the world…example…every top-down zoomed-in view of a player putting on green.
- Stop zooming in on putts rolling towards the hole – which only eliminate player, caddy, fans reactions to a miss/make
- I’m ok with recorded footage. Show more shots. Show fewer tap in putts.
- And of course…. eliminate the fluff…showing the announcers, showing a FedEx cup leaderboard in February, we can have CEO interview audio while watching golf…we don’t need visual, etc”
Our members have been getting involved in the discussion and sharing their thoughts in our forum.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- LeoLeo99: “Get a chance to watch the feature group telecast. I forget where I was watching it, but they use more handheld cameras, and they stay with a group. So, you see all the interaction between the players and caddies. It’s a lot more of “being there” feel to the broadcast.”
- FlyingBasset: “Really great responses in here so far. I’ll summarize my thoughts since they have mostly been covered. 1) Drone coverage – not happening. Drones large enough to carry HD cameras are NOT quiet. And the noise is also not constant as claimed – any time they move or even account for wind they change pitch quite a lot. It’s one thing if you can drown it out by being over the ocean, but players would hate this IMO. The cost-benefit ratio is just not there compared to things like ShotLink and ShotTracer. 2) CEO interviews – Eh, give them their 15 minutes for the money their companies are paying. 3) Shots covered – I completely agree with showing more shots and less putts. I don’t watch to see the best players in the world tap in 2 footers – I do that enough myself. Overall it just needs to be a higher shot-to-putt ratio. Overall, we have so much to be thankful for with golf coverage. ShotTracer and ShotLink have revolutionized how we watch golf, and I think that has a lot more room to grow. PGA Tour Live allows people to get the extra golf-coverage they want for a reasonable cost. And if you subscribe through Amazon Prime, no commercials to boot! Best $65 I’ve ever spent (I’m watching at work right now!) Bonus Gripe: I know we said no ragging on announcers, but give us more stories or opinions instead of generic comments. They’re around these players all day! I would honestly rather hear about the pastrami on rye Rory had for lunch instead of ‘OMG he hits it sooooooo far!’ on every, single, tee shot.”
- Fyll: “Bring on the drones.”
- Hawkeye77: “Remember the fad of showing the putting line all the time? Eventually wore off and thank goodness. Tracer is okay; I like it in the little box off to the side. ‘Demanding’ having every tee shot and iron shot traced isn’t necessary at all, and plenty of them get shown. Still enjoy watching golf and not a video game like the NFL has become.”
Entire Thread: “How would you improve golf television coverage?”
Equipment
I’m a 31 year-old male and I turned my apartment living room into a driving range stall – GolfWRXers react
In our forums, our members have been reacting to a post from ‘GolferTodd’ who has turned their apartment living room into a driving range stall. ‘GolferTodd’ produced the following photo in our forums with the caption:
“To the exclusion of furniture. Bachelor life.”
And our members have been reacting to the post in our forums.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- MtlJeff: “This is amazing……When i was 28 i lived in an apartment that had my winter tires in the kitchen, i only had one plate and 1 set of knives and forks, and i cooked pasta in a witches cauldron from 1835. And i still convinced a woman to marry me. So i am all for this. In fact this is way better than what i had to offer.”
- TiScape: “Love it Todd. Go Dodgers!!”
- imkirby34: “Based on the view out the window, it looks like you’re on the first floor, which is probably a good thing because I’d hate to live below you, even if you have an extremely shallow AoA. Haha.”
In our forums, our members have been discussing classic irons. WRXer ‘DonaldDunes’ has caught the vintage club bug, and wants to know other members’ favorite iron models that “have stood the test of time or were the top performers for their day.”
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- Maine Golfer: “I love a lot of clubs but ’69 Wilson Staff’s are an all time favorite. Easy to hit in relative terms and they look amazing.”
- Wilsonian: “No surprise from me, but the Wilson K-28 irons, specifically blades with the glide thru sole. I grew up playing Ram clubs, but got away from them as I got older. My return to vintage was with the Wilsons, and my first set of hickories were the Wilson Plus Success irons. You’ll try a lot of sets, but I think it’s a matter of what feels best in your hands, specifically your 7 iron which is the best indicator imo.”
- Hawkeye777: “Hogan Redlines. Macgregor Nicklaus Muirfield 20th. Wilson Staff Tour Blade. Those are mine, don’t play any of them these days (no real reason to) and didn’t really “collect” them. The Wilsons I played with for years.”
In our forums, our members have been discussing how much wear is too much wear when purchasing used irons. WRXer ‘con_mon2’ is interested in a used set of iron and kicks off the thread, asking:
“Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this! How much wear are you comfortable with?
I found a set of irons on eBay that I am very interested in buying, but they have a bit more wear than I’m comfortable with. I have attached a few pictures showing especially the wear on the sweet spot on the PW and 9 iron. Maybe you can convince me that I’m being too picky and I should just buy them? Or maybe I should be concerned about the wear? I’m not really sure. They are Ping i230s which came out in 2022 so they aren’t that old. And the seller had this to say about the condition: ‘Good: Normal wear for their age. Excellent playing condition but they have cosmetic wear on faces and soles. Sweetspot wear is visible.’
Beyond the cosmetic, I’d really like to know this: At what point do you start to worry about the grooves being so worn that they have a substantial effect on the shots you’re hitting?”
And our members have been sharing their thoughts in response.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- rsballer10: “The term you are looking for is “browning” and these irons have some of that going on. They are completely playable, but I’d say they’ve reached their half-life.”
- Nessism: “Those heads are stainless steel. The “browning” that some people reference, is really the yellow shade of the nickel layer under the chrome. When forged carbon steel heads wear through the chrome, the “brown” is RUST. These heads will never rust. People applaud the old Ping irons as being “indestructible”. Those heads had no chrome. These heads, even if the chrome is beginning to wear through, on one head, are miles more durable than the older unplated “indestructible” Ping’s. And even further ahead of any forged club.”
- phizzy30: “Hard pass for me. I would rather get a new set of DTC irons and would be glad to spend the extra couple to few hundred.”
Entire Thread: “When buying used irons: How much wear is too much? – GolfWRXers discuss”
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Robert
Mar 8, 2020 at 9:09 pm
Run a list of the sponsors periodically on a ticker tape at the bottom of the screen. Ditch the other sports updates.
Cdub
Mar 8, 2020 at 6:18 pm
Take Azinger off the air!
Shallowface
Mar 8, 2020 at 1:39 pm
One thing I would eliminate are pre and post round interviews. There’s no content.
Pre-round: “What do you need to do today?” “Well I need to drive it in play and hit the greens and if I make some putts I should be right there.”
Post-round: “What do you need to do tomorrow?” “Well I need to drive it in play and hit the greens and if I make some putts I should be right there.”
Post round Sunday: “How’d it go out there today?” Well I drove it well (or didn’t it depends), I hit my irons great (or didn’t, it depends) and my putter was on fire (or cold as ice, it depends).
Rich Douglas
Mar 6, 2020 at 11:53 pm
Split screen: golfer and shot tracer on one half, overhead map with shot tracer on the other. Every single time on every single full shot.
Keep the golfer and his surroundings in the camera while watching a put. No need for a close-up.
Strategy, club choices, alternatives, etc. Keep it analytical.
MarC
Mar 6, 2020 at 9:57 pm
Get rid of the Blimp and add a fleet of drones! Call them GLIMPS! CHEERS!!
Madeline Morgan
Mar 6, 2020 at 6:09 pm
Take a page out of European Tour coverage and have announcers mostly just STFU. The American penchant for constant air-filling blather and shameless shilling for corporate sponsors is annoying, distracting, generally uninformative, and too often provides cover for USGA/PGA Tour idiocy or the bad play and/or bad behavior of players. Fewer putts, more full shots. The relentless avalanche of commercial breaks has long since gotten completely out of hand.
A. Commoner
Mar 6, 2020 at 6:39 pm
Maddy: Excellent post. My short version: Muzzle the entire TV crew.
Shallowface
Mar 8, 2020 at 1:01 pm
The problem with complaining about the sponsors or the commercials is that without the sponsors there would be no professional golf. It is advertising money trying to reach an affluent audience. The only reason we have professional sports is because someone pays for them. The players would do well to remember that.
What I really do not want is would-be stand up comedians providing any degree of yuk yuk commentary. You don’t see it in any other sport, and we don’t need it in golf.
I enjoy the commentary of Paul Azinger and Johnny Miller before him. Call out choking dogs when they expose themselves on national television.
Finally, and we don’t see as much of this with Tiger not playing much anymore, but stop the fawning over him. The most ordinary shots get “Okay! Okay!” or “that was a smart play.” More than likely it was a miss, just like it was for anyone else who hit it.
CrashTestDummy
Mar 6, 2020 at 4:26 pm
Those are pretty amazing shots. Got to be so difficult to get them with a drone though.
db
Mar 6, 2020 at 11:56 am
shot tracer every full shot..