the high-tech indoor golf league led by Tiger Woods, debuts to positive reviews and positive feedback









PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — TGL, the high-tech indoor golf league brought to you by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, is finally opening its doors. And the verdict is: a good start!

Bay GC beat New York GC 9-2 in the opening round of the TGL season, with Shane Lowry, Ludwig Oberg and Wyndham Clark playing as if they were in a major, while Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick and Rickie Fowler played as if they were hitting in a simulator.





Let’s be honest, though: the match’s outcome was a secondary concern. The real question of the night is, Is the TGL worth watching? A: Yes, it “depends” to some extent.

If you hate golf simulators or think the only “real” golf is outdoor golf with nature as the only soundtrack… TGL is unlikely to change your mind and it never will. It’s loud, it’s fast, the fans boo you when you make a bad shot… this isn’t Augusta National, guys. For what it is, though — a tech-heavy, rapid-fire golf exhibition — TGL’s first night was a significant success. The evening moved quickly, the energy of the crowd was palpable, the players seemed engaged, and the tech spectacle was virtually flawless. Will TGL attract new golf fans, or will it attract old ones? That remains to be determined, but TGL has already taken a confident first step.

A few hours before the game, floodlights lit up the sky above the SoFi Center on an unusually cold night in South Florida. Inside, smooth jazz and club music blared from a massive sound system upstairs as a well-dressed crowd, mostly in blazers and zipped pants, filed in. Visitors — or fans, if you prefer — passed cocktail stands, a Genesis SUV on the ground, a practice field and a fan shop selling merchandise from all six teams. (T-shirts: $44.99 and up) They found their seats just before 9 p.m. ET, just in time to sit down for just a few minutes before the Duke-Pittsburgh game finished on ESPN.

“This is not a golf course or a country club!” exclaimed host Roger Steele. “Those are real clubs!” Remixes of everything from the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” to Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” blared through the arena, and a pair of WWE-esque tag-teamers took to the stage. Of all TGL’s flashy, dazzling elements, the presentation felt the most forced. That’s mainly because most golfers can’t muster the love-it-or-hate-it charisma required for one of its most breathtaking elements: expression. Shane Lowry had the honor of hitting the first shot in TGL history, hitting it right in the middle of the opening hole, a 5,000-foot par-4 called The Plank.

“When you’re up there, it’s loud and you’re not used to it, and everything happens so quickly,” Lowry said later. “But, yeah, I loved it. We had a wonderful 2 hours this evening, it’s a lot of fun there and something we’re not used to. But it was good.

Bay GC won the first point, then 5 more to take the largest lead in TGL history. New York GC finally broke out of their slump by winning a point on the final hole of the triple, just like the Jets and Giants. (TGL offers 15 holes of match play: nine triples, where everyone plays, and six singles, where players go head-to-head.)

Playing golf in front of a noisy crowd is always risky; sometimes they can stimulate players, as at the home Ryder Cup, and sometimes they can become an active hindrance, as at the WM Phoenix Open after a few too many beers. The TGL crowd was encouraged to make noise, so players would know what to expect. However, hearing the crowd loudly boo a player’s bad shots was a new experience.

“It’s the worst thing that could have happened today at the New York Golf Club,” Schauffele said. “It’s disappointing and a big blow to let the team down here. I heard some screams from the crowd when I missed my shot, so it definitely motivated me to play a little better next time.”

Most holes were completed and drilled within five minutes, but the whole process took about an hour and 50 minutes, with one or two deviations. The shot clock kept the players playing at a fast pace, and the heated exchanges over the microphones gave fans a chance to get a deeper look into the players’ personalities than tour spectators typically get. “We had a lot of fun,” Clark said. “I don’t think anybody had as much fun as we did, we laughed. The things we said to each other in the locker room were very funny: It’s fun to be here with these guys. We’re happy to be a part of it.

“I’ve always been so jealous of basketball players and football players because they can do so much more than we can,” Aberg said. “It’s cool to play in the stadium.