Arguably the covered  and popular  event in golf is the Ryder cup. The battle between the US and Europe  is  of course thrilling but in my opinion the reason the Ryder cup is superior to any other major golf event is the lay-out of the competition. The one-on-one match ups and gripping competitiveness that comes naturally to any team sporting event makes the Ryder cup so jaw dropping; However there is a real lack of this format in professional golf and a competition of this ilk  with enough financial backing is ready to take over the golfing world.

We have seen the controversial but successful creation of the Indian premier league . We have seen a relatively new format (T20 ) Combining the  best players with a wealth of financial backing take over the sport  . Why can’t we see this in golf? Imagine a competition with the best players, coverage from mainstream channels ,  owners with enough innovative ideas and marketing structure . This would surely be enough to   give solo competitions like the masters a run for its money .

What would this competition actually look like 

When this idea came into my head, I pictured a combustion  of the Ryder cup and the IPL  . Franchise modelled Teams consisting of 12 would battle against each other on a week to week bases in a league table , which would eventually come down to a 4 team playoff . Two teams would face off on a extended weekend following the Ryder cup format ( two fourballs , two foursomes and a head to head match up to finish the weekend off ) . The competition would last around 10 weeks so to  not damage the old system completely ,although 10 weeks without the best players in the world could be quite damaging to both the European and PGA tour .

Who wouldn’t want to see bryson dechambeau facing Brooks Kepka in a head to head to take their teams to the playoffs? This would provide a boost to the sport bringing real economic and entertainment benefits to the dull and stale golf system .

Have we seen evidence for team golf tournaments working in the past

The two main team golf events outside of  the Ryder cup are the President cup and NCCA college golf. The presidents cup is a competition similar the Ryder cup but instead of team Europe, there is a team called ‘The Rest of the World’ . Unlike the NCCA college golf system   all the best players that are eligible for this match play. Viewership peaked in the 2019 edition reaching   2.15 million Viewers Per Minutes. This compares to the average viewership of a PGA tour event which is around 1.3 million. The NCCA tournament is the biggest mainstream team event that dosent involve players of a nation and happens on a weekly bases (rather than every 4 years ) . This has big interest and viewership considering these players are amateurs. Teams progress through a league for most of the season, then advance to a conference championship, where they look to advance to the national final .

Would this work

To many purists  I am turning a blind eye to tradition and the successes of the current format. However, innovative , forward thinkers will agree that  with the right financial backing and investment from fans , I belive something like this could realy take off in the golfing world .