The Australian PGA’s party hole experience was the first sign for mainstream Australian golf that the game is starting to change.
The 17th at Royal Queensland saw up to 12,000 fans pack in over the four days of the tournament last week to a party-like atmosphere with music pumping and drinks flowing.
Eventual champion Min Woo Lee’s thunderclap on the final day on Sunday just prior to claiming the win was among the highlights of the championship.
Min Woo Lee thunderclap ⛈️👏#AusPGA pic.twitter.com/JpsXhCsB3u
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) November 25, 2023
But it’s a far different experience to what’s previously been on offer in Australia. LIV Golf changed the game earlier this year with its party hole in Adelaide when a hole-in-one went viral, in its attempt to replicate the atmosphere at the PGA Phoenix Open’s 16th hole that can hold around 16,000 fans.
HOLE-IN-ONE FOR CHASE KOEPKA! 🚨#LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/hFyd1qLopw
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) April 23, 2023
Is it a change that’s here to stay or does it lower the game? Here’s what some renowned broadcasters had to say on SEN.
Gerard Whateley
“Differentiating it from the rest of the course and then it really is up to the golfers to embrace that or not to, it makes it a signature ticket to go and be there for a while and it can be your jam or not.
“But the high end corporate part of it at Phoenix was really something that has really differentiated that tournament, and I remember leaving there earlier in the year thinking every tournament should have one of these.
“It just adds to how you want to savour the day, you can wander the fairways and pick your every third hole, sit on one hole all day or you can go be part of something exuberant, which I know some ties has spilled over the top… but I think it is a worthy dynamic to have to attract that next generation of fan.”
Andy Maher
“I don’t think it was great.
“I would hate to think if tournament directors around the world feel like that’s what we need to do now to capture part of this new golfing audience.
“I reckon half of them are boozed out of their brains and not there to watch the golf… I reckon half of them couldn’t give a stuff about the golf.”
Robert Craddock
“I’m trying not to sound 110 years old here… I like the concept and golf needs every fan it can get and it has been too serious but I felt the sweet spot was somewhere between the silence on the rest of the course and the ACDC shouting out loud at the party hole.
“It’s not sort of my scene but I did look around and the guys are enjoying themselves. So I can see it’s got a place.”