Golf enters a new world tonight in Florida when Shane Lowry plays the opening shot of the first match in the new TGL (Tomorrow’s Golf League).

The new venture is backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy through their TMRW Sports vehicle, and features two teams of three players each night over the course of the season.

Three players from each team will go head-to-head in a 15-hole match featuring two different formats – nine holes of Triples and six holes of Singles – across a selection of custom-designed holes.

Triples is an alternate-shot format where players will take turns teeing off from hole-to-hole and rotate hitting shots until the hole is finished. Individual players will go head-to-head in a predetermined rotation over the six Singles holes. Each team member will play two Singles holes so, for example, the two players who square off on hole No. 10 will face each other again in Singles on hole No. 13.

Every hole is worth one point unless the Hammer is played. This is like a joker where each team can choose to issue a challenge that raises the stakes on a particular hole. The team with the most points at the end of the match wins.

Players will hit into a massive 64’x53’ Screen from two hitting areas, the back box and the front box, depending on the distance to the hole. Each box also features three different hitting areas made up of real fairway grass, real rough and real sand.

Then, once players are within approximately 50 yards of the hole, TGL’s SkyMark technology will show them exactly where to place their ball on the Green or surrounding area.

Fans will be seated in stands that wrap around the Green Zone and have a view into the screen.Each course has been created virtually and as can be seen from the Par 5 ‘Pick Yer Plunder’ Hole above, this dispenses with the need to build bridges to the green.

The SoFi Centre has been built in Palm Spring gardens in Florida and tonight’s launch takes place one year later than scheduled after storms damaged the original less sturdy structure.

The opening match will air on ESPN and ESPN+ live across the US and on Sky Sports Golf from 2 AM in Ireland and the UK.

The season will run from tonight until March, with matches played on Monday and Tuesday to complement rather than compete with events on the regular PGA Tour.

Unlike LIV golf which was always set up as a rival, the US PGA has a near 20 per cent stake in this venture.

 

SPORT FOR BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE

This approach of different formats is taking from Cricket which has very successfully created shorter, more viewer friendly formats of the sport.

With the majority of US Golfers now playing the game exclusively in the virtual or driving range environment it is moving the pro game closer to what the regular players are engaged in. It will be interesting to watch and monitor how much attention it generates in this first season.

WHAT’S UP NEXT?

It all gets going at 2 AM in the small hours of Wednesday morning, Irish time, and will be live on Sky Sports.

MEMBERSHIP AND EVENTS

KPMG, Golf Ireland and ForeFront Sports are our partners in Golf. We will be hosting a Business of Golf event in the summer.

 

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE FOR THE SPORTING YEAR AHEAD 2025

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