The grass will always be greener

I was one of about a million viewers who recently tuned into the debut of the TGL indoor golf league, backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. That’s not to say I stayed for the entire two-hour show, but I wanted to give it a chance. They lost me very early on, when in the opening commentary the hosts waxed poetic about how “the modern face of the game is forever changing” and how golf is entering a “new chapter.”

That was the first rules violation of the night, the rule in question being the one that says, “People don’t change golf, golf changes people.”

Call it what you will, but TGL is not golf as it was meant to be. Yes, it had some entertainment value, with fans cheering, players mic’d up and, something that the PGA Tour golf sorely lacks — a faster pace. But I’m pretty confident that if he’d been at the SoFi Center watching the inaugural match, Old Tom Morris would have shaken his head and walked away, muttering to himself.

Tiger and Rory certainly aren’t the first to try adapting golf to the times and the technology. But in my mind, the real point of any “new” form of golf — TGL, Topgolf, or any other gamification concept — is to make money. Remember Cayman balls? Disc golf? Footgolf? Eight-inch holes? On the upside, all such gimmicks might spark some interest and drive a few more people (and dollars) to the game; recent research from the National Golf Foundation seems to indicate that is, indeed, happening. But while they may prove to be effective “on-ramps” to the game we love, none of these variations are what real golf is all about.

Having the best players in the world tee it up in a programmed environment and turn a man-made Titleist into a pixel-produced image may encourage new audiences to try the game, something we should all support. But someone should tell these golf “gamers” that things are going to be very different — and more difficult — when they step onto a real golf course.

And it’s exactly those differences and difficulties that are to be appreciated and applauded. It’s also where we, the course superintendents, wield our influence. Put another way, if we’re not involved, it isn’t golf.

New ideas and technological advances have their purpose, but no computer programmer can take our place.

Call me old-fashioned, a purist, or a curmudgeon, but golf is meant to be played outdoors. Mother Nature is always our real opponent: Some days she’s on her game and throws everything she’s got at us — wind, rain, heat, humidity, whatever — forcing us to bend both our brains and our brawn to the situation. The elements are elemental to the game.

Artificial surfaces may seem to offer a “realistic” experience, but that’s not how a real golfer develops a touch and a feel for the game. Wake me up when The Open Championship installs faux grass from wall to wall.

At the same time technology is being used to make the game more relevant and more favorable to a younger audience, superintendents are being force-fed a steady diet of maintenance marvels like rider-less mowers, automated bunker raking, intuitive irrigation systems and a phoneful of apps to run it all from our cart while making little to no noise and operating day or night. These advances are to be welcomed, particularly considering our labor situation. We track weather patterns weeks in advance, as well as use computer modeling and AI to track pests, disease, weed germination, irrigation and when to apply the appropriate pesticides and monitor growing degree days.

Use all the science you want, but you still need a human touch to monitor and prepare our outdoor playgrounds. Properly maintaining a golf course will always require just as much art and skill as apps and sensors. In fact, the more technology gets involved, the more we do with our heads, hands and heart becomes the big separator.

As the ultimate manager of playing conditions, you’re the one who can control fairway and rough heights of cut, green speeds and bunker conditions. How you wield the power to control these factors can’t just be based on computer chips but also must consider your audience, the time of year, finances and directives from your board. It’s the human algorithm that makes it all work.

Keep the tech coming. But to those programmers interested in helping golf, can I maybe steer your efforts toward improving pace of play? Or player education?

Golf is not a game of perfect. A bunker is a hazard, all lies are not meant to be flat and one of the charms of the game is that it’s hard. As well as innately human.

Let’s keep it that way.