GolfSixes Wrap: Shot Clock, Yes; Television Coverage, No

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Saturday's coverage was all I could see of European Tour's Chief Executive Keith Pelley's bold, perhaps too-ambitious GolfSixes (won by Team Denmark). While I heard from several of you rightly offended by the excess of elements wheeled out--Pelley's effort to fund the event and the strong response of players to all of it, but in particular, the shot clock, will be the ultimate legacies.

With Sky Sports doing the TV coverage those of us watching in the States were able to see what a fine job the European Tour's IMG Media-produced coverage does on the announcing, storytelling and production fronts. On Saturday's telecast, I saw mostly putts for par while announcers worked relentlessly to somehow bring everything back to themselves. The combination made the telecast almost unbearable.

Iain Carter noted the announcing in his BBC take on the event.

For spectators, there was plenty to watch and hear. Some of the stuff pumped through the microphones and speakers missed the mark but an engaging atmosphere was generated.

To make it work better they should employ announcers who know their subject and are capable of identifying all of the players and match situations.

The Telegraph's James Corrigan says the reaction has been strong from a sponsorship point of view.

"It is understood that a number of potential investors have been in touch and the long-term view is to set up a series of GolfSixes events, which will run within the traditional schedule.

"[European Tour Chief Executive Keith] Pelley admitted beforehand that it was a gamble going into the £1  million event without a title sponsor and so having to dip into the Tour’s carefully protected coffers. But this is an experiment the Canadian believes will pay off. 'There’s no doubt this will be back,' Pelley said. 'We’re going to take what we’ve learnt and build on this. The key is to get the mix right, making it entertaining and preserving the integrity of the game.'”

Players raved, in part because of the better pace. Andy Sullivan said the shot clock worked, reports Alistair Tait for Golfweek.

“Personally, I just think they need to be stricter with it on the Tour,” Sullivan said. “This week, everyone was quicker because they knew as soon as it (the shot clock) went to zero, they were getting a shot penalty. Whereas in a normal event, you’ve got that little bit of leniency.”

Players who participated even took to Twitter to defend the event: