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GAJTKA: The Balance Of Being ‘Open’ To A Foreign Brand Of Golf

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Speaking with complete candor, while I might claim to be a fan of links golf, I have never actually played a links course.

Don’t get me wrong: I’ve played dozens of tracks that have been inspired by the best of the British Isles’ brainchildren, but I’ve never literally teed it up on a course shaped by the shoreline like we saw this past weekend at Royal Troon.

Part of that is circumstantial. I don’t live in Europe, obviously. I grew up in the not-so-linksy Ohio Valley, and while here are a couple lakeshore links courses relatively near me here in West Michigan, the real ones are brutally expensive and/or exclusive.

But, honestly, I like the idea of playing links golf much more than I do the reality. I hit a high ball, so I don’t particularly care for playing in wind. I also dislike playing in the rain, at least beyond the initial novelty of it.

On the other hand, put me in front of a broadcast of professional golfers trying to hold it together on some windswept foreign shore and I’m riveted. (Yet another difference between what’s fun for me to experience and what’s fun to watch someone else go through. Funny how that works!)

That back nine on that Scottish Saturday, which ended with no fewer than six golfers within one shot of the lead tenuously held by Billy Horschel, was as much vicarious fun as I’ve had watching golf all year.

Maybe part of it is the differential between what we saw over the weekend and what we see most of the year across the pro landscape. There’s been a push from some corners of the golf commentariat to introduce a links golf ‘season’ that culminates in the (British) Open, and I can see the merit to it.

But then the other part of my brain starts working, the part that wants to see the best players get a fair and level chance to win the biggest events of a given year. For me, three or four straight weeks of links golf would erode my appreciation for its quirky merits.

This is the part of my fan mind that caused me to enjoy the birdie barrage at the PGA Championship more than most veteran golf observers. This is an Olympic year, so let’s go with this: Imagine running the 100-meter dash through mud.

Would it be bizarrely entertaining? Maybe! A proper test of who’s the best? Not even close.

So that’s the tightrope that any sports product has to walk. We can agree that there should always be some level of unpredictability — or statistical randomness, if you prefer — but not so much that you don’t even know what sporting skills you’re testing.

Golf is going through a phase that’s been defined by the appetite to limit the impact of sheer explosive athleticism. And to be clear, I understand that this sport is not track and field, nor should it be. We actually don’t want the only the longest hitters to succeed, although that aspect will always be a massive part of the sport — regardless of how far you roll back the ball, or equipment in general.

Golf is at its heart a problem-solving game, and thus there should be multiple solutions available to keep the interest level high. I think that’s where links golf has its primary appeal, what with the necessity to use the ground to approach the hole more often, to find the avenue that provides the best way to beat both the course layout and the elements.

That last part about weather is the main sticking point for me, when it comes to deciding how much links golf is enough over the course of 12 months. If we had a balmy weekend at Troon, scores would’ve resembled the PGA Championship that so many ‘savvy’ fans derided. For me, betting on the whims of Mother Nature isn’t a consistent winning formula.

And that’s why I was satisfied to see that, on the final day of competition, the weather calmed enough to make it a true sprint to the finish. The fact that golf’s most well-rounded player in Xander Schauffele pulled away made me feel like, despite all the natural vagaries of the first three days, we got a very worthy Champion Golfer of the Year.

So in a sense fans got the best of both worlds. The wind and rain combined with the usual bumps and bruises instilled by a links layout to winnow the field to a handful of Sunday contenders — and the guy who played the best golf tee-to-green was rewarded for his excellence.

Fun, fickle and fair? I suppose it is possible, under the right conditions.

A 15-year veteran of sports media, Matt Gajtka (GITE-kah) is the founding editor of PGN. Matt is a lifelong golfer with a passion for all aspects of the sport, from technique to courses to competition. His experience ranges from reporting on Pittsburgh's major-league beats, to broadcasting a variety of sports, to public relations, multimedia production and social media.

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