Can Golfsixes become a Glastonbury for the game? Tee to Green

Ihave to admit to not being completely entranced by Golfsixes, the European Tour’s shortened version of the game, after attending its second edition at the weekend.

I’m sorry, it’s the jaded cynic in me. All that noise, all that fun, all those families. Of course it’ll never take off.

Seriously, I really like the idea of Golfsixes – or something like it, which I’ll discuss below – becoming a festival of the game, a Golfing Glastonbury even.

No not the hippy stuff and the recreational drugs, just something reflecting the sheer variety the game has but is rarely seen in one place.

As an annual promotional tool it could go a huge way to changing perceptions of the game from dusty old traditionalists like me and the Group Captain contemplating our Kummel in the club bar.

The way it really did that this year was the inclusion of the women’s teams, which was a huge success. And it was especially good to see the encouragement of the women’s game’s representatives as well as the players.

The Ladies European Tour really needs a shot in the arm, of course, after a huge sinkhole appeared in their schedule last year and put the whole circuit into apparent peril.

What’s troubling is that sinkhole is still there in the 2018 schedule. From a mid-april date in Morocco there’s no proper event until the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open in July.

Last year a rescue package involving the European Tour, LPGA and the R&A was rejected as it smelled a little too much like a takeover for the women’s liking.

Offers of assistance remain on the table, specifically from European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley who believes it’s in the best interests of European golf for the women’s tour to thrive, but the LET still wants to go it alone for now.

And that’s a precarious path, as it doesn’t seem like it’s currently attracting any new sponsors or investors.

There is a “white knight” on the horizon, I’m told, but to be honest I’m pretty sceptical whether this particular potential investor is a) in it for the long haul or b) really able to put in the financial foundations the tour needs to get a stable foundation and grow.

In the meantime, the LET gets the best publicity it’s had in years for having some of its stars play at Golfsixes, where the set-up allows meaningful competition between the men and the women.

And it got noticed elsewhere other than the 10,000 crowd (double last year’s, but the weather was truly glorious) who attended.

The UK media, other than Sky Sports, didn’t pay much attention, but the golf media in the US very much noticed and the LPGA players seemed enthused, Lydia Ko asking Mel Reid how she could get involved in next year’s event.

It shows a little co-operation across the sexes in Europe could be a huge help to the LET. More co-sponsored events, like Morocco and the Scottish Opens, are a clear way the European Tour could be quick and immediate assistance to the sparse LET schedule.

I hope it’s not personalities or pride getting in the way of getting the women’s tour on a firm footing by having much closer ties with Pelley and the men’s tour.

Meanwhile, maybe after a couple of years of Golfsixes and several other variants, it’s time to get an idea of what the European Tour actually wants from these entertaining shortened events. Everyone’s agreed they’re a nice distraction from the staple 72-hole events, but there’s a quite a collection of them building.

We’ve got one version of Sixes in Australia, and a short matchplay event Belgium in a couple of weeks and the Shotclock Masters to come in Austria later in the season.

I find the format of Golfsixes a little too unnecessarily confusing, and I watch golf every week, so I’m not entirely sure the new audience it’s supposed to attract will be any clearer.

The carnival atmosphere gets them wound up in excitement well enough, but cheerleading only goes so far. They have to be engaged by the actual product.

It’s maybe time to get a firm idea of how “shortened golf” is actually going to be and standardise it, in the way they have in 20-20 cricket. The simpler the format, the better.

The introduction of the women’s teams clearly worked, and seniors – or a “legends” team – is obviously the next move. The dates just didn’t match up this year, but you’d love to see how the likes of Colin Montgomerie would do among all that noise.

Similarly, there’s no reason why elite amateurs or juniors teams couldn’t also compete and widen the scope.

In addition, the tour could do with leaning on some of its bigger names to take part. In the inaugural event they had two Ryder Cuppers in Chris Wood and Andy Sullivan, but no one of that calibre this year.

Careful consideration needs to go into the venue, too. Taking Golfsixes to the Continent has to be on the agenda, given it’s the biggest potential growth area.

So while I remain crusty and cynical, I agree that the Golfsixes concept is here to stay.

It definitely can be a big part of golf’s future, just not the whole part.

A rescue package involving the European Tour, LPGA and R&A was rejected as it smelled a little too much like a takeover

Picture: Getty Images. LET stars Georgia Hall and Charley Hull were a popular pairing during the European Tour’s Golfsixes in St Albans.