Euro Tour takes swing at livening up pro golf

Walkout music. Pyrotechnics. A long-drive competition. Shot clocks. Mic’d-up players.

Golf gets another makeover this weekend when the European Tour rolls out its latest attempt at innovation, the inaugural GolfSixes tournament at the Centurion Club in St. Albans, England.

Played over two days, GolfSixes is a six-hole match play event featuring two-man teams from 16 different countries competing for a prize fund of 1 million euros (US$1.1 million).

“It’s an innovative way to get young kids to play, bring it out of the old age a bit and into the new age,” England player Andy Sullivan said.

Keith Pelley, the European Tour chief executive and a former president of Rogers Media in Canada, is striving to broaden the appeal of golf and make it accessible and relevant in an increasingly crowded marketplace within sports.

Fun appears to be the name of the game this weekend with the European Tour using it as a “proof of concept” to see whether it could become a regular event.

The teams will be split into groups of four on Day 1 with the top two from each group progressing to the knockout stages. The quarter-finals, semifinals and final will take place on Day 2.

Each hole has a distinctive theme: Music and pyrotechnics on No. 1, charitable donations for birdies on No. 2, long-drive competition on the 525-yard No. 3, 40-second shot clock on No. 4, closest to the pin on No. 5 and oncourse interviews on No. 6.

Teams will play in a Greensomes format, where the best tee shot is selected and alternate shot is played thereafter.