Friday to life golf Michigan

Friday to life golf Michigan

This weekend there are two competing professional golf tournaments in Michigan: the Pgat Champions Ally Challenge in Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc and Liv Golf Michigan in the Cardinal in Plymouth.

Interesting is that both three-round things are.

I decided to attend the LIV golf tournament, because I went to the Ally Challenge earlier. There is a lot of buzz about LIV – both negative and positive – so I wanted to experience it myself.

Liv Golf Michigan is the Team Championship of the Tour-it-last event of a 14-tournament season. Just like with the others, it is a three-round, Shotgun Start format. In contrast to the others, however, it is game game.

I like match play.

Liv has thirteen teams, so on the previous Wednesday, the 12th and 13th teams held a single elimination competition game. The majesty and iron heads were in those places; The Majesties got it through.

In the Friday matches, each team match consisted of two singles matches and one alternative-shot (foursomes) match, with a total of three points available. The winner of each match was the first team to two points.

On Saturday, the six winning teams went on to the championship bar, while the six losing teams continue to play in the ranking. The format remains the same.

Sunday’s rounds are a stroke game, where the score of each team comes from all four scores of the players in the team.

Teams earn final positions based on their finishes in the respective levels.

• 1st-3rd finalists of the Bracket Championship
• 4th-6th-freezer teams of the semi-final of the championship
• 7th-9th-winning teams of the Bracket ranking
• 10th-12th-freezer teams of the bracket ranking

The team with the lowest total score in the championship arched is the 2025 Liv Golf Team Champion.

I think the PGA Tour should take notes about this. The rap on match game for the PGA Tour is that the most popular players would not play at the weekend. The size of Liv Golf ensures that all 48 still play at the end. However, I am not sure if I like the sudden switch to a stroke game. It seems to me that the losers can continue to play as teams for final positions.

As a ‘fan’, the experience at Liv Golf is remarkably different from a Pgat event.

I put the word ‘fan’ in quotes because I am technically the event as a member of the media. However, I am not going to spend a lot of time covering the scores. There are more than enough points of sale that report on scores, recordings and player quotes. I am more interested in somehow communicating what it feels like to be a paying spectator.

The first thing I noticed – even before I entered the gates – is that it is noisy. Liv has good if it says: “Golf louder.” Speakers are everywhere and they all play a kind of (for my ears) harmless pop rock. I didn’t recognize any of the bands, but I am old. They probably know younger people.

I also noted that the signage on the course was better than other tournaments that I attended. I was never loss of instructions. There are signs with QR codes for cards and the LIV score app.

Humorous there were a lot of signs with the text: “First!” And spectators instructed that if they heard the call to cover their heads.

Or maybe that is not humorous. It may be true that Liv Golf may rather attract people who have little experience with golf or golf tournaments.

Many of the Pgat, LPGA and USGA tournaments that I have attended have had areas with “fan experience” with food, drinks, games and other additional activities. The Rocket MortGage Tournament that I attended had a very nice, with many awning tents that represent local companies that offered exhibitions or activities.

Liv’s “Fan Village” was also impressive, but leaned against the activities. Among the offers were areas, a ‘sitting football’ table, basketball and a bad tank.

Elsewhere there was a “Family Fairway” section, with activities for the Tykes. Of course next to an ice cream car.

Just as with other tournaments that I have attended, the cardinal has a confluence of tee -boxes, greens and grandstands that attracted the most fans. In this case it is the central area near the first, fourth, fourteenth and seventeenth green, and the second, eighth and sixteenth tee boxes. They are all in a job around half the house.

The largest and noisy point was the Birdie -Hutstranstens and food location around the PAR 3 fifteenth (normally the eighth; the course has been diverted for the competition). However, the Birdie Shack is an expensive ticket and is sold out.

Away from that core area, as you would expect, crowds were much scarce. Some groups, such as the Mickelson group, attracted larger crowds, but I have never found it more than one fan deep.

I don’t think Liv Michigan was also present on Friday as one of the Pgat events that I have treated. I would put it in line with an LPGA event. Outside the core areas at Pgat events, premier groups are usually two to three deep with fans around the T -shirt boxes and greens. To take good photos, I had to go on the ropes with my media pass. That was not the case in Liv Michigan on Friday. I was always able to get to the ropes outside the central district.

That is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing for fans who want to get close to the promotion. It is probably a curse for tournament organizers who would like to have more paying customers.

I don’t think we will ever get accurate daily presence figures for Liv Michigan, just as we get accurate presence figures from Pgat events.

The cardinal was flawless, with perfectly smooth greens, pristine fairways and thick, four inch rough. I had a chat with course architect Ray Hearn, who said that a superintendent course can make or break the design of an architect. He had nothing but praise for the site of the cardinal.

It is a very nice course and suitable for hosting a high -level tournament, with lots of space between holes for grandstands and other locations. I asked Hearn about that and he said that leaving such space between holes was indeed a consideration in the design.

The spatiality of the cardinal (18 holes above the site once occupied by 27) leaves Liv the facilities to avoid long rows. The tournament card shows eleven toilet rooms and five collections for food and drinks.

However, innovations were expensive. A Michelob Ultra or Guinness was $ 13. These are MLB ball park prices.

Just like with Ballparks, there were actually roaming drinks sellers.

And spoken in duration, items in the merch tent were priced at a premium with $ 150 polos and so on. Still, if you are a Range Goat Superfan, I think you are willing to take a second mortgage to get part of their brand merch.

I am very interested in seeing how Saturday is. I think it is likely that the crowd will be bigger because it is a weekend. There is also the added attraction of an Imagine Dragons concert after the competition.

I’ll have more tomorrow.

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