My overall experience from a LIV Golf tournament

Thoughts from attending my first LIV Golf event.

Golf absolutely rules. I love it very much.

I’ve had a number of great golf experiences in my life, both personally and professionally. If there is any kind of golf involved then you have me hooked. I love the game with all of me.

Something else I love is sport at large. I also love epic things. For a long time in my 20s I used to say the word “epic” in all sorts of instances. Given that I cover the Dallas Cowboys these things have merged nicely for me in every facet of my life.

With Dallas playing such a pivotal part in my life it felt appropriate for it to be the site of my first LIV Golf experience. Over the weekend I attended LIV Golf Dallas (I was there on Friday and Saturday to be clear... these are my thoughts from my first round in attendance) and walked away wildly impressed.

You’ll note in my post here that I said LIV Golf is “different” right away. I think that this is an important distinction. I note this not to speak anything about any other body of golf but LIV itself. As someone who has consumed a lot of golf in his life, I found what LIV offers to be (shocker here) different.

There are teams. The event is 54 holes. Music is played. There are parachuters who drop in before the shotgun start who carry flags representing the lead (both individual and team) at that moment in time. These are not elements from any level of golf that I have ever experienced personally.

Obviously these factors have served as headliners for some and immediate points of contention for others. I list them not to say that they are signature qualities of LIV Golf, but to help you understand that you have to be willing to approach LIV as its own things.

Ultimately we are talking about golf, right? At the end of the day each player is still trying to score and avoid hazards. The game is the game.

From my perspective LIV Golf is trying to do this in a way that they find unique and interesting. They have levels of innovation happening - the elements described can be argued as some of them - all over the place. One of the most prevalent areas in this regard is in the broadcast booth.

During Saturday’s round I got a look at how the proverbial sausage is made and broadcasted to people all over the world. LIV is using innovative technology, and obviously has incredibly hard-working staffers, to deliver some of the most polished golf broadcasting that I have ever seen.

You know how during the Masters you can see every shot from any player you want? LIV offers that across all of its events. Every single one.

LIV knows its viewers are smart and trusts them to be. During television broadcasts they give them all relevant information and don’t drag them down with anything that isn’t necessary. Part of the reason for this is because fans can indeed access any shot they want in LIV’s app.

Say you are an Abraham Ancer fan and he has fallen out of contention so the broadcast has shifted directions a bit. You can follow him specifically in the app. If you are interested in how his team, Fireballs GC, is doing then you can even throw on a multiview of all action for them specifically. It is sick.

All told the world of LIV is unique to it and that is imperative to understand about anybody, any sport or any world for that matter. If you go into one thing expecting it to be identically another then you are making a decision ahead of time. That seems obvious.

Across my days at LIV I saw world-class golf played. Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson were a part of the mix to name just a few of LIV’s overall roster. Fans from all ages and levels of golf passion were in attendance. I admittedly did not talk to every single person in attendance, but I did not see a single bad time had.

Golf is fun. LIV is fun. Really. Trust me.