# Fans at the Players



## CJ24 (May 14, 2007)

Alright, so i'm watching the players championship this weekend, huge galleries, but from what i could hear on tv, the fans were really annoying. i'm not a golf elitist by any stretch of the imagination, but it seemed like there was a good portion of fans that didn't know much about golf, or were just being dumb. 
now, i don't know where the mics were in comparison to the golfers, so for all i know the players could hear what the mic's were picking up. few examples of what annoyed me:

i think it was Stewart Cink who was putting, but i heard someone making noise, while he was putting, just insanely rude. there's also an article on golf.com or espn.com or golfdigest.com (can't remember which) where the marshal couldn't get the fans to stop talking while Colin Montgomerie was hitting.
the thing that probably confused me the most, and questioned how big of golf fans some of the people there were, was on 18. when DiMarco and whoever he was playing with tee'd off on 18, they both pushed their drives into the right rough and where behind some tree's, not good position at all. after they hit their drives, the fans were cheering loudly. i was confused, they were cheering bad shots. it wasn't an "it's alright, not that bad" cheer they were whooping and hollering. i liken it to a basketball crowd, the home crowd, cheering after one of their players misses a free throw that would have tied the game. makes no sense. 
there was also the usual "get in the hole" and all sorts of other yelling after players had hit, which i've gotten used to hearing at big tournaments.

I didn't notice this stuff watching the Masters this year or any other tournament, the crowd just sounded a lot rowdier at the players this year than any tourny i've watched in a while. i'm not some snobby golf elitist, i understand that these events will draw more people that don't really play golf, so they don't understand the importance of silence and how good a shot is or not. maybe i'm just not used to the big tournament atmosphere.


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## cbwheeler (Apr 9, 2007)

You can blame that on all of the recently out of school college students in that area who are probably there on their parents dime and are just there to party. It does suprise me sometimes how rude people are.


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## BrianMcG (Apr 7, 2007)

A lot of times what you hear on the T.V. may be nowhere near what action they are showing. That would be some producers fault in some trailer somwhere leaving some mics hot. I see it every week pretty much.

As for people cheering when people tee off, they just cheered as soon as someone makes contact. The Phoenix Open is notorious for this. Does anyone remember Tiger Woods' hole in one in 1997. Incredible. But the thing was, they cheered really loud for people even hitting in bunkers. 

You are correct in that when you watch the Masters, the patrons are much more knowledgeable about golf than any regular event. The same could be said for the British Open. They will cheer good shots and be polite during bad ones. But at any run of the mill tournament, where most of the gallery could pick out Paris Hilton better than they could Tiger Woods you will get some odd fan reactions.


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## 373 (Jun 9, 2006)

Ambient noise in the form of understandable words that happen around the towers, even if far away from the tv picture, is apparently one of the problems the networks feel they will probably never conquer.

On the other hand, I'd like to punch out the guy on the par 3's who screams, "GO IN THE HOLE!"... as soon as each player makes contact and FAR before anyone sees whether the ball is even going to land in proximity to the hole... Sheesh!

Personally, I think tournaments are seeing a different type of spectator these days. Golf has become mainstream and the person who doesn't play is often still a fan, albeit without a knowledge of the game or its etiquette. The guy knows Tiger from some ad on television and wants to get to the course to be in the presence of greatness has every right to be there, but I would hope he or she would notice the proper behavior on the course. PGA doesn't spell NASCAR and when I attend one or the other, I know how I can act.

The result is a loud team sport fan mentality misplaced in the gallery of a golf tournament.

As for Phoenix, I was disgusted with the fans there. Somehow, they have developed a tradition of booing the players who hit less than perfect shots and sometimes, even when shots landed within inches of the pins, they booed anyway. I even wrote Golf Magazine expressing my disgust, but my email didn't get published. I think the galleries at the 18th hole in Phoenix were undeserving to attend a great tournament played by a great field hosted by and supported by some of the most charitible sponsors on the whole PGA Tour.

While I appreciate how golf has become a much more available sport to the masses than the white collar perception of it until recent years, I still maintain the strength of the game has been the honor with which the rules and etiquette are held. Without that, the game will become something less than it was.


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## CJ24 (May 14, 2007)

ya, on tv, i was hearing the "GET IN THE HOLE!!" on the par 5 16th, i mean, give me a break.

as you guys aluded to, with golf becoming more mainstream, it also becomes somewhat of a problem, etiquette wise. not just watching, but playing as well. for instance, this past saturday, i was out trying to get a somewhat-quick 18 in, and there were 2 groups in front of me. one group was two older guys, who let me play a hole with them, and then play through (this was hole 6). then 7-9 i had this group of four, just recreational golfers, probably just out on a double-date enjoying the weather, i could tell they weren't any good and they just sort of hit the ball around and did there thing. that's all well and good, but because i'm assuming they didn't know much about golf, they would tee off right away, instead of letting me play through. was it a big deal? no, it just represents the problem that there's a certain level of trust and etiquette in golf, that if you've never played before, and don't play with someone who does play, you don't learn that stuff. when i was growing up and learn the sport, my friend's family that taught me how to golf, golfed all the time, so they taught me, i guess i'd say it's "the right way to play" (not sure how else i'd say it)
there are just certain "unwritten rules" in golf that, if you've never golfed before, you don't know, and with golf becoming more mainstream (which is good), there are more people coming out to play, but are playing without people that will teach them general etiquette that we take for granted.


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