Story highlights
Perth to host new Super Six format in 2017
Organizers hoping new format will inspire fans
It’s the tournament Down Under which could turn the game of golf on its head.
Perth, Australia, will host the first ever World Super 6 in February 2017 as the sport trials a new format to bring some extra speed to the game.
The four-year-old Perth International has been axed with the competition instead set to feature 54 holes of regulation stroke play before the top 24 players face off in a six-hole match play shootout on the final day.
Backed by the European Tour, which will hope to attract some of the world’s biggest names, organizers want to know if the faster version of the sport could spark interest from those not normally classed as golf fans.
“This is an exciting day for international golf as we launch the World Super 6 Perth; a golf tournament which is set to change the way people view golf,” Brian Thorburn, CEO of the PGA of Australia and PGA Tour of Australasia told reporters.
“Cricket has Twenty20, Netball has Fast5, Rugby Union has sevens and now golf has the World Super 6 Perth.”
Entertainment business
The tournament, which take place at Lake Karrinyup from Feb. 16-19 next year, is in keeping with European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley’s desire to attract new audiences.
“Perhaps the traditional way of playing 18 holes is somewhat in decline,” Pelley, who took over the role in April 2015, told CNN’s Living Golf show in January.
“Overall participation in the game is increasing dramatically through different things like adventure golf, driving ranges and pitch and putts. Overall, the participation in the game, I think, is very strong.
“A lot of people say that we’re in the golf business. Yes, we are in the golf business, but I say that we’re also in the content business and we’re in the entertainment business.
“Golf happens to be our platform. So if we’re in the entertainment business then our players are our stars, and supporting our players and making them bigger stars is the most critical part of our game going forward.
“We have to grow this tour with them, and that’s the critical point – growing it with them.
“You definitely have to understand the younger generation and get them very, very early from a participation perspective because that will lead to audience engagement down the road.”
Pelley’s hopes for drama should be increased by the unique format to the six-hole shootout if the players finish level.
A knockout hole will be used to separate the players and if that still doesn’t yield a winner then a closest-to-the-pin contest will ensue to decide the victor.
