The PGA of Australia is going to experiment with a new Blitz Golf format in a pair of events in their Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series, promising -- as the name implies -- the drama of an entire tournament in a single 18-hole round (plus a sudden-death hole).
What is Blitz Golf?
Blitz Golf is billed as the golf equivalent of Twenty20 cricket, which was a format designed to play a match in a single day in a matter of hours, rather than classic test matches that can last days at a time without a hard-and-fast rule on when the game ends.
Golf tournaments don't have the problem of an ambiguous end time, but they do have the problem of extending multiple days until resolution. Blitz Golf seems to favor a single-day format, meaning the fans who attend get to see the beginning, middle and end without having to return for more money and more tickets.
The Blitz Golf format
The PGA of Australia will employ this with two events in 2019, with hopes of taking Blitz Golf international in 2020.
Who is ready for #BlitzGolf at @glenelggolf? 🙋♀️⚡️🙋♂️⚡️🙋♀️⚡️🙋♂️ pic.twitter.com/6nYhrNBHd4
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) January 5, 2019
The Blitz Golf format will feature 40 male professional golfers, split evenly on the front nine and back nine of the host golf course. (There's a separate, simultaneous event with 20 female pros.)
- The 20 players on each side of the course will play their respective nine holes. From there, the top 12 players move on to the next stage, with the scores reset.
- The remaining 12 players on each side of the draw then play six holes. The top six players advance to the next stage, with the scores reset.
- The remaining six players on each side of the draw then play a three-hole shootout. The top two players from each side advance to the final stage, where they combine to make a four-man field.
- The remaining four players compete in a one-hole shootout until there's a winner.
Fan experience
The Blitz Golf organizers want fans to also be able to experience golf more akin to perhaps what we've seen with GolfSixes. There will be food trucks and pop-up bars on the course, with live music. There will be junior clinics and competitions for fans to win prizes.
