World Matchplay
and play the course, where not 18 months ago, Tiger Woods and co. won the Presidents Cup. I can drive into Yarra Yarra Golf Club, and with a bent, hand-me-down putter, could three putt the very same green where Gary Player claimed his first professional victory in 1956. Brilliant courses, made by brilliant designers such as Alistair MacKenzie, Pete Dye, Robert Trent Jones and Albert Tillinghast are littered like geographic art all over countless countries world wide, yet the WGC, and unfortunately most major tours world wide have lost sight of golf traditions, and simply chase the all important dollar.
In February, WGC invites the top 64 ranked players in the world to participate in the Matchplay Championships, at a resort for spoilt Americans with no concept of "real golf". Two hours from Phoenix, near nothing of note, Dove Mountain is "desert golf at it's best". Many would disagree. World number 2, Australian Adam Scott simply chose to bypass this years tournament because "the course doesn't suit my eye". Tiger Woods, the world number 1, having just recovered from a minor injury also gave it no regard, saving himself for a hectic schedule later in the year. As a result, fans suffered.
World Golf Championships, wrongly, reflects only the origin of the players who are invited. Three of the four events are held in the United States, forcing those players not usually on the PGA Tour to head to the US from all corners of the globe, for a single tournament, only to return "home" six days later. Along with Dove Mountain, the other events are held at Trump Doral in Florida, another manufactured, made for TV course owned by none other than Donald Trump, Firestone Country Club in Ohio, another monster of a course where which the modern US principal of "a long course, is a hard course" applies. For reasons only known (again) to the mighty dollar, week in week out on the PGA Tour, that same principle runs true. The fourth event, is the WGC's attempt at globalisation, held at the Mission Hills Golf Club in China.
Be it the fault of the course, it's location or otherwise, the World Matchplay will need to find a new sponsor from 2015, as long time sponsor Accenture has declined to continue as the naming sponsor, a position it has held since 1999. In turn, Dove Mountain could lose it's place as the host course, depending on the sponsor that the tournament gains moving forward. So for just one week of the year, why can't golf reconnect with it's ancestors and give a little back.
Obviously the aforementioned dollar keeps the world turning, and keeps all professional golf tours viable, but there seems to be no time like the present to, for one week of the year take golf back to it's pure origins. Why can't the Matchplay be played on a variety of world famous courses, over a three or four year roster? Initially the tournament would need to be moved in the schedule to allow for it, possibly a straight swap with Mission Hills' HSBC Champions event in November, but for the sake of the World in World Golf Championships, surely it is worth it? As it stands, 26 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings, are from countries not called the United States, encompassing Australia, Sweden, South Africa, France, the Netherlands and Spain among many others, Why shouldn't they get the chance to win on the truly world stage, possibly on home soil? And why we're at it, why not link in some of golfs best names with the best courses, which connect to both the every day golf fan, and the forefathers of modern
golf. On the surface, as most ideas are, without the boundless logistical issues, it's a no brainer, so we'll start dreaming and kick off the new World Matchplay
Championships.
The late Seve Ballesteros was a cavalier of matchplay golf, equally competent at both the sublime and the ridiculous. How often would a tee shot not out of place at a late night driving range, be followed by a recovery shot that seemingly made the laws of physics and golf redundant. He won the World Matchplay Championship 5 times, so what better place to start our rotation, than in San Roque in Spain, at Valderrama Golf Club, playing for the Ballesteros Trophy. Designed by Robert Trent-Jones, Valderrama is widely considered the best course in continental Europe.
The US can retain a spot on the roster of course, on the provision it utilises it's stockpile of wonderful, technical, traditional courses, and not just aesthetically beautiful ones. When we think of golf in the America, Augusta National is rightly, an almost unreachable peak, as are Pebble Beach and Pine
Valley. But old fashioned Shinnecock Hills and seldom heard of National Golf Links of America are criminally underused. As are modern day classics like Pacific Dunes, or Pete Dye's brutal Kiawah Island in South
Carolina, home to the "War on the Shore", the 1991 Ryder Cup. Any of them would play a suitable host to a tournament paying homage to Ben Hogan, Sam Snead or Walter Hagen.
A visit to the Southern Hemisphere can be a rotation in itself, from the world famous Melbourne sandbelt to South Africa. Royal Melbourne, Kingston Heath and even Metropolitan (where believe it or not, the WGC Matchplay has already been played, in 2001 when Steve Stricker was victorious) don't need explaining. Modern South African gem Fancourt Links has already hosted a Presidents Cup, and courses like Durban Country Club and Leopard Creek would not be shamed on a global stage. Named after Gary Player himself, Australian Peter Thomson or perhaps both, it fits into third place on the roster.
Finally, we get back to the birthplace of golf. Real golf. How could one resist playing for a trophy named after the pioneer of professional golf, Old Tom Morris. The man who redesigned and replenished the Old Course at St Andrews in 1865. Like the Southern Hemisphere leg of the tour, given the embarrassment of riches in Great Britain, a separate rotation could be called for. From Morris designed beauties like Muirfield and Royal County Down in Northern Ireland to Sunningdale or Royal Birkdale in England. Even St Andrews itself can get a place on the team, separate from it's place on the Open Championship roster.
All too often we hear of the worlds top players "loving the courses, loving the history and traditions of the game", yet all too often, for any number of reasons, few, if any bother with travel. All too often we hear of classic courses unable to hold tournaments because of issues stemming from their design or infrastructure. For just one week of each golfing year, for the sake golf and it's fans, can the mighty dollar be sacrificed. For just one week of the year, for the sake of golf, and it's fans, can the word World, actually mean it. For just one week of the year, for the sake of golf and it's fans, can golf be played on it's traditional, hallowed grounds. The game would be better for it.
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