NORTH PLAINS, Ore. — First impressions go a long way. After spending three days at the LIV Golf Invitational Series event at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, one thing is clear: there’s a market for this upstart circuit.
It just depends what you want to get out of a golf tournament.
If you’re a golf fan who loves the game for the history and competition, these events won’t be for you. But if you’re a general sports fan who loves festivals and fanfare, you may be interested.
When you walk through the front gates you’re immediately met with the selling points of the series on signs lining the walking path: 48 players, 12 teams, 54 holes, no cuts, shotgun starts. Night and day from a normal pro golf tournament, and that’s exactly what LIV and its players want.
Workers scrambled to build structures in the two days leading up to the start of play, with parts of the fan village still to be built less than 24 hours before Thursday’s 1:15 p.m. shotgun start. By the time gates opened at 10 a.m. for fans, they were able to see just what the Public Investment Fund – the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia that backs LIV Golf – is capable of.
Just a few steps further to the left and you see the fan village, filled with food and drink options ($5 for beer, $10 for wine and cocktails and $15 meals, so if you just want a small snack, good luck), a kids zone and golf activities ranging from putting and chipping challenges to mini golf and even a performance center loaded with multiple digital hitting bays and, for some reason, racing video games.
Performers riding unicycles and bicycles with juggling equipment rode around the course during play. “Alcohol monitors” are on patrol in bright yellow shirts in order to make sure no fans get overserved.
You almost forget you’re at a golf tournament.
Despite the controversy surrounding LIV Golf due to the source of its funding coming from an oppressive regime with ties to terrorism and human rights abuses, the fans don’t seem to care. They enjoy the activities outside of golf, but more than that, they just want to see the pros. LIV might not have it all figured out, but coming to a region that loves golf and is starved for tournaments was smart.
Same with their ticket discounts. Active-duty military and veterans get in for free at LIV events, same with kids 15 and younger with a ticketed adult. The series also offers 25% discounts for college students, teachers, medical professionals and first…
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