The result of the first match in TGL history was never in doubt. The Bay Golf Club looked like the 1980s San Francisco 49ers, and New York Golf Club like the 2024 New York Giants or Jets.

But the outcome was never going to be as important on night 1 as just making it happen — the debut of a simulator golf league, broadcast live on ESPN with six PGA Tour stars hitting golf balls into a five-story screen before turning around and chipping and putting on a green inside the SoFi Center in Palm Beach, Fla.

Whether this would work has been an open question since the league was first announced in 2023. So did it? The Athletic golf editor Hugh Kellenberger was in attendance while staff writer Brody Miller watched the broadcast to have a real-time conversation about what went right, what went wrong and whether TGL has a future.

Hugh: OK, Brody, so I have a few things for you after watching the first five holes of TGL from a seat normally reserved for a fan, in a direct line to the tee box.

Let’s start with the good because it’s too early in 2025 to be entirely pessimistic about anything. The scope of the TGL arena is really something. This is my second time in the SoFi Center, and it does make you go, “Wow.” And it is fun to watch “golf” in an environment where we’re not all sitting on our hands. Matt Fitzpatrick heard the boobirds after airmailing the green on the first hole. There was a pop when Ludvig Åberg made a putt to win another point for The Bay. Considering this is an intimate environment with a lot of suites — and the type of people who fill up suites on opening night of an entirely new thing — getting anything from the fans without provocation is a win.

But …

Inside the arena, we were missing hearing them talk.

Back in the media center watching the broadcast, I’m reminded I wasn’t missing anything. Getting 99 percent of these guys to be entertaining remains a moving target.

I’ve seen enough.

The Bay are your SoFi Cup champions.
— Hugh Kellenberger (@hughkellenberger.bsky.social) January 7, 2025 at 9:50 PM

Brody: The difficult part is not being able to tell if the players are just not carrying it well or the broadcast is just halting any possible energy with these Tiger Woods-Rory McIlroy interviews. There was some fun energy on TV in the early holes. Wyndham Clark staring down New York on the hammer putt, and moments like Åberg getting a little cocky with the crowd or Fitzpatrick getting heckled on that iron shot really did come through on TV. Maybe I’m too optimistic, but the stage and crowd have the potential to create sincerely fun moments with the clock ticking.

My fear is this broadcast had to be too much of a “We made a league!” coronation. Or the blowout killed the momentum.

I can’t tell if I’m the extreme minority or the majority, but I thought the format worked. It moved quickly. The pressure of the other team messing with you or the crowd shouting at you made moments fun. I sincerely had fun watching it, at least until the blowout and the interviews.

But how did it work in person overall?

Hugh: Good, for sure. They have things to work on, which you would expect — you need to hear something besides the DJ’s soundtrack during play. I’d like to have a better idea of the hole they’re about to play and what they were hoping to accomplish. And like every other TV timeout when you’re in the arena, it can get a bit awkward.

But would I pay $14 for a beer and sit and watch guys actually golf fast, as just a cool hang? Sure, why not?

Brody: So you’re saying Max Homa’s projection that it could be a top-five or -10 sporting experience for fans in person was a little premature?

Hugh: Am I ready to put TGL on par with a ballgame at Wrigley or Fenway? No.

But this is like the opening day of a new restaurant. There are some good things here. You can build on this, and you’ll learn that lobster and paella don’t belong on the same menu.

As long as TGL CEO Mike McCarley doesn’t go all Carmy and want to change the experience every week, they’ll be fine.

Ludvig! Let’s gooo pic.twitter.com/pTXCoDE3BX

— TGL (@TGL) January 8, 2025

Brody: Again, I might be alone. I thought this would be a disaster six months ago and came in so cynically, but I see something here. People love match-play golf, but the problem with match-play tournaments is a whole lot of lag time and/or difficulty keeping up. Something about the speedy, pressure-filled setup leads to the parts of match play we actually like (minus the actual stakes of a cup).

Watching Åberg go up knowing he has to hit it close with all his buddies watching is fun. The instant gratification of holes going by quickly and competing for a point is fun. This is also coming from a cynical place, but this taps into what people want to bet on.

Am I too naive?

Hugh: No, you’re not.

We both were getting texts from friends who were really into it, most of which fall into the “sports fans who love to watch live sports every night” category, with varying degrees of interest in golf. They were into it. That’s promising for TGL.

Not everything has to be for everyone. Some people will never care about this, and that’s fine! But it’s live sports early in the week during a comparatively dead time on the calendar. There’s a minimum rating they’ll achieve just by existing, and then the question will be if they can build on it or not. I don’t want to judge any of this too harshly because ultimately TGL is a TV show, and any show is going to suffer when there’s no drama. It’d be like judging an NBA broadcast off a 30-point blowout — sometimes you have to make chicken salad.

New York stinking is a mood-killer, though. Steve Cohen can’t stand for this.

Well played. pic.twitter.com/7EeEoECQFb

— TGL (@TGL) January 8, 2025

Brody: OK, that brings me to my other question. Is there something about the simulator and the greens that is messing with the players or is it as simple as some of them just stank? Some of the bad putts or the completely misplayed chips were the first time I worried about this because, for a moment, it seemed like it wasn’t playing accurately and messing with guys. New York couldn’t find a green to save its life, and then when it missed, it cost the team another three strokes.

But … it might just be New York being horrible. Tough look for Rickie Fowler after all the talk about him spending the most time there!

Hugh: I never want to tell a professional golfer to slow down, but both teams looked so rushed on those first few holes. Probably just nerves and that ticking clock, but The Bay handled it better and still executed.

That it wasn’t a birdie-fest made it better — I want to see it be difficult for them, at least a little bit. Variance makes it interesting.

Brody: Åberg has an unfair advantage as the faster player on tour. Unacceptable. He doesn’t stand over the ball for more than two seconds during the Masters.

But yeah, we need to wait a few more matches to judge. I also cannot emphasize enough how much all the side interviews with people who weren’t playing killed all the parts that did work. The entire broadcast spent so much time talking about the creation of this that it never allowed the players to actually do their part. When it let Xander Schauffele’s audio go, he made it fun. Clark and Shane Lowry being perennial trolls works. And Åberg being a handsome freak hitting clutch shots and actually getting to show some swagger is a huge win.

I don’t blame the players for the broadcast struggling. I blame the broadcast itself.

Maybe it’s all as simple as Schauffele’s comment on the 12th hole: “I would boo me too.”

(Photo of, left to right, Ludvig Åberg, Shane Lowry and Wyndham Clark: Mike Ehrmann / TGL via Getty Images)