HEADING IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS

It's not by virtue of the fact that the US Open was the showcase sporting event of the past weekend that encourages one to declare with confidence that the future of golf is a brighter one, in better hands and far more assured than that of horse racing.

No, things have been this way for many years now. Racing fans may not want it to be like this but it is something that has to be accepted and yet again a reason for the equine sport to concentrate on cutting its cloth accordingly by setting about creating a path for itself away from the top tier of the sporting league.

An unbiased appraisal of both sports could only produce one clear cut winner. There is a unique state of being with golf in that a fan of the sport can play the game at a Saturday morning communal level but still have the opportunity of playing at some of the venues that hold professional tournaments.

It is a sport that has no reliance on the public placing bets on it -without which racing would not exist - and it does not carry the worry of having to watch it's back for assaults from animal welfare groups, who though possibly smaller in number than forty years back, are better organised with the assistance of the social media platform.

In fact golf has become a very environment friendly sport with the development of new courses more often than not complementing and sustaining rather than damaging the environment. Indeed many are often allowed to run too close to nature for comfort. In 2016 a lady was walking her dog by the course at Hilton Head in South Carolina, a regular PGA tour venue, when an alligator dragged her to her death into a nearby lagoon.

When it comes to TV presentation;well of all of the sports bar none, golf is at the top of the tree in delivering in depth, professional coverage with the right balance of sophistication and repartee, while quite rightly addressing an audience as though they have a similar level of knowledge - those of us who lack this would still not have it any different.

Formula One remains the true glamour sport and is also presented with a splendid blend of professionalism and style, while cricket too is excellently served though the dropping of both David Gower and Ian Botham from the Sky coverage was understandably not a welcome development with viewers.

But the coverage of professional golf both in Europe, and in particular over on the men's US PGA Tour, is the closest to perfection that you will ever come across. 

Even those of us who cannot imagine our uncoordinated gaits swinging a golf club never mind trying to understand the slow motion swing analysis by professional coaches, find ourselves enchanted by the precise mechanics of it all. Many of us have been watching these demonstrations of heads, arms, hips and knee motions since we turned to the specialist sports channels a quarter of a century back, continue to watch and study, but in truth are none the wiser though will continue to look in, a little envious of the lifelong fans of the game who play and understand.

For many years David Livingstone was the front for the SKY coverage, as suitable as one could be for the post, serious when it was appropriate to be but ably assisted by being witty. He built up a great tune with Butch Harmon whose humor was on the same wave.

It came as a surprise when Livingstone retired, though many of us not in the loop probably considered him to be younger than he really was with what appeared to be a full head of real hair.

The SKY team were the poorer for the departing of both Livingstone and Harmon but the coverage remains very, very good, still the best of all. They also seem to have successfully tackled the annoyance of US television's interlude every few minutes schedule which once led Livingstone to apologising to viewers for their enjoyment of the adverts being spoilt by the golf. 

This has been achieved by having the SKY team on site at an increased number of US PGA Tour tournaments, while at other times gaining access to the American cameras during their breaks.

All in all, the presentation is something that racing should be striving to equal, particularly when broadcast on terrestrial television where the opportunities exist to pull in new viewers.

If the trashy 'social stable' can be likened to the outdoor centres on the range that SKY erect at the major tournaments, then the first no doubt has the effect of turning away any would be potential genuine new fans to racing, while the second may even tempt one to browse through golf equipment on the web.

With golf coverage the interviews with the players run far smoother with direct answers more forthcoming despite an outward impression that there is some pussyfooting going on, particularly with the mega stars.

Horse racing is hampered here in the sense that interviews commonly involve jockeys and trainers being asked to assess the chance of animals that the listening audience may be gambling on. A sitting on the fence approach is therefore understandable in the present climate.

Golf is also one of the most relevant sports for statistics in the sense that those provided are as accurate as any sport out there. We know that 'strokes gained tee to green ' or 'strokes gained putting ', or the even more zoned in categories, which exist aplenty, such as ' approaches from 175- 200 yards ', are clear and indisputable while statistics in certain areas of racing, particularly those involving times, have a wide scope for error with even distances covered being open to interpretation.

Then there is the aspect of racing that makes the sport more difficult to broadcast than the  'flowing sports', in the sense that it comprises of a catalogue of separate events, short in timespan as opposed to one golf tournament, cricket or football match.

With golf, and to an extent cricket, live pictures alone are sometimes the best narrator provided that the commentary team are able to recognise when silence is appropriate and allow the audience to take in the visuals.

The problem with racing is that while it needs race commentaries, which to be fair are of a competent standard across the board, there is too much filler between contests. Often, you feel the sport would be better served by pictures of proceedings in the paddock with updated betting shows popping up on the screen but without any input from the presentation team.

With the future of the on course betting ring in jeopardy, you are already looking at one facet of the TV coverage first introduced when John McCririck joined ITV come C4, disappearing. They can just show updated national odds in silence, no doubt compiled by similar method as they have been during the 2020 crisis.

There is certainly no need for things to be rammed down the audiences throat. When the BBC produced a second to none racing production in the 1970s and 1980's with a small in numbers team, Jimmy Lindley alone could take you through the pre race build up in a detailed but non intrusive manner.

Sadly, racing is unlikely to return to being presented in this relaxed manner ever again. One of the reasons would be the widely held perception that modern viewers prefer noisey, continuous prattle, no matter how inane. But this is a perception open to question as golf has not chosen this route and is clearly doing very well thank you.

image in public domain.