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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — It took a yr longer than anticipated, however TGL, the brand new tech-infused golf league being fronted by superstars Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, is lastly teeing off.
The primary of 15 regular-season matches, with the inaugural one between New York GC and The Bay Golf Membership, shall be performed Tuesday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+) at SoFi Middle, a 250,000-square-foot venue on the campus of Palm Seaside State School in Palm Seaside Gardens, Florida.
TGL was presupposed to launch in January 2024, however its begin was pushed again a yr after an influence outage attributable to a storm resulted within the authentic enviornment’s domed roof collapsing on Nov. 14, 2023.
Woods believes the delay was an excellent factor as a result of the brand new SoFi Middle is larger and higher. The brand new enviornment is a metal construction with a conventional roof. About 1,500 followers shall be wrapped across the taking part in space.
“I believe it was a blessing in disguise,” Woods mentioned ultimately month’s PNC Championship. “We had been speeding to get it prepared. I do not suppose we had all of the parts we now have now, and we definitely did not have the expertise we’re capable of have now. It labored out for the very best for us as gamers, for the followers, and I believe for everybody watching.”
This is what to learn about TGL.
A more in-depth have a look at the digital course
Three golf course design firms (Agustín Pizá, Beau Welling and Nicklaus Design) created 30 authentic holes that shall be performed on a contest space roughly 97 yards by 50 yards, roughly the scale of a soccer subject, inside SoFi Middle.
The holes shall be performed in various order in matches, and TGL says they had been “impressed by genuine golf landscapes comparable to hyperlinks, canyons, coastal, deserts and tropical settings.”
As an example, there is a par-5, 590-yard gap referred to as “Choose Yer Plunder,” which was created by Pizá Golf, that sits alongside Bounty Bay within the Pacific Ocean. A par-4 gap designed by Nicklaus, “Dangle Low,” is ready among the many barrancas of Southern California.
Then there are extra distinctive holes just like the par-4 “Flex,” which is nestled on an energetic volcano, and “The Spear,” which has a floating tee field, touchdown space and GreenZone.
Every group will subject three gamers for the matches, beginning every gap by teeing off on actual grass tee containers right into a display screen that’s 64 toes by 53 toes — 24 instances bigger than a regular golf simulator.
For photographs of 130 yards or longer, together with most tee photographs, golfers will hit from a again field that’s 35 yards away from the display screen. The again field accommodates photographs from actual fairway grass and tough, in addition to sand. For photographs of fifty to 129 yards, golfers will hit from a entrance field that’s situated 21 yards from the display screen.
The touchdown location of their tee photographs will decide the subsequent problem: strategy photographs performed from pure grass fairways, deep tough, or pristine white sand, mirroring the bunkers discovered at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership. For photographs of fifty yards or much less, the gamers will shift to a one-of-a-kind, specifically designed inexperienced to finish the opening.
“The taking part in surfaces are very lifelike,” McIlroy mentioned. “Everytime you hit it out of the tough, it’s important to take into consideration whether or not you are going to get a flyer; whether or not it will come out tender, plenty of issues that you would need to take into consideration on an actual golf course.”
The GreenZone encompasses a state-of-the-art 22,475-square-foot short-game space that dynamically transforms between holes. A turntable 41 yards broad rotates the artificial-turf inexperienced to create various strategy angles, whereas practically 600 actuators morph the terrain to simulate totally different topographies of 30 totally different greens.
“I nonetheless really feel just like the ball reacts very realistically on the inexperienced,” McIlroy mentioned. “We toyed round with the concept of utilizing actual grass and actual turf on the inexperienced, however with the rotating inexperienced after which clearly with the jacks beneath and the power to alter slopes, we had been afraid if we used actual turf that that turf may crack and break. We made the choice to go together with synthetic [grass] for the inexperienced as a result of we need to make it fascinating.”
How the matches will work
Every group will play 5 matches throughout the 2025 common season from Jan. 7 to March 4.
The 15-hole matches shall be cut up into two classes: 9 holes of alternate shot and 6 holes of singles. Three gamers from every group will hit alternate photographs within the first 9 holes. Within the last six, the golfers will compete head-to-head, with every golfer taking part in two full holes throughout the session.
Every gap is value one level and there are not any carryovers. If the 2 groups are tied on the finish of regulation, an time beyond regulation determines the winner. TGL’s time beyond regulation interval is just like a penalty shootout in soccer. Three golfers from every squad will compete in a best-of-three, closest to the pin competitors till a group efficiently hits two photographs nearer than its opponents.
The golfers will play the time beyond regulation interval on the fifteenth gap, which can stay unchanged from regulation. The shot shall be performed from between 25 and 50 yards, and the on-course official will decide the pin location and distance earlier than the match. A ball should land on the placing floor to be eligible.
Each match will include 15 holes — even when the end result has been determined. Tiebreakers within the SoFi Cup standings shall be decided by the whole variety of holes gained throughout the common season.
There is a shot clock and timeouts
There will not be any sluggish play in TGL — it is designed to be quick and entertaining.
Every match will characteristic a shot clock that shows a countdown of 40 seconds. Gamers should hit their shot inside the allotted time-frame or their group receives a shot clock violation and incurs a one-stroke penalty. The 40-second time-frame is predicated on the USA Golf Affiliation’s advice on tempo of play.
Every group has 4 timeouts per match, two timeouts in every of the 2 classes. Unused timeouts throughout the first session don’t carry over to the second session. For the group that’s taking part in its shot, timeouts could also be known as at any level till the shot clock expires. The opposing group might name a timeout till the opposite group’s participant has addressed the ball. A group can not name back-to-back timeouts whereas on the present shot.
A referee shall be on the course to implement TGL’s guidelines and rules, and one other official screens the motion from a sales space.
What’s the Hammer?
The Hammer will increase the worth of a gap by one level. It may be performed by solely the TGL group that holds possession of it. The Bay Golf Membership, because of a coin flip, will begin the season in possession of the Hammer.
The Hammer may be thrown at any time throughout a match — and it may be used a number of instances on the identical gap — to extend stress on an opponent. The opposing group can decline to play the Hammer — sort of like a golfer turning down a “press” in a Saturday morning match — nevertheless it concedes the opening if it declines.
The Hammer modifications possession every time it is used.
There is a caddie (type of)
TGL golfers shall be allowed to make use of a digital caddie, which is a 50-inch touchscreen yardage e book, which reveals distances, penalty areas, wind, inexperienced topography and elevation modifications on every gap.
TGL says the interactive app, customized constructed by Full Swing, “permits gamers to make use of quite a lot of fast, user-friendly instruments to analysis their subsequent shot, set their goal, and get a preview of what they may see on the hitting display screen after they step as much as hit their shot.”
The digital caddie is one other manner to make sure that the tempo of play is lightning quick.
There’s going to be trash-talking (hopefully)
Golfers concerned in TGL know they are going to must be greater than, effectively, golfers. For the tech-infused circuit to work, viewers are going to must be entertained, and that is going to return from the conversations and ribbing which can be going to be captured by microphones that each participant shall be sporting throughout the matches.
“It will be actually aggressive,” Billy Horschel mentioned. “We’re opponents. We need to win, however we additionally must be entertainers on the identical time. I believe everybody who has signed as much as be part of that is conscious of that, and they are going to do their half to ensure that is profitable.”
The microphones would possibly seize an excessive amount of in some situations.
“Individuals are going to see our personalities,” Wyndham Clark mentioned. “Some issues may come out that possibly we do not need to say, however that is how different sports activities are.
“I will have to actually watch my cussing, however on our group, Shane Lowry. He has some cuss phrases on set off fairly fast, so he will have to actually watch himself.”
Who’s on which groups?
Atlanta Drive GC
Justin Thomas
Patrick Cantlay
Billy Horschel
Lucas Glover
Boston Frequent Golf
Rory McIlroy
Keegan Bradley
Adam Scott
Hideki Matsuyama
Jupiter Hyperlinks GC
Tiger Woods
Max Homa
Tom Kim
Kevin Kisner
Los Angeles Golf Membership
Collin Morikawa
Tommy Fleetwood
Justin Rose
Sahith Theegala
New York Golf Membership
Matt Fitzpatrick
Rickie Fowler
Xander Schauffele
Cameron Younger
The Bay Golf Membership
Ludvig Åberg
Wyndham Clark
Min Woo Lee
Shane Lowry
2025 SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Jan. 7: New York Golf Membership vs. The Bay Golf Membership, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+
Tuesday, Jan. 14: Los Angeles Golf Membership vs. Jupiter Hyperlinks GC, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+
Tuesday, Jan. 21: New York Golf Membership vs. Atlanta Drive GC, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+
Monday, Jan. 27: Jupiter Hyperlinks GC vs. Boston Frequent Golf, 6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+
Tuesday, Feb. 4: Boston Frequent Golf vs. Los Angeles Golf Membership, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+
Monday, Feb. 17: Atlanta Drive GC vs. Los Angeles Golf Membership, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+
Monday, Feb. 17: Atlanta Drive GC vs. The Bay Golf Membership, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+
Monday, Feb. 17: The Bay Golf Membership vs. Boston Frequent Golf, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2/ESPN+
Tuesday, Feb. 18: Jupiter Hyperlinks GC vs. New York Golf Membership, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+
Monday, Feb. 24: Los Angeles Golf Membership vs. New York Golf Membership, 5 p.m. ET, ESPN2/ESPN+
Monday, Feb. 24: Boston Frequent Golf vs. Atlanta Drive GC, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN2/ESPN+
Tuesday, Feb. 25: The Bay Golf Membership vs. Jupiter Hyperlinks GC, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+
Monday, March 3: The Bay Golf Membership vs. Los Angeles Golf Membership, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN2/ESPN+
Monday, March 3: New York Golf Membership vs. Boston Frequent Golf, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2/ESPN+
Tuesday, March 4: Jupiter Hyperlinks GC vs. Atlanta Drive GC, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+
The SoFi Cup playoffs
Just like the NHL, TGL will make use of a points-based system for regular-season matches. For every match, groups can earn as much as two factors towards their regular-season complete. That complete determines their place within the SoFi Cup standings.
A win in regulation and a win in time beyond regulation each equal two factors, whereas a loss in time beyond regulation equals one level.
The highest 4 groups advance to the playoffs, which embrace a single-elimination semifinal spherical and a best-of-three championship sequence.
The TGL semifinal matches that includes the highest 4 groups within the SoFi Cup standings shall be performed March 17-18. The 2 profitable groups will advance to the championship sequence, a best-of-three match that shall be performed March 24-25.
#TGL #forward #inaugural #season
