Trending
The new LIV Golf Tour will be hosting its third tournament this weekend at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and while the world of golf seems to swoon at the mention of each new golfer who defects to the new league, the future format of this Saudi-backed tour is just now beginning to emerge.
As some early reports indicated, next year's 14-event schedule will feature team competition among the 48 golfers who sign up.
Each four-man team will have a team captain, and all 12 teams (which will have specific names, like Phil Mickelson's "Hy Flyers") will theoretically have a monetary value, enabling the potential for teams to be bought and sold.
Another interesting idea the new league is toying with is relegation, the act of removing the poorest performing teams from the league at the end of each season. It's a novel idea, but one that might run into problems, especially with so many new LIV golfers already signed to multi-year contracts.
The focus on team competition is also curious. Sure, the Ryder Cup has been a wildly successful team event over recent decades, but it's a very unique event that has the advantage of capitalizing on fans' national pride.
I just don't see fans getting excited for a team of golfers in some regular tour event. The sport of tennis made a big effort in the early 1970s to promote team competition, and it was a colossal flop.
I'd be surprised to see it work any better for golf.
Father-son tourney
The recent Pennsylvania Father-Son Championship saw a great finish in the senior division by a team with local roots.
Hopewell's Jesse Reighard and son Cory Reighard teamed to score rounds of 75 and 71, good enough for a second-place finish. The prestigious event was held this year at the Mountain View Country Club in Boalsburg.
The younger Reighard is quite familiar with championship golf, having served as tournament director for the PA Golf Association for many years. He left that post a few years ago for a job in the insurance industry and now enjoys competing in many of the tournaments he used to run himself.
Artie Fink Jr.
Congrats to Artie Fink Jr., who earned a spot in the West Penn Mid-Amateur championship after scoring a 2-over par 74 on Wednesday in the qualifying event held at Somerset Country Club.
Fink's strong back-nine finish of 1-under 35 earned him a spot in the prestigious WPGA Mid-Am scheduled for Sept. 6 at Fox Chapel Golf Club in Pittsburgh.
55 years ago
During the last week of July in 1967, a ground-breaking ceremony was held for the new Scotch Valley Country Club located near Hollidaysburg.
The new course, designed by architect James Harrison, eventually was completed and opened to the public during the summer of 1969. Initial, ambitious plans for the Scotch Valley Club included not only a golf course, but tennis courts, riding trails, swimming pool and a possible private landing strip.
Ken Love covers local golf for the Mirror. He can be reached at gltr777@atlanticbb.net.