Standing on the synthetic putting surface inside the SoFi Center a few hours before the night’s match begins, I squat down behind my ball to assess the break. From this vantage point, it’s immediately clear the challenge that TGL players face. The subtleties of the green’s slopes and texture are difficult to see, especially with industrial spotlights shinning down on the playing surface. (Tom Kim provided proof of this during the league’s fourth match on January 27, when he did his best impression of Camilo Villegas, circa 2006, literally laying down behind the ball to determine the break of a putt on the 8th hole.)
Even though I’m staring down a 12-foot putt, I decide it’s best to not give the hole away. I put a good stroke on the ball, then watch as it gets about halfway to the hole and gradually begins falling to the right. As the balls slows down, it breaks even more around the cup. All told, my putt finishes hole high but almost three feet wide of the target.
“Now try it again,” the green’s technician tells me, but not before he selects a different green configuration.
Immediately, the platform that I’m standing on begins to take on a new shape—it’s a bizarre sensation feeling the artificial turf reform under my feet. It’s like I’m standing on a piece of memory foam that’s adjusting to someone else’s footprint. As I focus on the area around the hole and, more significantly, just in front of it, I can see the contours shifting to a slope that now breaks subtly right to left.
Taking the same line, just for comparison’s sake, I roll another putt and watch the same outcome unfold, only in reverse. The end result? Perfect speed but almost three feet left of the hole.
Contrary to what you might think, this taste of the SoFi Center golf experience isn’t reserved for VIPs or attending media. It’s available to all ticketholders thanks to a 405-square-foot experiential display set up in the arena’s concourse, one that relies on 189 motorized actuators to raise and lower sections of the putting surface by as much as six inches. In other words, almost every square inch of the green can be adjusted. (The 3,818-square foot putting surface out on the field of play, positioned about 75 yards away, also features a trio of these 405-square-foot actuator grids, which allow each of the three respective sections of that green to transform into wildly distinctive topographical surfaces.)
The opportunity to get a brief taste of what the pros face significantly impacts the TGL fan experience. The putting demo provides clear explanation as to why some of the world’s best golfers, when competing inside the arena for the first time, struggle to make putts that wouldn’t ordinarily challenge them out on a real course. But that’s not the only way in which attending a match in the arena is notably different from a fan’s experience watching TGL from their living room.
For starters, TGL's quickened pace of play is much more evident in the arena, especially when the color commentary and brief player interviews conducted by ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt and Matt Barrie can’t be heard in between shots or when the players are walking off the green. But that omission is a bit of a detraction from the in-person experience, too. As compelling as it was watching the Jupiter Links vs. Boston Common match from inside the arena, it would’ve been even more entertaining to hear Kevin Kisner heckling Rory McIlroy by suggesting he hit a snap hook off the first tee or to listen to Kisner refer to teammate Tom Kim as “rook,” which viewers at home were privy to.
Those moments, for now, are reserved for the audience watching ESPN’s broadcast, though TGL is experimenting with Bluetooth connectivity that will allow fans inside the arena to use their wireless earbuds (or headphones available in the arena’s luxury boxes) to hear what the players are saying. Should that gain traction, fans in the SoFi Center won’t miss out on player-to-player interactions; however, a multi-second delay (instituted for the potential censorship of crude language) will still impact the overall effectiveness of any eventual listen-in.
Speaking of luxury boxes, in some respects these 20 hospitality suites are the best seats in the house—especially those positioned at the back of the arena, closest to ESPN’s broadcast booth. From here, fans enjoy not only an unobstructed view of the TGL green complex (ensuring they see all of the action that ultimately determines the outcome of competition on each hole), but they’ll get a view straight down the line as players hit their tee shots and approaches into that massive, 64-by-53-foot simulator screen. It’s an important detail, as the 40 or so yards that the ball flies before hitting the screen allows spectators in that section of the arena to easily identify the kind of shot that was hit even before the simulation software projects the rest of the shot on the screen. In that way, despite the fact that all shots greater than 40 yards are simulated with the help of 18 Full Swing launch monitors strategically positioned throughout the arena, watching TGL in the SoFi Center makes the golf feel a bit more “real.”
During my first in-person TGL match, I had the benefit of watching from WhistlePig Whiskey’s luxury box, ideally located next to ESPN’s broadcast booth. Beyond enjoying those aforementioned views of the action, guests in the box were treated to both straight pours and cocktails featuring the league’s official whiskey. (Incidentally, WhistlePig also sponsors Keegan Bradley, a member of the Boston Common Golf Club.) General-admission fans can also buy WhistlePig cocktails from the "PIggyWagon" parked in the concourse — pro tip: go with the maple old fashioned.
The viewing experience inside the SoFi Center isn’t perfect. The ring of general admission seating along the first floor of the grandstands is only four rows deep, which has prompted some to compare it to sitting courtside at a basketball game. It’s a fair comparison, at least to a degree, as some of those spectators are only a handful of yards away from the action. Those seats also offer the chance at possible interactions with the players. Case in point: The fan who wore a white construction hard hat in an attempt to needle Kisner about the bladed bunker shot that the South Carolina pro hit a couple weeks earlier—one that fortunately hit the flagstick before flying God knows where—did get a brief acknowledgment from the four-time PGA Tour winner during the pre-match warmups.
But based on reports from fans who sat in the back row of those general admission areas positioned along the two sides of the arena, the seats—unlike those positioned courtside at an NBA game—don’t offer unobstructed views. Fans may be blocked from seeing portions of the main simulator screen, and depending on how the green is rotated and where the pin is located on a given hole, significant portions of the putting surface may be obscured, too.
Some of these flaws may be unfixable, but make no mistake, the TGL fan experience is constantly evolving. Compared to the season’s opening match, emcee Roger Steele now has a more prominent position roaming the field of play during matches; a hype squad makes sporadic appearances, tossing t-shirts to fans and generating a bit more buzz from the crowd; and videoboard messages encourage spectators to cheer for their favorite team, to openly root against their opponents, and—in a twist that is certain to confound golf purists—to make some noise.
Ultimately, TGL is a radical departure from the game in its traditional form, and that means it’s going to take some time for everyone—fans and players, alike—to adjust to where it’s played, how it’s played, and the technology that makes it all possible. But it’s that last factor that makes a visit to SoFi Center worth the cost of admission, no matter where you sit. Just a single glance at the playing field and the high-tech equipment and cameras that define the space makes it clear that this isn’t a live sporting event as we know it. It’s a glimpse into the future of professional sports entertainment.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as I Attended TGL As a Fan, and Here's What It's Like Inside the Arena.