"Full Swing" Tour Docuseries on Netflix

[JetFan1983]

Yea, I think I may have overstated the puff piece aspect of the documentary. It has that vibe at times, but Erik's take is probably more accurate as to what the series is. 

I'm watching the Brooks episode in small chunks right now actually, and there's a scene here where he's at his huge mansion by the pool with his gorgeous woman and he's complaining about his golf game 😆. I think this scene might annoy you, @Elmer

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by JetFan1983

[Elmer]

40 minutes ago, iacas said:

You should watch the Tony Finau episode.

In other words, when you say things like you said above, then say this… maybe you don't know as much as you think you know.

 

I will watch.
But you have to admit that he would be the exception. Without any data at my finger tips, I would think that golf, like other sports don't have many rags to riches stories.
We see it with football, baseball, soccer & basketball, which kids with little else in life aside from pure talent are able to make their mark, if not dominate a league.
of course other sports do not rely on a much equipment as golf requires. 

[JetFan1983]

I think part of the reason the Last Dance was so good was because all the major figures involved with that team took part in that documentary -- the ones who were still alive, at least. They were hyper critical of each other to the point where when the documentary aired, we got to see them beef with each other on social media afterwards. It added a key element of authenticity to the story.

Full Swing isn't like that. Like @Elmer alluded to earlier in the thread, a PGAT doc with the benefit of a decade plus of reflection and hindsight would probably be more interesting. The Last Dance had two decades of reflection to work with before they made it. As a result, Full Swing just doesn't have that edge to it that I think I hoped for, but then again, I've only seen one full episode so far.

Just wanted to add this as to why I used the phrase "puffy piecey" to describe Full Swing, at times. 

[iacas]

8 minutes ago, Elmer said:

But you have to admit that he would be the exception. Without any data at my finger tips, I would think that golf, like other sports don't have many rags to riches stories.

Almost no sports have rags to riches stories anymore. Kids are moving across the country so that they can play for the right prep grade schools in basketball so they get fed into the right high school so they get recruited by the right colleges.

Sports are big business.

Mike Thomas was a club pro. You think the Thomases were rolling in it? I'm a PGA member, and let me tell ya…

8 minutes ago, Elmer said:

We see it with football, baseball, soccer & basketball, which kids with little else in life aside from pure talent are able to make their mark, if not dominate a league.

Not nearly as much as you think, and like the Thomas example above… you're probably drastically over-stating how seldom it occurs in golf.

Hell, man, Tiger Woods wasn't from a wealthy family. Rory, Rahm… the list goes on. Were these folks POOR? No. But they weren't wealthy. And Tony Finau was poor.

[jmanbooyaa]

Didn’t Finau live with Rory or was it Rory who lived with Finau for a bit as a youth? That hardly screams super wealthy. The Dahmen episode deals with loss so not sure he came from wealth. I know not a top guy but still. You can kind of tell also that the Liv defectors kind of killed some story lines. At least it appears that way to me. Was this great? No was it a solid watch? Yes for me. 

[iacas]

12 minutes ago, jmanbooyaa said:

Didn’t Finau live with Rory or was it Rory who lived with Finau for a bit as a youth?

They're from Utah and Ireland, so… no?

[jmanbooyaa]

They played in Utah together as kids. But no he didn’t live with Tony. Be stayed with some other family. Rory played in 10 junior tourneys in 2000 in Utah. 

[iacas]

I agree.

I'm pretty… meh on it so far. I have only watched three episodes, though.

• Justin/Jordan
• Scottie/Brooks
• Poulter/LIV

My wife isn't very into it either.

[Clemsonfan]

I have only watched the first episode- life has been pretty busy. That episode could have been much better if they showed more of Mito’s play so that everyone could see what an abnormal swing he made on the 18th drive. Fleshing out his comment afterward would have interested me! I also think they could have framed Thomas’s consecutive birdies in the playoff with more drama. As a huge golf fan, I am eager to see the next episode.

[iacas]

Full day here today, but so far my grades:

• Episode 1 (Justin and Jordan): B-
• Episode 2 (Brooks and Scottie): A-
• Episode 3 (Poulter/LIV): C-

[nvkevin]

37 minutes ago, iacas said:

Full day here today, but so far my grades:

• Episode 1 (Justin and Jordan): B-
• Episode 2 (Brooks and Scottie): A-
• Episode 3 (Poulter/LIV): C-

I’m at the same spot as you in the series. I would agree on your grading. The Brooks and Scottie episode was the best so far. The Poulter episode was difficult to finish. 
My wife made it about 10 minutes into the first episode before she’d had enough. I’ll watch it just because I like watching golf related stuff, and there are interesting bits and pieces. The one thing I can do without, and I think the golf community as a whole, is the repeated showing of these guys flying on private jets. The first three episodes have several scenes and it’s honestly too flashy for me. 
 

[Darkfrog]

I watched the first episode (Frenemies) last night on my ipad laying in bed (wife was monopolizing our only TV in the living room). About 15 minutes in to the episode my wife came into bed and was very curious about the show and ended up watching the rest of the episode with me. She has zero interest in professional sports, but she really enjoys documentary/docuseries content. She asked me a bunch of questions about Jordan/Justin, something she would never do if I was watching golf on Sunday afternoon. She wants to watch the rest of the series now. So for an audience like my wife, I think Full Swing seems to hit the right notes, however I don't think she is going to suddenly become a PGA Tour fan.

I was pleasantly surprised after reading some less than enthusiastic takes on the series.

[sjduffers]

Who is the audience for this? People that watch the Masters and only that, once a year, even more clueless (about golf) people? In the first episode, they had graphics telling people that a round is 18 holes, that par is expected score, what bogey, birdie and eagle are, etc... Despite all that, I found the series so fat not as dreadful as some said, and the visuals are really good, I thought.

I liked the Brooks/Scottie episode as well, but haven't watched further, yet. But, I will.

[Golfer20]

After watching the Joel Dahmen episode, I can't believe he made it to the PGA with his attitude.  He has no confidence in his game and seems perfectly content to finish T41 every tournament.

[Darkfrog]

3 hours ago, Darkfrog said:

I was pleasantly surprised after reading some less than enthusiastic takes on the series.

I was also tickled to hear Spieth say "f***". I always assumed "gosh dangit Jordan" was the extent of his cursing.

Edited February 16, 2023 by Darkfrog

[DeadMan]

I (finally) finished the first episode today, and I have about 10 minutes left in the second one. I am surprised by how much I'm enjoying it. I was not expecting to like it this much. I forgot how far back JT had to come to win the PGA Championship, and remembering that was fun. I actually might be enjoying the second episode less, but that could be because I've been more distracted while watching it.

It's pretty clear it's not aimed at the PGA Tour diehards or golf sickos. That's clear from how they establish what a playoff is, what the cut is, what a birdie is, etc. I think that stuff has been fairly unobtrusive, so it hasn't bothered me yet. Maybe when they're still doing it in episode 8, I might feel differently. And, I mean, we all know and joke about JT and Speith's friendship.

When you put that stuff aside, though, I thought it was interesting how frustrated JT was after the third round and how his dad handled that. That is something we don't get to see. Same with little things like going to get allergy medicine or signing autographs when leaving. I find that stuff interesting because we really don't get to see it all that often. Some of it was pretty dumb, though. The game of guess the card was just baffling - what the hell is that? I'm guessing that one may have been more for the cameras. 

It probably helps that I don't watch much golf on TV, so I'm not watching things I've already seen. I know I didn't watch any of the WM last year. I don't remember how much I watched the PGA. Even though I know what happened, I haven't seen a lot of what happened before. 

Looking forward to watching all of them.

[sjduffers]

I think I am enjoying this series quite a bit, more than I thought I would. I never hated Ian Poulter (even though he can be quite a prick) and I don't hate him any more now. I found he was quite relatable actually, morals about joining LIV aside, but that applies to all of them and even more so Phil and DJ.

I found the episode about Joel Dahlmen very interesting. The guy is way more complex than "I am having a good time on the PGA Tour", which is what Pat Perez was before he joined LIV.

Overall, I think it's worth a watch, even if it's not earth-shattering or award-worthy.

Edited February 17, 2023 by sjduffers

[BlackDiamondPar5]

Watched the first episode and really enjoyed it. I've always liked Jordan and JT so it was easy. 

 

OK so maybe he's loved here but Sean Foley is murse carrying, hipster, snake oil salesman 🤣🤣🤣