Rude Fans at PGA Tour Events

[3jacker]

Freedom at the Masters?  LOLOLOL  

Let's just agree to disagree.

[Jeremie Boop]

17 minutes ago, altos said:

Can't buy into the "erosion and decorum are the price of freedom" mantra.  Sounds cute.  Do you see freedom ruined at the Masters?  No.  Do you hear as many idiots? No.  Why?  Because it isn't tolerated.  How about the British Open?  No.   Why?  It isn't tolerated.  No one is making rude comments about wives and girlfriends.  No one is saying, after a ball slides by the cup, "now you're f--ked".   No one yells in the middle of swing.  Why? It's not tolerated.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, the USGA continues to sit on it's thumbs, maintaining its course of gross ineptitude.  How about this: try throwing some people out.   What's the downside?  Work with the broadcasters to better place, or not place at all, microphones.   Move the ropes farther away.    But ohhhhh nooooo.... instead, how about we promote the 15-21 year old college drunk demographic at the Phoenix Open.  That's what the USGA did and a large part of today's problems stems from the Phoenix Open.   Because the USGA wanted to include that demographic to promote the game.  Again, the USGA climbs into the gutter.   Nice job.   

I think you are missing the point a little. I agree, those things don't happen where you mentioned, but it's because they don't allow people the "freedom" to do it. If I had my way, I'd err more towards how things run at the Masters and British Open. People shouldn't be free to act how they have seemed to have become accustomed to. It only happens so often now because it wasn't stopped early on. I don't know at what point they decided to allow the behavior, but it's a lot harder to stop it now than it would have been at the beginning. Perhaps it was simply in an effort to promote the game, as you mentioned. I don't necessarily agree that because they allow some raucous behavior at one tournament, or more specifically one hole, that it opened to the door to what has become much more ubiquitous through most events on the tour. I really think it was more because someone heard someone else yell on TV and thought, it would be cool if I did that so I could tell my friends.... Then it just snowballed from there. They just simply needed to stop it right at the start instead of letting it go to where we are now.

[3jacker]

The above but I was too lazy to type it out, organize it, etc.

And by "freedom" I don't mean laws per se, more of the willingness and openness of a group to allow aberrant behavior become accepted before.  Social freedom or openness, rather.

[NJpatbee]

For the record during good weather I have a scotch and cigar on my deck so I am no prohibitionist.  But the root cause of most of the bad behavior is drinking too much booze and guys in there 20's - 40's getting ripped.  I doubt it will happen but to mitigate the problem you have to reduce or eliminate the booze.  Yes, we are a coarser society with Robert De Niro yelling F*** Trump at the live broadcast of the Tony's and the "sophisticated" audience stood and cheered - Then we have Samantha Bee calling Ivanka Trump a c*** on her TV show.   How about pulling out into traffic these days and all the smiling people waving  you in?  Rudeness and crudeness is on the increase and allowing idiots to get smashed at a Tour Tournament will result in the behavior most people could do without. 

(Full disclosure I live in the NY Metro Area).  

And....why are people blaming the USGA which does not control and sponser most of the Tour events?  How about the PGA Tour?

[Jeremie Boop]

8 minutes ago, NJpatbee said:

For the record during good weather I have a scotch and cigar on my deck so I am no prohibitionist.  But the root cause of most of the bad behavior is drinking too much booze and guys in there 20's - 40's getting ripped.  I doubt it will happen but to mitigate the problem you have to reduce or eliminate the booze.  Yes, we are a coarser society with Robert De Niro yelling F*** Trump at the live broadcast of the Tony's and the "sophisticated" audience stood and cheered - Then we have Samantha Bee calling Ivanka Trump a c*** on her TV show.   How about pulling out into traffic these days and all the smiling people waving  you in?  Rudeness and crudeness is on the increase and allowing idiots to get smashed at a Tour Tournament will result in the behavior most people could do without. 

(Full disclosure I live in the NY Metro Area).  

And....why are people blaming the USGA which does not control and sponser most of the Tour events?  How about the PGA Tour?

I don't even believe it's a PGA Tour issue, I think the venues themselves need to step up their game to control crowds. That's why you don't see the same behavior at the Masters, the people who run the venue simply don't allow it.

[fishgolf]

49 minutes ago, Jeremie Boop said:

That's why you don't see the same behavior at the Masters, the people who run the venue simply don't allow it.

Bingo.

[altos]

Bingo, bingo.   Not like Phoenix.  Wasted people with wasted venue management.  You think they would get a waste sponser...    wait...   wait....  hummm.....to clarify, is Waste Management an oxymoron?

[fishgolf]

15 hours ago, altos said:

Bingo, bingo.   Not like Phoenix.  Wasted people with wasted venue management.  You think they would get a waste sponser...    wait...   wait....  hummm.....to clarify, is Waste Management an oxymoron?

Yes, good example. That event is likely the genesis of what we're discussing here.  The WM tournament staff could change that trajectory but I don't think they want too.

[krupa]

Undercover Tour Pro

Quote

Yes, I've fantasized about punching spectators. The closest I ever came was a Saturday one year at Phoenix. It wasn't quite noon, so theoretically still short of the drunkest hours, but I'm coming off a tee box when a man shouts a vulgar comment about my then-3-month-old daughter. Normally I'll just keep walking, but this was so far beyond the line. I stopped and turned to the gallery, the blood in my face pumping hot. "Who said it?" I asked. "Who's the big man?"

Not a peep. Why a crowd of people, presumably some with at least average moral decency, would protect such a person—I have no idea.

Later in that same round a sheriff joined our group. I told him the story and asked what would've happened if I stuck a 2-iron up this guy's you know what. The sheriff said he would've pulled me off him and probably brought us downtown, but his department wouldn't have pressed charges against me. What the idiot had said was that awful.

 

[saevel25]

Those type of people need to be thrown out of any sporting event. Going after a 4-year old girl like that is so far out of bounds.

[altos]

Saevel25, while I agree with you, apparently Waste Management, the USGA and the PGA don't.  It's why I don't attend the "tournament" or watch it on TV.  It's a waste.  

[rehmwa]

On 6/24/2018 at 8:52 AM, fishgolf said:

Yes, good example. That event is likely the genesis of what we're discussing here.  The WM tournament staff could change that trajectory but I don't think they want too.

The WM event has no responsibility for the flavor of other events.  They hold their event with a specific tone.  It's intentionally different than other events.  On purpose.

Other events want a different tone, that's up to them.  They should set the tone -on purpose.  and do what it takes to maintain that tone - on purpose.

I don't hold WM responsible for what happens at the masters, the open, or the US Open or any other event.  A couple of these prove my point.

It's up to the events and the attendees only.  Kick the idiots out.

Edited July 3, 2018 by rehmwa