Apologies if this was already discussed (can someone link the thread if so), but I'm curious what WGT and the players feel will be the future of the Ready-Go tournaments.
When first introduced 8-9 months ago, they were a huge hit and filled up rapidly, with a 24-hour time limit.
Then the time limit was reduced to 12 hours, and we got new RG's at St. Andrews, which were very popular.
Now, I am assuming we will get Oakmont RG's in the next 30 days.
But as each month has passed, clearly enthusiasm for the RG's has waned, while at the same time competition has increased. In a way, this was inevitable - basically the same 30-40 players (of which I am one) continually trade off winning the RG's/finishing in the top-5 or so. Under this system, I simply couldn't imagine how pros or even new masters could compete - to win a 9-hole RG you better be -7 at least, unless you are lucky, and the 18-hole RG's are won with scores in the high 50's. I've seen a 18-hole RG with a 54, 56, 58 and 59.
In other words, the fact that the same master-level players kept winning the RG's has discouraged other competitors to the point where basically all the competitors are these same Master players. Sadly, I play the RG's enough that I generally recognize everyone in the top-10 of each tournament. Other players, who (rightly) say they have no chance to win, have logically concluded that they won't participate in the RG's.
I saw an earlier post essentially saying that RG's are tiered because the pros play off an easier tee - but in reality, we all know it makes very little difference. Masters are hitting wedges into the majority of greens, so the difference between 60 and 100 yds is negligible. In most cases, I think most masters that play these RG's would consider it "getting up and down" from 130 yds and in on any of the courses (even Oakmont when it comes out from the master tees).
From WGT's standpoint, I would be curious to see how this helps them. Yes, they get a cut off of every RG, but now there are considerably less RG's each day. Second, my guess is that getting in "new money" as opposed to credits is preferable - I haven't purchased new credits in well over a year - but I'm guessing that almost all the people playing the RG's already have a significant credit bankroll, and essentially what we are all doing is swapping credits on a daily basis.
Given all that, if RG's continue on the current track, they are becoming a) less interesting for the majority of WGT players; and b) less of a successful source of revenue for WGT (again, I'm guessing). In only 8 months, it went from super-exciting to basically a small group of people playing.
So what should the future of the Ready-Go's be? I personally enjoy playing a multitude of single-play tournaments during the day, if I have the time. At the same time, if I'm trying to see it from the perspective of a newer player, I would never enter because even if I shot -3, -4, or -5, I might not even get my 100 credits back.
Honestly, I don't have any great solutions. One idea might be to change the conditions per tier - i.e. the Master tier players get heavy winds and tournament speed greens, pros get medium winds and very fast greens, etc.
Another might be the oft-discussed creation of another tier to distinguish "better" masters from others. If we had this tier (let's call it "Tournament" in my hypothetical), then Tournament players could play from the Tournament tees and have tournament green speeds. I understand the idea of tiered RG's has already been put forth, and there are pros and cons (like sandbagging) for having that.
Sorry for the long-winded discussion, but I very much enjoy the game, like the RG's, and want WGT to be successful long-term so those of us with golfing jones can play. However, I don't want to be so bored that I stop playing or get to a point where newer players are discouraged from partaking in fun tournaments.
Okay, love to hear thoughts/suggestions.