LIV Golf just announced that the Maridoe Golf Club in Dallas will host its $50 million purse Team Championship, a news that has prompted a flurry of comments on social media. Maridoe Golf Club, home to golfers Jordan Spieth and Will Zalatoris, is known for its exclusivity and may initially look like the perfect location. However, a sizable segment of the golf world has not been pleased with the decision.
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Concerns regarding Greg Norman and LIV Golf’s venue selection have been raised previously. Fans were very upset when Bolingbrook Golf Club in Chicago was announced as the venue for their Individual Championship earlier this year. Many were perplexed by Bolingbrook’s selection, a public course with a poor reputation that some had referred to as a “s**t hole”.
Critics also compared it to other contentious decisions like Orange County National in Orlando, which is renowned for its affordability rather than status, and claimed that it was an improper location for such a high-stakes event. With respect to the Maridoe Golf Club in Dallas, several similar objections are being raised online.
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🚨👀⛳️#NEW: Maridoe Golf Club in Dallas will host the LIV team Championship. The private club is a high end facility and home to stars Jordan Spieth and Will Zalatoris. pic.twitter.com/6qQbZBiXLf
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) May 22, 2024
Almost immediately after @NUCLRGOLF made the news on Twitter, the criticism started to pour in.
Fans bash LIV Golf on poor course selection
One fan was quick to dismiss the club’s prestige, saying, “It is a cow pasture, this is the only place LIV could get and it took 6 months to find this.” This was a jab not only at the course but also at LIV Golf’s organizers.
Another fan highlighted the inconsistency in LIV’s venue choices, questioning, “Why such a mid course for individual but this for team championship lol.” This was in reference to Bolingbrook, the choice for the individual championship, something that was also criticized at the time.
One fan kept his feedback brief but scathing with a single word, “Trash.” This scathing but direct comment comes from the discontent fans have with the breakaway league.
Finally, one fan pointed out that despite Maridoe’s high-end reputation, it was once dropped from hosting the Byron Nelson because the players hated it. He sarcastically noted, “So high end, that the Byron Nelson moved from here, because players hated it.”
Some of this criticism has been generated by the inconsistency between the team’s and individual championship choices. Supporters felt that LIV’s approach is uneven wondering why a site of Maridoe’s caliber was chosen for the team competition but a less well-known public course was chosen for the individual final.
The concerns are a reflection of larger problems with LIV Golf’s approach, mainly its inability to get premier locations because many prominent courses continue to be committed to the PGA Tour. Despite the deep pockets of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, LIV Golf struggles to shake the perception of being a secondary choice for tournament venues.
It is unclear how these choices will affect LIV Golf’s standing and its ability to draw players and spectators as the season goes on. There’s no denying that the golf community is paying careful attention and isn’t afraid to share their thoughts.
Written by
Edited by
Gokul Pillai