Shell's Wonderful World of Golf (MERGED)

[Shallowface]

Why are we now watching replays of tournaments from this season?? Why not show, say the 1985 Bay Hill instead of last years? Certainly that would garner some interest.

 

Because it's the easiest and cheapest thing for them to run.

[averysdad]

Why are we now watching replays of tournaments from this season?? Why not show, say the 1985 Bay Hill instead of last years? Certainly that would garner some interest.

 

Maybe licensing rights expired? Who knows. But I’d much rather watch all of these final rounds than the endless loop of Tin Cup or Happy Gilmore or the other clunkers they put in there.

[mshills]

I particularly enjoyed the Byron Nelson vs. Gene Littler at Pine Valley episode where they had a cumulative score of close to +10. The course looked amazing, though it still didn't have the kind of teeth it has today. .

I watched a bit of that match that day also, and I thought the opposite -- I was surprised at how poor the course condition was. Now later on it seemed to get better, but early in that match drives would bounce over or almost get stopped by tall tufts of grass in the fairway, and one hole Littler went 10 feet or so over the green and was in a rut that I couldn't believe would exist on a course like that. I was wondering if it was very early in the season there...

 

I get your point, but even today's Pine Valley is not manicured to the point of being a science experiment. There are still some weeds in the waste areas, and plenty of holes, ruts, un-tended areas, and other evil little spots if you miss fairways or greens. Today's fairways are a lot tighter than they were in 1962, but they don't bring the "I cannot believe this is grass" you get at Augusta National, Muirfield Village, and the like.

[wingedfoot97]

A 4 cap couldnt beat Littler. However a 4 cap who is a GolfWRXer could easily beat Littler. Said 4 capper would raise his driving distance from 315 to about 330 and would be spinning it like he had a ‘98 version of the PureSpin in his hand.

 

Could a GolfWRX 4 cap beat Littler? You beat your A- - he could.

[Body_Visions]

Why are we now watching replays of tournaments from this season?? Why not show, say the 1985 Bay Hill instead of last years? Certainly that would garner some interest.

 

Maybe licensing rights expired? Who knows. But I’d much rather watch all of these final rounds than the endless loop of Tin Cup or Happy Gilmore or the other clunkers they put in there.

 

 

 

Maybe so. Sure would be nice to see some older tournament coverage as well. Maybe we should email them.

[joeferb]

Loved this too. Much better than crappy over played golf movies. (other than Tin Cup).

[bamagator]

Man, I think that they were an awesome series. Have not watched one in years and when I did they were already like 35-40 years old lol. I think it captures an era of golf for posterity in a different capacity versus what some of the periodical historical documentaries of golf like say the masters. These captured "new" courses of the day that many of the average/middle class players played mid century as the game and industry grew exponentially in the US. Makes me think of Arnold getting in a prop 2 seat plane to fly out and play 18 holes for the day for a check...3 states away then flying home that pm to be with his fam. Tough, determination and classy aspiration for all players and investors involved.

[youraway2]

The Golf Channel finally has it right. Gene Littler and Byron Nelson playing Pine Valley. So nice. They're hitting 3 and 4 irons from 180. They couldn't make it on GolfWRX now.

 

Expecting a new thread...can a 4 handicap beat Gene Littler.

Yep, and you would be as well, if you were playing the blades they played, poor steel shafts, and a balata ball.

[mupepperboy]

I used to love staying up late watching these when I was a teenager... back when Golf Channel was fairly new- on my old tube TV set in my room!! Good times

[Dr. Block]

A friend was in the audience at some of the big 3 golf events at Firestone. Said it took forever. They had to re-position the audience and cameras before each shot. It's not like they had steady-cams back then. I don't think the modern pros could sit still for that long.

 

Made a great show.

 

This is a little known fact right here. For anyone questioning the quality of play in these older matches, it should be noted that they usually had to wait a considerable amount of time between shots for the camera's to be re-positioned. It would take a whole day and sometimes more just to film 18 holes.

[JShaw]

I did watch the 2001 Mickelson Garcia match last night. I did not watch the constant running of the Seve movie the night before.

[Togatown22]

That Phil / Sergio match was a lot of fun to watch. They looked so young! And thin!

[Dustin_J]

For any of you that have YoutubeTV with the golf channel as part of the package, they've had a rotating set of episodes up. It looks like Irwin vs. Watson and Palmer vs. Chi Chi are available now, and they seem to change every week or two.

[Hawkeye77]

Jack and Gary was good last night and they had some interesting and insightful comments about Tiger.

[JShaw]

That Phil / Sergio match was a lot of fun to watch. They looked so young! And thin!

 

18 years will have that effect. It did on me for sure.

[conorgolf22]

I wish the Golf Channel would air 2-3 of these on Tuesday nights. Their current Tuesday programming of back to back repeats of the same 3 movies is horrific. For the life of me, I can't understand how anyone would think that their current programming would be a good idea

[Rangeballz]

For any of you that have YoutubeTV with the golf channel as part of the package, they've had a rotating set of episodes up. It looks like Irwin vs. Watson and Palmer vs. Chi Chi are available now, and they seem to change every week or two.

 

Thanks. Excellent find. My viewing is set for the next few nights.

[MilkyButterCuts]

did tiger do any SWWGs?

[Jordan Speeth]

The one thing that these guys of past generations had.....they knew how to "play golf". Ever play with a guy who seemingly hacks it around all over the yard, then posts an even par round? I first witnessed it years ago playing with a friend who played the Australasian Tour in the early eighties. He didn't play much at the time, but when he did, he nearly always broke par. He once held multiple course records around Northern California. He didn't need to hit it great to score. We hear it on WRX from many who shoot the same scores regardless of their clubs....he was one of those. At the end of our rounds, I was almost always amazed at the score he shot...like, "how the h%ll did you do that!?" So, no, a 4hcp could not beat Gene Littler, then or now. The guy knew how to get it in the hole....quickly.

[OldTomMorris]

We used to get this on Sky Sports a lot but not so much in recent times, always found it fascinating to watch.

 

I would love to see pro tracer particularly with the players in the earlier era of the series.