Question: How was the Taylormade World Masters of Junior Golf in Las Vegas?
Answer: It's the first time we'd played here and just loved the whole Las Vegas feel. The entire staff at Angel Park Golf Course were fantastic and they look after the youngsters with good Driving Range rates for them.
The tournament is quite laid-back, which is OK for most tournament situations. However, if it is to call itself a "World Masters", then it does need to improve on a few areas which will then increase the integrity of the tournament. These include the issue of the shortening of the last 2 holes forward of the regulation Ladies Tees to the start of the fairway which (not only) didn't need to be done, but created a situation where players were Teeing off from the first cut of rough on the 17th hole. The tournament was supposed to be have been played from the Ladies Tees, so that's where it should have been played from in the 9-10 Years Boys. Any "World Masters" or "World Championships" is supposed to challenge the players and see the very best players challenged, not make it easy for everyone concerned.
Tee Times. If players sleep in or miss their Tee Times, then that's supposed to be the end of the tournament for those players. I understand that it's a long way to have come, but this is supposed to be "The most prestigious golf tournament in the world".
Publishing of Tee times. Please publish the next day's Tee Times on the tournament website in future years.
Player pairings. It's understandable that the first round's groupings can be unpredictable, but if the 3rd day's pairings was seeded, then the 2nd day's pairings also need to be seeded according to the player's positions on the Leaderboard.
Television Coverage. The tournament website stated that "This unique Televised event creates a PGA Tour atmosphere". The tournament also advertised that "Fox will televise this event and make it into a 6 TV show episode that will cover all age divisions". With parents choosing between tournaments in Palm Springs, Los Angeles and this one in Las Vegas, the idea of seeing their kids on TV and "playing in a PGA Tour atmosphere" was the deciding factor for many parents when choosing between this tourney and one of the other two. For that to not eventuate may see many of those parents left a trifle disappointed.
Having said that, I feel that this tournament is a good, light-hearted tournament that is good for junior golf in this region. Hopefully my comments will be taken in a positive light, as we need junior tournaments.
