For a generation raised on flash-image action, golf is nowhere. At least not at the moment, because the PGA Tour has plans to go hunting for a younger audience.
Variety introduces us to Skratch TV, a web-only video scheme it says will turn stuffy old golf into an action-adventure sport.
No, you read that right. The idea, we're told, is "short-attention-span golf" that is ready to go viral. Think GoPro cameras on the golf course. Think a parachutist bringing the trophy to this week's winner, as happened for Jason Day at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Millennials, the theory goes, need a sugar rush with caffeine to enjoy a sport they equate with their grandfathers. So Skratch TV joyfully enters the realm, complete in intentional misspelling to make it cool.
"As younger fans find new ways to follow their favorite sports, it's important to deliver great golf content to platforms that they use and in a voice that resonates with them," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said. "We believe Skratch TV will provide a tremendous new platform to effectively speak to this audience."
OK.
So far, the Tour has pitched clips from Phoenix and Torrey Pines. Phoenix is a notoriously raucous event, so that fits. We'll see what happens this week during the Pebble Beach pro-am, where celebrities and others join four-man teams with PGA players. It's a lively atmosphere, despite a heritage that goes back to Bing Crosby. (Ask your grandparents . . . seriously.)
Drones (the aerial variety) might be quite interesting as implements of mass seduction. Drones (the sonorous TV variety) won't be worth a shot in this snappy new world.
And the potential loser is . . . traditional golf coverage.