"This time of year people are not thinking about golf."

Don Markus is already branding The Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship's free ticket concept dead on arrival after day one, but considering that the PGA event looked just as poorly attended and you have empty seats at MLB playoff games, it'd be a shame to write the idea off just yet.

For the most part, cheering fans were replaced by chirping birds. Those looking to soak up the atmosphere of a big-time tournament found themselves happy to soak up the sun. For a tournament sponsored by the country's largest supplier of electricity, there was none.

Watson and others say that it might not be fair to judge until the weekend how effective a marketing strategy it is to allow fans in for free. Given the competition this tournament could have Sunday from the Redskins, as it did from the Ravens in previous years, free admission might not be enough.

"This time of year people are not thinking about golf. They're thinking about golf in April when the Masters comes around," Watson said. "They're shutting it down now. I always shut it down after the first of September … You can't have the ideal date for every tournament."

Said Mark O'Meara, "It's not like we draw huge crowds because there's so much golf being played. So any way we can make the game a little more accessible to everyone, we'd like to do it."

Steve Schoenfeld, the tournament's executive director, said that the concept of having local companies sponsor a particular round rather than charge admission has worked well at other Champions Tour events in the past, and figured that doing it for the Champions Tour's first look at the redone former PGA Tour stop made sense.

Comments

[JC]

The real story is the transformation of the TPC course. It's gone from not well liked by the pros to very well liked.

[The O]

To be fair, I live here and am a member at TPC Potomac and this is the first I'm hearing of the free ticket. I don't think they really promoted this terribly well. Plus, the club has kind of a crappy reputation (too hard, too tricky, doesn't drain well. the pros hate it...) among the golfing elite around here. (Although this reputation is based on the course pre-blow-up and redesign.

[digsouth]

The San Antonio Champ event will have free tix, and we are only an hour away in Austin, and little has been said.

Great event at Oak Hill, a classic course.

[Average Golfer]

"This time of year people are not thinking about golf."

NFL

[Jim S]

I have to admit, this is the time of year when I have to switch my habits from checking this site a few times a day to checking it a few times a week. There's just not a lot for Geoff to report on--unless Tiger has another interesting Thanksgiving.

[MRP]

What are you guys talking about? You are not thinking about golf? HUH? What else is there?

[Rock]

College football. Baseball playoffs, World Series.

[Zenyatta]

The Breeders' Cup

[MRP]

Get real! It is The Fall Series time...those other things are soo below the radar.

[M]

The start of the NHL in Europe is on everyones minds in California, Arizona, Hawaii and Texas for sure.

[fatgoalie]

I live in California, and knew about the games in Finland, etc.
Been fun getting back to NHL hockey. When does the golf season start again?

[MRP]

The golf season is still going...LPGA in Alabama this week...nice to see the ladies teeing it up again.

Also, The Old Course, Kingbarns, and Carnasty seeing action.

Golf, golf, and more golf!!

Truly awesome stuff!!

[Bucko]

Surely it's getting lost as the Commonwealth Games dominates the sports pages over there . . .