The Feed: Was the Michael Block-YGT controversy real or just a publicity stunt?

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Welcome back to another edition of The Feed, where we begin with the controversy surrounding YGT … yes, already.

The YGT Apology Tour

Late last week, the much-hyped Your Golf Tour—the new upstart YouTube creator circuit helmed by Grant Horvat and the Bryan Bros—premiered its inaugural episodes. The matches came and went over the holiday weekend, but still racked up millions of views (a total 8.3 million at the time of writing). Then on Sunday, just as the dust was settling, Grant Horvat took to Twitter … to apologize?

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The moment in question was a soundbite of Michael Block—a guy who seems to find the spotlight wherever it’s shining—in disbelief upon realizing he hoofed it all the way to Alabama for just nine holes before being eliminated.

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Block was brought in to serve as Grant Horvat’s Week 1 “wild card,” but due to YGT’s aggressive elimination structure—after round two each week, half the field is eliminated—he only got to play nine holes, and responded with the excerpt above. But here’s the thing:

No one was really complaining about Block’s conduct, at least from the outside looking in.

There wasn’t an uproar about Block’s behavior nor thousands rushing to his defense for a moment that, at least according to Horvat, should have remained private. In fact, most fans seemed to be more irritated by apology itself, which some viewed as a deliberate attempt to drum up drama.

From the opening-night draft to Block’s now-controversial moment, the first episode of YGT seemed to follow the template of the Internet Invitational to the letter. There was a Wesley Bryan standing at a podium presiding over a room of golf content creators just as Dave Portnoy did last summer at Big Cedar Lodge. There was a draft, team strategy brainstorms and plenty of tall tales being shared over lunch. The only thing missing was a “Luke Kwon moment,” and since it wouldn’t be fair to make Kwon fall on that sword twice, the honor went to Michael Block. The incident didn’t take off organically, so many saw Horvat’s tweet as promotional instead of apologetic.

Having worked in the digital golf space for almost a decade now, I can tell you that both possibilities are extremely viable. Golf Digest periodically receives incensed emails and phone calls from players’ agents. This industry has very thin skin, and it’s completely possible that Block and/or his team were disappointed in the portrayal and leaned on Horvat to apologize. However, we also know that you have to play the engagement game sometimes. Sometimes that feels icky. Sometimes it to the detriment of the content itself. But when you have advertisers, investors and corner-office honchos expecting a certain baseline, occasionally you have to get creative. As some alleged, maybe that’s Horvat what was doing.

Honestly, we don’t know. You’ll have to ask Grant and Wesley next time you see them. But we do hope this is the last stunt of this sort we see this from YGT. The league was billed as a serious competitive golf tour, not The Real Clubhouses of Beverly Hills. Leave the reality TV show schlock to Barstool Sports and give us what was promised: Good golf, tough competition and high stakes. It may take a little longer to build an audience that way, but what’s the rush?

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Quick Hits

Bob Does Sports

BDS faces off against the Wheel of Drinks once again. Unfortunately for them, the Wheel of Drinks is like the house—it always wins.

Ryan Ruffels

At this point, it’s probably fair to call Ryan Ruffels the no. 1 golfer on YouTube (non-Bryson DeChambeau division). He recently won The Q, earning his way into the Myrtle Beach Classic, and was drafted with the first pick in the YGT draft (a real sentence I just typed). This week, the Aussie faces New Zealand friend/foe, Luke Toomey, in a 1v1 match. If you’re just here for elite golf, this should be your first stop.

Good Good Golf

If you’re into hole-in-one challenges, then don’t miss Good Good’s latest where the crew can’t leave the golf course until they ace every hole. The good news is that it’s a six-hole junior track. The bad news is that holes-in-one are hard no matter where you make them. Remember to hydrate, fellas!

Luke Kwon

Ready to kick it old school? Then tag along with former college teammates and Good Good alums Luke Kwon and Brad Dalke as they hang out, catch up and, oh yeah, play a little golf along the way. In true OG YouTube fashion, they filmed the entire episode themselves, passing the camera back and forth between each other. I think I speak for all the YT old heads when I say we didn’t know how good we had it.

Peter Finch

Don’t look now, but the final men’s major of the season is less than a week away. Peter Finch gives us a sneak peek at how Royal Birkdale might play as he tries to break par at the legendary links. If you’re already jonesing for wind, fescue, pot bunkers, burnt greens and blind shots, you know what to do.

Fore Play

Meanwhile, across the Irish Sea, Fore Play tee it up at Royal County Down, AKA the top-ranked golf course on the planet. Most mere mortals will never get to see the Old Tom Morris design in person, so pour yourself a Guinness, kick back and enjoy the ride.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com