The Feed: A Golf Digest writer runs afoul of YouTube golf’s faithful

By

Happy Friday, everyone. This week we welcome back Chazzy (remember him!?), finally answer “who is the best golfer on YouTube?” and take a quick lap around Bay Hill. But first, let’s soothe some hurt feelings …

Tweeting About YouTube Golf (Very Difficult)

Call me a prisoner of the moment, a clinical overthinker or just a guy who needs something to write about on a Friday morning, but it feels increasingly like YouTube golf has arrived at a crossroads. Turn left and the platform, with its global army of fans, multi-million dollar purses and daily barrage of matches, challenges and championships, becomes the same investment bank-sponsored monster it was originally meant to fight. Turn right and almost as an overcorrection to the growing tour-ification of this supposed tour antidote, we find videos like this.

RELATED: Scottie Scheffler reveals why he doesn’t ask to sit next to Jordan Spieth at the Masters Champions Dinner

I don’t think it’s unfair to categorize this type of content as a golf gateway drug. It exists to attract the casual who maybe plays a few times a year, not the quarter-zip East Coast country club hardo with a framed portrait A.W. Tillinghast on their desk. But when does “growing the game” begin to water down the game itself? That question brings us to something my colleague Chris Powers tweeted this week. On Wednesday, Chris tweeted a joke poking fun at that aforementioned video and, well, let’s just say it didn’t go down so well with the YouTube golf fanbase.

Chris’ tweet got a smirk from me, which is the highest form of praise amongst fellow assholes in case you didn’t know. Chris and I share a similarly nihilistic sense of humor and, generally speaking, are not easily offended unless arguing about the Yankees versus the Mets. But many, including creators like Wesley Bryan, didn’t find the tweet quite as harmless, and turned out in droves to tell Chris why.

RELATED: Joel Dahmen asked Twitter for a place to stay, and Twitter delivered

It goes on like that for awhile. Honestly, I’m not here to defend Chris or Wesley or anyone else. We’re all big boys and we all know by now that when you tweet a lot, sometimes you step in it. Don’t hate the player, hate the game, so on and so forth. Chris later explained that his tweet was just a riff on a popular meme format, but some still felt it was cheap shot or, worse yet, gatekeeping. Others laughed (or didn’t) and moved on with their lives. The broader question the controversy raised, however, was even more provocative:

Is the YouTube golf now so vast and verdant that some pruning would actually be healthy for its ecosystem?

A million views in 48 hours for a video of the Fraiser to Good Good Golf’s ‘Cheers’ playing blindfolded suggests we’re approaching that point. Perhaps there’s so much money and so many eyeballs in this game now that it will soon begin to sag under the weight of the cheap imitators and watered-down content. Mostly though, it suggests many people don’t share Chris’ sentiment.

For those that do, there are plenty of channels, such as those from Peter Finch and Rick Shiels, that provide a more “core golf” experience. And perhaps that’s where this dissonance stems from. Horvat is typically one of those guys. The last few videos we’ve seen Horvat star in include ball testing with Rory McIlroy and another trying to compete on the Minor League Golf Tour. That’s content for the sickos not the casuals, while this video is clearly targeted at the latter.

If we look at this as a Robby Berger joint, though, the content becomes suddenly comedic. We don’t have to care about it, but we also don’t have to not care about it. As a piece of entertainment, it’s fine. It’s not must-see-TV, but if you’re throwing it on while making dinner, you don’t need to worry that you’re complicit in the downfall of golf itself. But don’t take my word for it. Just listen to Bob. Before taking even a single cut on the range, the YouTube mega-star sliced (ahem) right (AHEM!) to the heart of the matter. “I woke up this morning, my girlfriend said goodbye,” he said. “I was thinking about it, there’s all these people that are going to work. Blue-collar guys, you know, going to grind like a man’s man … I’m going to play against a guy blindfolded.”

For myself, each of you reading and everyone cropdusting Chris’ DMs, this an important reminder to step back and touch some poa annua. Maybe this is the end times for YouTube golf (and the world itself), maybe it’s not, but isn’t the point of this whole golf thing to have some fun along the way?

Quick Hits

Sean Walsh

We wrote at length about the first two episodes of the Bryan Bros./Good Good Pros stroke-play championship last week. If you enjoyed those videos, make sure to check out the finale via Sean Walsh’s channel, which remains slightly under the radar despite Walsh’s massive Good Good platform.

Bob Does Sports

This week the Bob Does Sports gang challenge Good Good stick Brad Dalke to a match. That doesn’t seem like a fair fight to us, but Bobby Fairways and co. are nothing if not gluttons for punishment.

Grant Horvat

Remember Chaz Bowker from last summer’s Internet Invitational? Well, the breakout star is back this week for a match against Grant Horvat. Don’t underestimate Chazzy due to his height, however. Bowker is the top-ranked short-stature golfer in the world and an absolute fairway machine. Blindfold or not, expect Horvat to have his hands full with this one.

Bryan Bros.

Have you wondered what would happen if five pro golfers, including several Korn Ferry and PGA Tour winners, tee’d off from the front tees at your local track? Well, thanks to the Bryan Bros. and their guests Ben Martin, Carson Young and Matt Atkins, you no longer have to.

Good Good Golf

If you’re looking to get some bang for your buck this week, look no further than the Good Good Golf guys, who pack 10 of their most iconic challenges into a single round. Buckle up, this one gets nuts. For more from the Good Good family of networks, also check out the gals, who hosted their first-ever Ryder Cup-style match this week, and the Good Good Pros, who try to take the clubhouse lead at Trump Doral before the PGA Tour returns to the Blue Monster next month.

Peter Finch

Speaking of PGA Tour venues, Peter Finch tries to break par at Bay Hill, the site of this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. Will he attempt to Bryson the par-5 6th? We’re guessing not, but there’s only one way to find out …

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com