The Dawson Legacy

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

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PETER DAWSON, the chief executive of the Royal and Ancient, will be remembered as the man who sold The Open, and it is not a legacy that he should be proud of.

And it was surely no coincidence that he made the announcement on the very day that Rory McIlroy's legal battle with his former management company was due to begin in Dublin. Did he really think that nobody would notice?

After more than 60 years, the BBC will provide live coverage of golf's most important tournament for the last time in 2016. They say that money talks, and it certainly has in this case, with Sky Sports handing over a staggering £75m to screen live coverage of The Open from 2017.

It means that the BBC is left with the Six Nations rugby union championship, the Grand National and Wimbledon - and you can be certain that the rugby and the world's greatest tennis championships will be heading to subscription TV before much longer, following Test cricket and just about every other sporting event of any significiance.

It was bad enough that the corporation lost The Masters and the Ryder Cup, but failing to keep The Open really is the final straw. It was watching Tony Jacklin win The Open at Royal Lytham in 1969 that got me hooked. I can still remember Henry Longhurst's words as Jacklin hit his final drive. "What a corker!"

I am not alone in being inspired to take up golf by the BBC's coverage. Nick Faldo started to play after watching Jack Nicklaus win The Masters on the Beeb. Rory McIlroy talks about watching his heroes stride down the fairway in pursuit of glory. Lee Westwood, Ian Woosnam...so it goes on.

Dawson tells us that because the BBC will still have two hours of highlights each evening, everything will be all right. I am sorry Peter, but that is patent nonsense. There is nothing to beat parking yourself in front of the TV at 9am and watching every shot, every incident, unfolding in front of your eyes as it happens.

Please don't get me wrong. I have no axe to grind against Sky. In fact, I subscribe purely and simply because of the fantastic golf coverage on Sky Sports 4. Fantastic, that is, apart from the interminable advertising breaks. We are assured that part of the deal means that no more than four ad breaks, lasting one minute each, will be shown every hour. I will believe that when I see it.

And it is impossible to find fault with the satellite broadcaster's commentary team, analysts and experts. They all know the game inside out. But not everybody can afford to pay for subscription television, and that is the point that Dawson and his cronies are missing.

Golf writers and respected figures within the game expressed their horror when it first became apparent that the R&A was looking for more than the Beeb was prepared to pay. Do their opinions count for nothing? Golf is going through a rough time right now, with fewer and fewer people playing the gamer.

Dawson assures us that the extra money will find its way to the grass roots of the game. But once again, he misses the point - if there is little or no golf on free-to-air TV then how will the R&A generate interest? And if you don't have interest among kids then you don't have grass roots.
Ten years ago, the BBC screened 24 days of live men's professional golf every year. That total is now two - the final two rounds of The Masters.

Will somebody please explain to me how Dawson can say that the new broadcasting deal is “the best result for The Open and for golf”, when it is obviously not.

“The way people consume live sport is changing significantly and this new agreement ensures fans have a range of options for enjoying the championship on television and through digital channels,” he said. “Sky Sports has an excellent track record in covering golf across its platforms and has become the home of live golf coverage over recent years. We are very much looking forward to working with them to develop and enhance the coverage of The Open.”

But the section of Dawson's statement that really got my back up was this: "Numerous factors were weighed in this process such as quality of coverage, household reach, innovations in the broadcast, commercial considerations and promotion of The Open and our sport throughout the year." Household reach? Promotion of The Open? How does Sky deliver better in these areas than the BBC? The way I look at it, golf and The Open is most definitely not best served by this move. But wait a minute, what was that? Ah yes, "commercial considerations"!

Barbara Slater, the director of BBC Sport, said: “We’re obviously disappointed that we were unable to retain live TV coverage of the Open Championship. However, we’re pleased to be continuing our 60-year partnership with the R&A and feel that a comprehensive two-hour highlights programme – a format which has already proven successful – in a prime-time slot over four days will allow us to continue to bring all the best action and key moments from The Open to a large free-to-air audience on TV, radio and online.”

There is one saving grace - at least we will no long have to listen to Peter Alliss talking about Colonel Mustard-McMurtrey's gout when he should be concentrating on the action being played out in front of him. But I could always forgive him that.

I despair. Am I the only one? Please let us know what you think and commment below.

Image credit - SkySports Twitter

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Read Peter Dawsons open letter on the R&A's decision to award broadcasting rights to SKY - Click Here