Keith Pelley, chief executive of golf’s European Tour, has raised the possibility of the organisation one day staging a golf tournament inside a stadium as he continues his drive to attract new audiences to the sport.
Pelley, speaking at the inaugural World Super 6 event in Perth, Australia, said a one-off stadium event could be held annually as a “celebration of the game”.
The World Super 6 featured three days of traditional strokeplay before switching to a revolutionary six-hole knockout format on the final day. The tournament also featured a sudden-death rule for any game that was tied after the six holes on the final day.
In a move to open up the sport to new audiences, Pelley said he would consider transforming a stadium into a makeshift course.
“I can see a day where that will be an event that would happen once a year as a celebration of our game,” Pelley said, according to the Australian Associated Press news agency.
“It would be completely different. It could be fun. We want to modernise as much as possibly can. In order to do that, you have to unleash your imagination, and we’re having fun doing it.”
Pelley added: “It’s important we understand and respect the tradition and history of the 72-hole tournaments, while at the same time being open to change.
“We have to be creative. Allowing our imaginations to be unleashed so that we can improve the game, so that we can bring new fans and new people to what I think is the greatest game.”
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