LIV Golf and PGA Announce New Inter-league Match Play Event

LIV Golf and the PGA of America have announced their first inter-league matchplay event. Twelve players from each organization will compete at a newly developed coastal golf course. A different format will be used each day of the event, finishing in head-to-head stroke play on Sunday.

(Frisco, TX) Today in a joint press release, the PGA of America and the LIV Golf tour have announced a new inter-league matchplay competition. Following the international success of the Ryder Cup and the President’s Cup, both leagues hope that the new Odium Cup competition will garner a similar level of popularity. The underlying hope is that this new tournament will also be the first step toward improving relations between the two leagues.

The Odium Cup is named after professional golfer Connor Odium.

Odium was a prolific golfer from the early 20th century who became famous for playing on all existing golf tours at the time. While originally from Wyoming, Odium often described himself as a “citizen of the golf course.”

“We felt that Odium exemplified everything that is happening in professional golf today. We wanted to show golf fans that the LIV and PGA tours are not fractured, but whole. Ultimately, this event will allow the tours to stop the arguing, and make a statement by playing with their balls instead.”

-Morgan B. Guile, Odium Cup Tournament Chair

Tournament Format

The Odium Cup will be played over four days in April 2024, with the format of play changing each day. Thursday’s opening round will be four-ball. Friday’s round will be alternate shot, and Sunday’s round will be a classic matchplay finish. Saturday’s round will feature a newly developed format, Reverse 2-Man Alternate Shot.

Reverse 2-Man Alternate Shot

Each Odium Cup team will consist of one PGA pro and one LIV pro paired at random. The pros will play alternate shot, keeping track of how many strokes each player in the team takes. At the end of the hole, the scores for each league team are scored, and that will decide the hole.

For example. On team 1, the LIV player tees off, the PGA player hits the approach to the green, and the LIV player makes the putt. For Team 2, the PGA player tees off, the LIV player misses the approach, the PGA player chips up, and the LIV player makes the putt.

For this hole, the LIV players took a combined four strokes to the PGA team’s three strokes. This means that the PGA team would win the hole.

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Completely Novel Strategies

Though it seems complicated, the tournament organizers and players are very excited about this new team format. Players are already assessing potential scoring strategies.

Reverse 2-Man really changes how you approach a given hole. Do you try and go low by setting up your opponent for a good shot, or do you hit the ball to a place where they are going to take more shots? It’s going to take some rethinking to play a round where a hole in one could lose you the hole.

-Anonymous PGA/LIV Pro

Equipment Limitations

The PGA has decided that the Odium Cup is the perfect venue to introduce their newly announced limited-flight golf ball. As a result, the PGA team will be using the new 15% flight-restricted Titleist No V1. Most of the PGA professionals welcome the chance to show what they can do with a ball that negatively impacts their play, saying that it will be that much sweeter to win with this additional disadvantage.

The PGA also expects the usage of the new ball to spark consumer interest in hitting the ball shorter.

Since LIV Golf was not part of the ball rollback discussion, their pros will be allowed to play a ball of their choosing. Some of the LIV Golf pros considered playing the No V1 to level the playing field but decided not to after determining that the ball “plays like shit.”

Unique Course Design

As a concession to LIV Golf’s typical three-day play schedule, rounds will be shortened by 25% to 13 holes. While thirteen-hole rounds are atypical in golf, many LIV players believe the format to be more challenging.

“It’s not just about playing less golf for more money. In a thirteen-hole round, you must be focused at all times since you only have thirteen holes for scores. Think about it; you can’t make fourteen birdies because there are only thirteen holes. It’s stressful. Sure, you get to the clubhouse for a massage sooner, but you also took fewer swings over the course of the tournament. If they are not good swings, you could lose.”

Kalaallisut Oqalusinnanngilanga Country Club

The Odium Cup match will be played at a newly developed 13-hole course in Greenland, viewed as neutral ground between Europe and the United States. The newly constructed Kalaallisut Oqalusinnanngilanga Country Club is located on the western coast of Greenland between Upernavik and Uummannaq.

This area was chosen for its beautiful coastlines and its current lack of a tour-caliber golf destination. According to the lead architect, building a thirteen-hole course in Greenland was a labor of love but not without challenges. The course designer had this to say about KOCC.

“Greenland is an untapped market for golf. Most of the natural resources remain woefully unexploited. The Odium Cup should open the door to more awareness of Greenland as a golf destination, even if golf seems in conflict with the environment. Many people, myself included, assumed that based on its name, Greenland was already full of golf-friendly grass.

Upon arriving at the build site, I learned this was not the case. While the Kalaallisut Oqalusinnanngilanga Country Club’s land features spectacular ocean views that will justify our exorbitant greens fees, it is profusely lacking in native grasses.

We like to include the native flora whenever possible, but this proved especially challenging at KOCC. Not only were the native plants not conducive to five-iron strikes, but the soil in many regions of the course was solid granite. We initially expected to use a fescue-Bermuda hybrid, but we quickly needed to pivot from that plan after destroying our third backhoe. At that point, we decided to install synthetic turf.”

A Novel Turf Solution

Artificial turf was the perfect option for Kalaallisut Oqalusinnanngilanga Country Club. Not only could the turf be contoured to match the fantastic natural setting, but it makes KOCC one of the most environmentally friendly golf courses on the planet as well.

By using artificial turf, designers could carefully control every element of the course layout. All the rough is exactly 10 cm tall, and greens roll precisely at a stimp of 12.2. Artificial trees allow the daily layout to be adjusted to increase or decrease the course difficulty. The tee boxes can be physically moved from day to day as well, allowing each hole to play very differently over the course of the weekend.

The incorporation of recycled plastics into the turf and the ability to roll up the entire course for winter storage are the icings on the cake.

Greenland Weather Contingencies

Understanding the importance of this tournament to the modern game, tournament organizers have taken a novel step to minimize the adverse effects of poor weather. Should the weather turn sour, the hole, or even the entire round, moves to an indoor simulator or virtual reality headset.

Many of us believe that digital golf peaked with Wii Golf, but the truth is that modern simulators provide a nearly perfect parallel experience to playing on an actual course. As such, the entire Kalaallisut Oqalusinnanngilanga tournament course was scanned and uploaded into video simulators should that option be necessitated by nature.

Talk on the turf is that the LIV Golf players are especially interested in the virtual option. Finishing the tournament this way would allow them to play from the comfort of the Learjet and to spend more time with their families.

Odium Cup Player Selection

Each team will consist of twelve players and two captains. The tour governing bodies select their captains, with the players selected per each league’s selection plan.

The PGA Tour has decided to select the top twelve players based solely on FedEx cup points at the end of the 2023 season. The belief is this will give the team the best chance to win the Odium Cup the following April.

Currently, LIV Golf Has not finalized its selection process. One proposed idea selects the top three LIV team rosters for the Odium Cup. Upon selection, the three team names combine into the new team’s name. Using current rankings, that would be the 4Aces Fireball Crushers.

Using player likability for selection could also be the route LIV takes. However, early polling indicates this approach may not produce a full twelve-man roster.

Tournament Purse

Naturally, a tournament of this magnitude needs a significant cash purse. The 2024 inaugural Odium Cup’s total payout to the winning team will be $120,000,000. This is a winner take all event, with the losing team taking home only despair sprinkled with defeat. Photocopies of losing players’ current bank accounts will be provided as grief counseling.

One And Done, Or a New Tradition?

So, what are your thoughts on the Odium Cup? Do you think this will help mend the fences between the tours? Will this further stoke the rivalry flame? Obviously, the antagonistic relationship between the tours and the players is unsustainable. Perhaps this event is a first step away from the bifurcation of professional golf.

Regardless, I anticipate a great deal of hype and discussion leading up to the tournament next year. One year from today, April 1, 2024, we should have some exciting golf to watch.

Find out more about the tournament and get your tickets at TheOdiumCup.com

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