Will Allowing Cell Phones Increase Tour Attendance?

INEVITABLE. THAT SEEMS TO be the word when it comes to cell phones being allowed at PGA Tour events, perhaps as soon as the 2011 season. Cell phones were welcomed at the Wyndham Championship in August as part of a test run. From what I’ve read, the experiment was successful. No cell phone mishaps were reported.

Golf Channel has reported that there will be two more trials, one at this week’s Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, California. The other test venue will be the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in early 2011.

The reasoning, according to Golf Channel:

... the PGA Tour has been discussing the cell phone policy for several months and feels that, in today’s world, fans can become disconnected for long periods of time while on the golf course. Their hope is that allowing people to carry a cell phone while at a tournament will help grow attendance.

Cell phones, of course, must be silenced or set on vibrate. And a new policy allowing cell phones at PGA Tour events wouldn’t apply to the majors, which are governed by other bodies.

But would new cell phone guidelines add fans at tour events?

I’m not so sure about that. It will certainly remove an annoyance for current spectators and a potential obstacle to others who might wander out for an event. But a sudden uptick in attendance seems doubtful.

There are bound to be occasional cell phone incidents, and tour pros—especially those with rabbit ears—will likely claim to hear them go off, vibrate, etc. They’ll have to live with it because cell phones are here to stay. Keeping them off the golf course just isn’t realistic.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: KB35/Flickr)

Stuff I Dug Up on Jason Bohn

I DIDN’T WATCH THE Zurich Classic. I did read about it online and checked the scores, but I never flipped on CBS. (I could tell you more about the Lakers-Thunder series.) Still, like other golf fans, I wonder about the Jason Bohns of the PGA Tour. When they shoot 18 under and win a Valero Texas Open or a Zurich Classic, I ask the same basic question: Who is this guy?

Of course, I’ve heard of Jason Bohn (this wasn’t his first PGA Tour win—he won the 2005 B.C. Open). I’ve seen Bohn’s name on leaderboards and noticed the “Bohn Identity” wordplays on golf sites. (Hey, Mat Damon. Want to play another golfer?) But I honestly couldn’t tell you three things about Bohn. Until now, of course. Please follow along because I spent at least 10 minutes looking up this stuff.

Bohn just turned 37 and worked his way through the minors to get to the PGA Tour. He won twice on the Canadian Tour and once on the Nationwide Tour at the Chattanooga Classic. Here’s something that caught my attention. Bohn won the Canadian Tour’s 2001 Bayer Championship by shooting a 58 in the final round. Double wow. In 2008, he finished third at the Wachovia Championship (bodes well for this week). Last year Bohn was in a three-way playoff at the Wyndham Championship won by Ryan Moore.

Jason (I think we’re on a first-name basis now) lives in Georgia and his special interests are music and camping. He attended the University of Alabama where he majored in finance. His wife’s name is Tewana and they have two boys, Connor and Cameron. Now that I know him so well, I’m going to say it: I think Jason will win again on tour. And if he and Tewana have another child, I’m going with Cherylin if it’s a girl and Carter if it’s a boy.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Keith Allison/Flickr)