$50,000,000 arena among the major highlights of Tiger Woods’ TGL testing facility in Palm Beach Gardens
The TGL is making final preparations with less than two months to go before the tee-off. The $50,000,000 arena is already being tested by players to finalize the details of the virtual course.
Cameron Young recently conducted in-game testing on the official TGL course. The tests included drives off the tee, shots from the sand, and other play actions.
The website Wired reported on Thursday that Cameron Young tested the system's virtual caddie. He also tested the effectiveness of the 64-by-46-foot screen, verifying that the physical ball bounced off the screen while the virtual ball followed its path perfectly.
Cameron Young is the first of the 24 players who will animate the TGL to test the virtual golf course. According to Wired, Young's first impressions were positive:
"It's really cool, and a totally different way to play golf."
The $50,000,000 arena, which includes the virtual course spatially designed by Full Swing, is the central space of a building constructed to house the TGL. It is named after one of the circuit's major partners (SoFi) and is located in Orlando, Florida.
TGL: Behind the Scenes with Mike McCarley
Mike McCarley, founder and CEO of TMRW Sports, the company behind TGL, was at the virtual track testing. In between shots, he explained to Wired some of the details of the league's creation and development.
According to Wired, McCarley began working on the idea in 2019. The first step was to create a virtual course, for which he needed someone to design and build it. That's where Full Swing came in. McCarley first contacted them in 2020, almost by accident.
By 2021, his idea was almost a project, so McCarley decided to take the next step, perhaps the biggest one: getting Tiger Woods involved. After an hour and a half of conversation, he got the legend to put his name on the unborn TGL.
Then events began to unfold in rapid succession. According to Wired, Rory Mcilroy was brought on board and TMRW Sports was formed with the three as founding partners.
The company was incorporated in 2022. A year later, TGL is virtually ready to go, with the virtual course in place and the competition format designed. The television show, which is an integral part of the TGL, has also been designed.
23 of the 24 players who will play in the league have been confirmed, and the six teams have been finalized. The show already has a distributor, as it will air live on ESPN+ for its first full season.
Finally, the league's purse has been announced. Players will compete for $21 million in prize money, with $9 million going to the winning team.