[jwplayer MTdiiYf5]
Barstool Sports is making a deeper push into the golf space with the “Barstool Classic,” a multi-city golf amateur tournament that gets underway this spring.
The multi-month tournament announced Wednesday will begin with eight qualifying events in major markets, including Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and New York, leading up to one championship event. The tournament features teams of two playing at 50% handicap in four-ball format.
Among the confirmed dates and qualifying sites:
- June 3, Wollaston Golf Club, Milton, Mass
- July 15, Foxwoods Lake of Isles, North Stonington, Conn.
- Aug. 2, Whiskey Creek, Ijamsville, Md.
- Aug. 16, Harborside International – Starboard Course, Chicago
- Aug. 19, Granite Links, Quincy, Mass.
- Aug. 26, Pound Ridge, Pound Ridge, N.Y.
There are two additional events to be scheduled in the New York and Philadelphia areas, in addition to the championship.
The winning team gets $10,000 and a trophy that likely cost half that amount.
Barstool sports founder and president David Portnoy (@Stoolpresidente) took on Shinnecock Hills last year before the U.S. Open. He shot a 66 – but there was a catch.
Portnoy was also defiant in his belief that Tiger Woods could not win the Masters. He issued his mea-culpa on social media, the Barstool website and again on the “Tucker Carlson Show” Monday.
The PGA Championship is scheduled for Bethpage Black on Long Island in May. One can expect a loud and rowdy gallery cheering on Woods for at least two days. And that gathering will undoubtedly include many “Stoolies.”
Barstool, which began as a free newspaper for sports fans and gamblers in Greater Boston in 2003, has grown into a diverse media concern that features a fiercely loyal customer base, a merchandising arm perhaps best known for its Roger Goodell clown t-shirts and “Saturdays are for the boys” trademarked items, several popular national podcasts, and a vast social media footprint highlighted by Portnoy’s rants and one-bite pizza reviews.
“Barstool is getting deeper into golf because our golf guys love golf,” Portnoy told Golfweek in an email. He says his handicap is a 20.
Sam Riggs Bozoian, who played college hockey at Harvard, co-hosts the Fore Play podcast and Tweets at @RiggsBarstool.
“Golf’s hot right now, especially among our fans. They can’t get enough of it — merch, podcasts, videos. People who love golf are obsessed with everything golf. Golf’s also unique in that people who love golf tend to play golf, and to take their games pretty seriously,” Bozoian said via email.
“Your average golfer looks to have fun on the course but also to compete. They love to have a little something on the line. They want those 5-footers to matter. They’re hungry for the member/guest vibe — healthy competition in a fun setting — and the Barstool Classic will provide that environment, on a large scale, to amateur golfers across the country.”
It as during an interview with Bozoian where country music star and avid golfer Jake Owen discussed his profanity-filled run-in with Phil Mickelson last year at Jordan Spieth’s wedding.
Bozoian describes himself as “a five handicap with a hideous swing and a figure-eight putting stroke.” Bozoian’s GHIN has expired, but he’s working to renew it through New York and says the process has been difficult.
“I’d love to be what the internet thinks I am, like a 15, but I unfortunately keep score, post those scores, and my close personal friend USGA tells me I’m a five.”
And like so many NFL or NBA teams that are often stuck in the middle of the draft order, Bozoian says a five is “the worst handicap you can be.”
“A scratch wins matches by making pars, and a 15 wins by stroking you to death, but a five just loses matches. It’s a curse.”
He’s hoping it skyrockets soon after a recent 82.
Some of us wouldn’t mind a curse like that.
