The Peter Cowen Rant: It's time to bring back the daily draw sheets for golf tournaments!

Peter Cowen, 73, is one of golf's most successful coaches, with numerous professional wins and Academies at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, Emirates Golf Club, and his headquarters in Rotherham, Yorkshire. - A few thousand of them could be offset by carbon credits – a simple solution for sustainability

By Peter Cowen in conversation with KT Guest Writer Nick Tarratt

Published: Sat 16 Nov 2024, 12:06 PM

After an exciting few days at Yas Links in Abu Dhabi for the HSBC Championship and a few days in Dubai at Jumeirah Golf Estates for the DP World Tour Championship, I'm back in Rotherham.

During this trip, I took the opportunity to check out our new Emirates Golf Club Golf Academy facilities – and I couldn't be more impressed with how everything is shaping up on the Driving Range at EGC. It will be a fantastic, long-overdue upgrade to one of the best golf clubs in the world.

Congratulations to the EGC management team and to my amazing crew for their dedication and hard work in bringing this vision to life. Exciting times ahead!"

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My next visit to Dubai will be just before the HERO Dubai Desert Classic in January – can you believe it's already 2025 in just 61 days?! Time is flying! I’m looking forward to seeing everything wrapped up and hopefully being part of an official ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Academy to celebrate the new milestones.

But before I get too carried away, I need to get one bugbear off my chest!

As many of you know I’m a passionate advocate for sustainability, equality, and inclusion. These are values that drive me in everything I do. That said, something is happening at golf tournaments that's becoming more and more frustrating: the disappearance of the daily drawsheet.

Now, event organisers often argue that they’re moving towards a paperless approach—everything from ticketing to tournament programs is going digital. But my point is there is nothing like a simple, single-page drawsheet – preferably double-sided.It’s efficient, user-friendly, and helps fans and players alike stay connected with

Everything in modern life seems to now be available on our mobile phones; emails, WhatsApp, messaging of all sorts, cameras, bank accounts, credit cards, flight tickets, passports, Apps and more Apps, newspapers, magazines, transponders to get anywhere or not, and so much more. All is fine until you lose your phone or the battery fails.

I challenge any spectator at a golf tournament to sit behind a random green with no video wall or scoreboard, as was the case at last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, and try using your mobile phone app to track pairings and determine who is approaching the green while also keeping an eye on the leaders – as the saying goes, it’s like herding cats.

It is a tough ask and from my experience more than a challenge for most. Probably one for the youngsters who find these things so easy to manage.

The demographic of the golf spectator is trending towards a younger audience – but I still see a lot of the mature and more traditional golf fan still walking the fairways to watch the golf. They have come for the golf – not the entertainment and social side of these huge events.

In my opinion, the return of the Daily Drawsheet at golf tournaments would be hugely welcomed by all involved – both back of the house as well as for the paying public.

Why should the tournament officials have them for the Starter, Rules Officials and many others within the ropes?

Could it not be another revenue stream for the organisers?

A few thousand Daily Drawsheets, for those who want them, could, ironically be balanced by the purchase of carbon credits or the like.

Buying trees to create wood that is then manufactured into paper – to be used for Daily Drawsheets.

Is that what they call the ‘Circle of Life.’

It is certainly worth a conversation.

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