For once in 2024, the PGA Tour pros had to stoop to the level of amateurs. The debut of the Black Desert Championship offered a taste of what golf looks like for recreational players: lost balls galore and rules infractions. And, a lot of fun, of course. 

According to Golf Digest, the lava rock at the Black Desert Championship caused 201 rulings. Tour officials revealed that 65 rulings were made in the first round alone, and 56 rulings were made in Round 2. On the moving day, 33 players lost their balls in the lava rocks. That number spiked to 47 on Sunday. These numbers only include the ruling decisions caused by the lava rock. By comparison, the rules officials were needed only 60 times during the 2024 Valero Texas Open.

Interestingly, the eventual winner, Matt McCarty, got a free drop on Saturday after hitting his ball into an unplayable area. Little wonder that when the stat came to light fans had a few things to say about that. 

Fans claim the Black Desert Championship was wild and unique

Some fans were quite enthusiastic about the prospect of watching a different kind of golf. Accuracy off the tee mattered more than the driving distance. Indeed, only one of the top-five hardest hitters in Utah could manage a top-15 finish. Whereas, three of the top five in driving accuracy were inside the top ten. Matt McCarty ranked 7th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, 6th in SG: Around the Green, and 7th in SG: Putting.

One user wrote, “Suddenly bomb and gouge isn’t the right strategy on Tour. Can’t gouge it out of lava rock and make birdie.”  Besides the volcanic rock formation, the desert landscape boasted various flora and fauna. For those familiar with desert golf, this was quite fun and natural. “Same with cacti and rattlesnakes… you just sacrifice you (sic!) ball to the golf gods,” one of them wrote. 

Interestingly, some fans quite enjoyed the pros losing it after hitting the rough.  Whereas, another commented, “This is the carnage we want!!!”  Notably, per a CNN report, around 1.5 billion golf balls get lost every year in the USA. Globally, that number goes up to 3-5 billion. “Boohoo… I lost my ball… welcome to regular golf like the rest of us,” one user joked.

“They’ll finish that contract and never go back,” one user wrote. However, the PGA Tour seems to have stuck with the plan. Naturally, being in the FedEx Cup Fall schedule, it won’t attract big names. 

Nevertheless, those who were there didn’t complain about the layout. “It’s a great design. Rewards a good shot and punishes a bad one,” Patrick Fishburn said. For those who mastered the art, the course rewarded them generously. 

The inaugural edition of the Black Desert Championship caused quite a stir among fans. That should be a big ‘relief’ for officials at Ponte Vedra, who took a bold gamble by staging a PGA Tour event in a layout that’s not yet open to the public.