Netflix Cup: Unconventional golf-racing mashup does its best to entertain

Netflix’s latest venture into live sports, the Netflix Cup, was a little different from its usual sports documentary series.

The Sphere watched over the Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas, the location of the inaugural Netflix Cup.

The Netflix Cup was a live event featuring PGA Tour golfers paired with Formula One drivers in Las Vegas ahead of this weekend’s F1 race. Each team competed on a nearby golf course in a chaotic mash-up of golf and racing broadcasted in real-time.

While not exactly what we would describe as must-watch TV, the Netflix Cup was another attempt to make golf look cool, which can be a difficult task.

From the outset, the competition was a strange blend of golf and cart racing, nearest-the-pin challenges and some large dice being thrown down a hill.

This is Las Vegas after all and anything tends to go in this town where gambling and the eccentric sit happily side-by-side.

A race to win the first hole for @TonyFinauGolf and @PierreGasly! 🏎️

A speedy start to The @Netflix Cup. pic.twitter.com/1RQJrLYUi0

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 15, 2023

The first hole, for example, was complete mayhem as golfers waited for the racing lights to turn green before teeing off and racing down the fairway in golf carts.

But no one seemed to know the rules for much of the event, and viewers were left wondering why Rickie Fowler was driving the golf cart instead of his partner Lando Norris, whose very job relies on driving a car as fast as possible.

my review of Netflix's first foray into live sports

📝 rules were fast + loose; so was the production

📝 marshawn's hole narrations were a revelation

📝 the sphere rocks

📝 trying to make golf look/feel "cool" is hard work https://t.co/8SdfGCPsWO

— Alan Bastable (@alan_bastable) November 15, 2023

The event showed off the golf skills of Finau, Thomas, Fowler and Homa but it leaned more towards showcasing the extravagant sights of Las Vegas and the upcoming Netflix series.

The sight of the truly spectacular, new entertainment venue Sphere watching has me wondering if I had accidentally flicked on a video game on the console.

The sphere is always watching 👀 pic.twitter.com/5vSyZegDn4

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 15, 2023

The duo of Thomas and Sainz emerged victorious after Thomas won a nearest-the-pin challenge on a floodlit golf hole.

The final presentation perhaps summed up the bizarre event with Sainz dropping and breaking the trophy.

While not really golf and certainly not car racing, The Netflix Cup was an odd experiment. Despite the mishaps, the question remains: was it entertaining? Which is all that matters to Netflix.

We’re still not so sure.