The golf writer, the BBC debate and racing's battle for relevance

Over the course of the last week I’ve been struck by two very different interventions in the racing and gambling sphere, one from a pretty unexpected outside source. 

Geoff Shackelford has been a highly respected golf journalist for approaching 30 years and currently writes a column called ‘The Quadrilateral’ on Substack, as well as sparring regularly with former Guardian writer Lawrence Donegan on the McKellar golf podcast. 

The men’s professional game of golf is enduring a self-induced nosedive in popularity, with the end of the Tiger Woods era coinciding with a full-on cash grab as the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Tour fight to shower millions of dollars on the elite players, turning off television audiences in their droves.