How Tomorrow Golf League works ahead of inaugural match

Golf is poised to bring the sport to a new generation with TGL, an elaborate indoor simulator golf league with a kick that opens with its first match Tuesday night in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and on ESPN for television consumption. While Tiger Woods, along with Rory McIlroy, is one of the initial and highest-profile backers to the project, TGL does not mean Tiger Golf League.It stands for Tomorrow Golf League, and it consists of six four-player teams comprised of some of the game’s biggest stars. It takes place in the state-of-the-art, 250,000-square-foot SoFi Center at Palm Beach State College.

TGL is the creation of TMRW Sports, which was co-founded by Woods, McIlroy and former Golf Channel CEO Mike McCarley and is collaborating with the PGA Tour. To enhance the fan experience, players will be mic’d up during play, with banter and trash talk part of the entertainment selling point. All 15 regular-season matches will take place in the custom-built arena that seats some 1,500 spectators, and the league runs from early January to early March. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams will advance to the semifinals, scheduled for March 17 and March 18.The winners of the semis will then compete for the SoFi Cup in a best-of-three finals, taking place on March 24 and March 25. Teams will play head-to-head in a 15-hole match, divided into two sessions — a “triples” format that is essentially alternate shot with all three players, and a singles segment in which players compete one-on-one in three two-hole segments. Scoring consists of a team earning a point for a hole won, though a team has the opportunity to press by throwing the “hammer,” which increases that hole’s value to two points. If the opposing team declines the hammer, the hole is conceded, but that team then controls the next application of the hammer.

There are no points awarded for holes tied and there are no carryovers.If the teams are tied at the end of 15 holes, a cl...