There are stories everywhere, even in golf.

So you’re watching golf. You see some guy in long pants swinging a club around for a few minutes, doing some math, chatting to a guy in shorts, finally deciding to hit this ball that’s been sitting there the whole time, and then moving on. Pretty dry. Despite this, golf remains one of the most popular sports in the world and enjoys consistent successful broadcasts and advertiser partnerships. Why? Golf is all about stories. When people buy into the story golf is at its best, and we’d argue THE best among all sports.

Everyone bought into Tiger Woods’ story, and quite frankly it’s an epic of rises and falls, and rises again. ‘Buying into someone’s story’ doesn’t seem like a big deal, but when Tiger Woods rose to fame from 1996 to 2006, 4.4 million people took up golf for the first time in the States, the 2019 Masters which Tiger won (during one of his comebacks) was the most viewed golf broadcast in five years. This effect has been seen in Formula 1, athletics, and football fandom - being a fan is all about buying into a story. Now here’s the catch, to buy into a story, someone has to tell it to you.

The Sunshine Tour is filled with epic stories. These are hugely talented players who are fighting for the chance to make it on the world stage. Similar to the Korn Ferry Tour, watching The Sunshine Tour gives you the chance to see superstars in action before they swap over to the global stage. Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace, Erik Van Rooyen - they are all products of the Sunshine Tour.

So through Octagon, we got the chance to tell some stories of the players. We started with Michael Kok - a world famous motocross racer turned golfer. Then Dylan Naidoo, a star burning his way to the top, and we’re busy creating Pieter Moolman’s story - who wins the golf course and the drag racing strip - yes you read that right. We did loads of research on each player, interviewed them and someone close to them, got them in action, and we had our story - rich and ready to be bought into.?

There is an X factor with all these stories - and that is golf itself. Remember how you watched some guy in long pants considering his options before hitting? Well golf, unlike any other sport, is 100% solitary, you don’t even have an opponent sitting across you, the only person that ever beats you is yourself, all the responsibility for success falls solely on your shoulders. So the golfer considering his options is not just thinking about what club to use, they’re thinking about everything that led them to that point, they’re trying to overcome all the doubt, all the fear - and then hit a decent shot. That’s why golf is such a rich ground for storytelling.

So next time you think something is boring, remember there is ALWAYS an amazing story to tell. And if you’re struggling to see it, you know who to speak to - Stratia !