Great for the game

At a time when the game of golf is desperate for a wider audience, recent events will have gone a long way to helping its cause. From Justin Rose's Olympic gold to America's dominance in the Ryder Cup to last week's British Masters, things are certainly on the right track.

The British Masters was supported by Sky Sports and as such Sky were giving away thousands of free tickets prior to the event, ensuring that The Grove was full to capacity throughout. Once again the event was coupled with some innovative ideas designed to bring a fun factor to the week; and they nailed it!

Tuesday night saw the Hero Challenge take place under the floodlights with over 2,000 spectators transfixed by the one-hole knockout contest. The 18th hole was converted into a 156-yard par-3 for both professionals and celebrities to battle it out until there was one man standing. This was followed by the ISPS Handa Pressure Putt Challenge on Wednesday. Professionals teamed up with a celebrity and went head-to-head in knockout fashion as each player attempted to hole putts of increasing difficulty.

Not to take away from the main 72-hole competition from Thursday to Sunday, which was superbly won by Alex Noren, these new concepts were a huge success and will certainly bring some much-needed new faces to the game.