Players criticize fans at Presidents Cup. So we measure the decibels

MONTREAL — “We need to get louder, I think, the next few days here and really feel the home support.” — Taylor Pendrith 

“Like Taylor said, I think it was a little too quiet today being on home soil. I don’t think the fans were really — I wish they would have helped us out a bit more, especially being in Canada. I know how much they love golf.” — Tom Kim 

Sacre bleu! 

Quieter crowds — in Montreal? Oh, Canada! They love their Habs and Horton’s here, and they hoot and holler for both — good luck to you, my friend, getting a Canadians ticket, or a quick line for breakfast — but yes, the scene Thursday, for day one of the biennial Presidents Cup at stately Royal Montreal, can be called a touch subdued. One can point their putter at a variety of factors. Was it the American body-slam of the International bunch? Maybe; five to zero is hard to get behind. Was it the fact that the weather was wet? Maybe. Was it simply that golf is, well, not hockey, football or soccer, its physical cousins? Maybe. You can probably unearth a couple other excuses, too. 

But at team golf events, it’s OK to pick a side, it’s OK to buy a beverage (there is strangely no Labatt here, which is a whole other story) and it’s OK to voice your opinions. In short, it’s OK to be un-OK. So we had a thought: 

Let’s talk to folks. Figure out what happened. We’ll also measure day two’s noise, via the Decibel Meter app. We unfortunately didn’t capture Thursday’s, so we won’t be able to compare day to day, and, as a matter of disclosing everything, it’s here where the author will reveal that he’s nearly completely deaf in his left ear. But the exercise will offer a sense of the Friday scene, and, if you haven’t yet heard (pun partially intended), something almost completely unexpected went down along the way.  

But enough from us. Off to tee No. 1. It has to be loud there. It’s encased by 4,000 seats, and a DJ’s playlist lists all the arena earworm songs.

Tee No. 1 noise 

— 12:46 p.m. ET, an 11-second recording of “Seven Nation Army” registered a high of 100.3 dBA (a weighted decibel), with a low of 92.7. For reference, according to the app, 60 is considered “normal conversation;” 70 is “city traffic;” 80 is “vacuum cleaner;” 90 is “hair dryer;” 100 is construction site — and 150 is “shotgun blast.”

— Starting at 1:03 p.m., a 4-minute, 6-second recording was done of the tee shots from Americans Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, and the International’s Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im, while standing to the right of the tee box, along the last row of bleachers. The high here was 106.1, and it came when Matsuyama and Im are announced, while the low was 57.1, and it came as the players teed off. 

Here, we find Blair and John. They’re from Ontario. The author starts a conversation. 

Yesterday, Tom Kim and Taylor Pendrith said that the crowd noise was a little quiet. When you hear that, what’s your reaction?

Said Blair: “The crowd must have heard those comments from yesterday because it doesn’t feel like it today. It feels like a lot of excitement here.”  

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Said John: “I think that was weather-related yesterday, from what I understand. But today is any indication, I think they’ll be very pleased with the Canadian crowd today.” 

Why do you think it might be quiet at a Presidents Cup? 

Said Blair: “Respect for golf. Everybody heard the crowd going crazy [today] and then they quieted right down. When it’s all said and done, it’s a friendly competition. These guys compete all year long, and they have respect for each other. The crowd does help them out, but it’s not a very pro-U.S. crowd.”

Said John: “I would state that I don’t think yesterday was an indication. I thought today is a great crowd. They’re rallying the troops well. I think a lot of Canadian and international golfers have done a phenomenal job of getting everybody out screaming and yelling. It’s my first Presidents Cup. I’ve been to a number of golf events in the past, but I’m very impressed with what I’ve seen today.” 

What do you expect for the weekend?

Said Blair: “Oh, I think it’s going to be exactly like this for the tee shots. And then coming down the stretch, there’ll be some passionate International support. But they got to climb the hill to get there.” 

Said John: “Much of the same. They’ll continue to rally. The videos on social media will go viral, and it’s going to create a lot of positive intent around the event and bring more people to it.” 

— Starting at 1:17, a 3-minute, 53-second recording was done of the tee shots from Americans Sahith Theegala and Collin Morikawa, and the International’s Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith (a Canadian), while standing behind the tee box, along the last row of bleachers. The high here was 108.8, and it came when the players started to walk down the fairway, and the low was 56.2, and it came as the players tee off. 

— Starting at 1:27, a 7-minute, 45-second recording was done of the tee shots from Americans Max Homa and Brian Harman, and the International’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Jason Day, while standing to the left of the tee box, along the last row of bleachers, directly next to the loudest speaker. (Again, it helps here that the author is half-deaf.) The high here was 112.2, and it came during some hype music, and the low was 63.2, and it came during the tee shots. 

Here, we find Tyler and Rick. They’re from Ontario. They’re wearing red sport coats decorated with maple leaves. The author starts another conversation. 

Yesterday, Tom Kim and Taylor Pendrith said they were a little disappointed in the fan noise. When you hear that, what is your reaction?

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Said Tyler: “On the first tee, there is a lot of noise. I don’t know what they’re talking about. Hopefully it carries on outside of the first tee, to the rest of the course, but it is loud out there.” 

Said Rick: “I guess they had a point because once they got out to the course, it wasn’t so loud. But they got to win too.” 

What are your expectations for the weekend?

Said Tyler: “Hopefully we play really well and the Internationals win. It’s a great day, the weather’s fantastic. Can’t complain.” 

Said Rick: “Well, I hope they make a game of it. It’ll be a tough road, but hopefully they get it.” 

— Starting at 1:42, a 6-minute, 44-second recording was done of the tee shots from Americans Wyndham Clark and Tony Finau, and the International’s Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes (both Canadians), while standing again to the left of the tee box, along the last row of bleachers, directly next to the loudest speaker. The high here was 110.8, and it came during more hype music, and the low was 60.1, and it came during the tee shots. 

— Starting at 2, a 2-minute, 48-second recording was done of the tee shots from Americans Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley, and the International’s Si Woo Kim and Byeong Hun An, while standing back again to the right of the tee box, along the last row of bleachers. The high here was 104.1, and it came when the Internationals are announced, and the low was 62.3, and it came during the tee shots. 

Here, the author worked his way down to a group of about 10 who were all wearing Canadian flags as capes, and started a conversation with three of them, who are all from Ontario. 

This exchange stood out:

What do you expect for the weekend?

“I expect the comeback of the century.” 

The course noise 

We waited a bit. We let the golf get under way. We allowed the vibes to settle in, so to say, before heading back out. 

Here’s what was found: 

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— 4 p.m., and Conners’ 22-foot birdie putt on 11 registered a 101.6 number.  

— 4:03 p.m., and Conners and Hughes walking to 12 tee registered 89.3.

— 4:05 p.m., and Hughes’ tee shot registered 100.7 

— 4:23 p.m., and Finau’s tee shot on the par-3 13th (to 30 feet) registered 72.4. 

— 4:25 p.m., and Hughes tee shot on 13 (to 5 feet and a potential match victory) registered 96.4.

—  4:26 p.m., and the International’s walk-up to 13 registered 99.1. 

— 4:28 p.m., and Clark’s chip (to 4 feet) registered 92.1.

Before we get to what happened next, let’s share our conversation with Keith from Ontario, who’s Hughes’ best friend, and he’s holding a giant cardboard cut-out of Hughes.  

Yesterday, Taylor Pendrith and Tom Kim were a little critical — they said that the crowd was a little quiet. When you hear that, what’s your reaction?

“Today, maybe there’s a little bit more beer sales, I would say. Specifically here, with Mack and Corey together, it’s a double-whammy. We’re part of Mack’s family. I think yesterday with how it went, score-wise, they knew they needed to come out and pull up their socks, and I think the crowd did too. Everyone knew it needed to get amped up a little bit, and these guys are doing their part.” 

A couple hundred yards ahead, the author then caught up to Jerry and Silvie, who are from New Brunswick. 

Yesterday, Taylor Pendrith and Tom Kim mentioned that the crowd was a little quiet. When you hear that, what’s your first reaction? 

Said Jerry: “Well, we’re in Canada, people should be a little louder. I wasn’t here yesterday — I was watching it on TV — but he’s right. I don’t think they were as loud as they should be. Today’s a little louder. Hopefully, hope for the best.” 

Said Silvie: “Canadians are usually pretty passionate.” 

The Mackenzie Hughes winner 

On 13, after Clark’s chip, came perhaps the biggest moment of Friday. Hughes, in front of his home-country fans, dropped the match-winner, and the Internationals won their third match of the day. On our reader, the reaction registered at 103.8.

A few minutes later, we found Cooper from Michigan, who was wearing a T-shirt with Im’s face on it and he was carrying a South Korean flag. 

Yesterday, Taylor Pendrith and Tom Kim mentioned that the crowd noise was a little quiet. When I tell you that, what’s your reaction?

“I feel like it’s all a momentum thing. I wasn’t here yesterday, so it’s hard for me to give super, in-depth analysis. But based on what I saw and what I read, it just feels like a momentum thing. From right from the get-go. Sungjae and Hideki won the first, they were up two after two holes, and I think it just kind of spiraled. It’s really dejecting to see a lot of read up on the board. And then vice-versa for the Americans. I feel like a lot of it is just a momentum thing. And it’s golf. Sungjae was the worst player on the course yesterday, and today — I haven’t looked at the stats — probably he was the best. I mean, he played amazing today. The crowd, it’s just hard to — I mean, it’s a lot easier to root when you’re up five to zip. But it’s been a lot of fun. This atmosphere is a lot better than what I was expecting. Way better.”

The Si Woo Kim winner  

On 18 came maybe the day’s second-biggest scene. Si Woo Kim rolled in a 15-footer, Kim and An won their match 1-up, and the Internationals won all five of Friday’s matches. The cheer recorded a 107.4 number.

Which begged one more question, as play heads to Saturday with the sides even at 5-5, behind noise that registered just over a “construction site”:

What did Tom Kim think of the Montreal folks now?  

“They were unbelievable today. They definitely brought it. Obviously these guys had to go out and play. I sat out, but the crowd, I think, plays a huge role.

“I think the reason why we were able to play so good today, other than these guys going out and performing, was our fans backed us up. I think that gives you momentum, that gives you energy. Just they played a huge factor in our win today.”

“As a follow-up to Corey [Conners] and Mac [Mackenzie Hughes], obviously you guys had a lot of attention. What did it mean to you to hear ‘O Canada’ on basically every hole, especially the 1st hole and your final hole?”

“Like Tom said. today the fans really brought it,” Hughes said. “We felt that from the get-go. Corey mentioned that the 1st tee felt a lot different today than it did yesterday. Just electric all day.

“I joked to Corey on No. 2 tee, I said how many times will we hear ‘O Canada’ today? What was the over-under? Starting basically at 1 hole, maybe fell just shy, but unbelievable day. The atmosphere was buzzing from the get-go.

“It obviously helped that a few guys went out early and got some leads. Then Corey and I got out there and got the lead as well. It just felt like the momentum was really infectious. You hear the cheers around the golf course, and you knew which cheers were for which team, which was really cool today.

“I said after my match, it felt like the crowd really pulled us through those matches. We need more of that the rest of the week.”