Last month, an A-list of PGA Tour luminaries, including four of the world’s top-seven players, confirmed their participation in a Netflix golf series called Drive to Survive, which is comparable to Formula 1: Drive to Survive.
Chad Mumm and Paul Martin, two of the new series’ producers, visited the No Laying Up podcast on Wednesday to talk with host Chris Solomon about what viewers can anticipate from the show and how it compares (and differs) from the wildly popular Drive to Survive.
“We realized we couldn’t do a program about who won every race because that would just become a highlight show and everyone would know about it,” Martin, who is also an executive producer on Drive to Survive, explained. “As a result, we had to do something different and point the cameras in a different direction.” That show’s format grew out of being on the ground and in that world, and I believe this show will do the same.”
“The serious golf fan will undoubtedly be skeptical of this undertaking, but I think they’ll enjoy it,” Martin remarked. “We want to make this Marvel superhero universe where they all exist in this ecosystem and where, throughout the course of an episode, Spiderman or Iron Man will take center stage while the Hulk remains in the background.” The outcome of the tournament has no bearing on our story.”
The producers of the upcoming Netflix golf series, Chad Mumm and Paul Martin, join the pod to detail their plans for the show, securing participation, lessons learned from "Drive to Survive,” the stories they hope to tell, and more.
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With Drive to Survive, Martin highlighted how Formula 1 realized it wanted to reach a younger, “sexier audience,” and the PGA Tour, based on the players picked for the series, realized the same. Abraham Ancer, Daniel Berger, Cameron Champ, Joel Dahmen, Tony Finau, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, Harry Higgs, Max Homa, Viktor Hovland, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Kevin Na, Mito Pereira, Ian Poulter, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, and Bubba Watson are among the confirmed players (in alphabetical order).
“Our ultimate aim is to do Drive to Survive for golf,” Martin explained. “But it doesn’t mean we’re going to do everything we do in Formula One on a golf course.”
The Tour didn’t have anything to do with persuading players to sign up for the documentary; that was left up to the filmmakers. So, in 2019, Mumm flew to Augusta National for the Masters and carried a list of player agents along with their photos to make his introductions a little simpler. Fowler was the first to board, and Thomas was not far behind. After that, it was Champ and Finau’s turn.
“Just the fan in me is like, ‘Oh my God, this is better than I imagined right out of the gate,'” Mumm said, adding that he was shocked at how eager the players were to begin the process.
This docuseries may just be the insight into the world of professional golf that fans have been waiting for, with players, tours, and big tournaments — including the Masters – all involved.
