branding their 17-hour coverage window “golf’s longest day,”
golf channel takes on its most ambitious project yet: attempting to offer live reporting from today’s 11 u.s. open sectional
qualifying sites. the idea to embed a reporter at each venue,
along with golf channel staffers at the olympic club and in
far hills, n.J., to cover the inevitable rules queries, started in
earnest with longtime golf central producer matthew hegarty
and was championed by former Golf World editor-in-chief geoff
russell, gc’s executive editor. more importantly, the resources
were provided by parent company nbc with a supportive
usga providing access to key staff members. the plan calls
for the network to provide scoring updates throughout the day,
surrounded by an expanded episode of morning drive and
three golf centrals to capture the spirit of what is annually the
american game’s most democratic day. thanks to cell phone
technologies like liveu—which eliminates the need for uplink
trucks—fans will get firsthand insight into how their buddies or
friends-of-friends or favorite tour players are doing in the quest
to reach the u.s. open. any golf fan who has been through
the wars of trying to locate information during past sectional
mondays will forgive any of the inevitable hiccups that come
with trying to juggle live reporting from so many locations. golf
channel deserves kudos for so audaciously attempting to serve
the needs of hardcore fans and viewers starved for updates on
golf’s ultimate reality show: u.s. open qualifying. —G.S.
08golf’s ultimate reality show
michael cohen/getty images
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