The Golf Channel

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The Golf Channel

Launched	January 17, 1995
Owned by	Comcast
Website	thegolfchannel.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 605
Dish Network	Channel 401
Sky Digital (UK)	Channel 423
Cable
Verizon FiOS	Channel 305
Comcast	Channels Vary
Time Warner Cable	Channels Vary
Charter	Channels Vary
Cox	Channels Vary
IO Digital Cable (Cablevision)	Channel 410
Bright House Networks	Channels Vary
Shaw Digital TV	Channel 144
TELUS TV	Channel 116

The Golf Channel, sometimes abbreviated as TGC, is an American cable television network with coverage focused on the game of golf. It was launched on January 17, 1995. The idea of a 24-hour-a-day golf network came from media entrepreneur Joseph E. Gibbs of Birmingham, Alabama, who first got the idea for the channel in 1991. Gibbs felt there was enough interest in golf among the public to support such a network, and commissioned a Gallup Poll to see if his instincts were right. They were, and Gibbs and legendary golfer Arnold Palmer then secured $80 million, which helped them found The Golf Channel. The first live tournament the channel televised was the Dubai Desert Classic, held from January 19 to 22, 1995.

The Golf Channel features a range of golf programming, including PGA TOUR, European Tour, LPGA Tour, Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour, Canadian Tour, and PGA Tour of Australasia events. It also covers USGA and PGA of America tournaments. The channel devotes considerable time to news coverage of golf, including a nightly program, Golf Central, a post-tournament program, the Sprint Post Game and College Central, devoted to college golf. There are highlight shows of past tournaments, and a reality television competition show, The Big Break, whose premise is to help aspiring professionals gain exemptions into PGA Tour and LPGA events. In 2005, The Golf Channel helped set up a special matchplay event called Big Stakes Golf, in which teams of two paid a $100,000 entry fee to play in a special tournament where the winning team split a $3,000,000 first-place prize, the largest in golf history. In the end, mini-tour professionals Garth Mulroy and David Ping won the grand prize.

The Golf Channel is available in the United States, Canada and a few nations in Asia through cable, satellite, and wireless transmissions. There is also a version of the network for Great Britain, which shows most of the same programming as the American version.

The American headquarters and studio is located in Orlando, Florida.

On January 11, 2006, it was announced that The Golf Channel would become the exclusive cable home of the PGA Tour in 2007, excluding the majors. This means that The Golf Channel will be the exclusive broadcaster of the Mercedes Championships, the Sony Open in Hawaii and the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, as well as all of the tournaments following THE TOUR Championship. TGC will also broadcast the first and second rounds of the other tournaments, which will air on either CBS or NBC. [1]

1 Golf Channel programs
2 The Golf Channel on-air talent
3 See Also
4 External links

[edit] Golf Channel programs

There are two weekly blocks of programming: "Your Game Night," on Mondays, and "Top Shelf Wednesday." Shows in these blocks are noted in parentheses.

A Golf Channel Profile
Bank of America Leaderboard Report
Champions Tour Learning Center ("Your Game Night")
College Central
Drive, Chip & Putt
Golf Central
Golf Channel Workshop
Golf Fitness Academy ("Your Game Night")
Golf Talk (on hiatus)
Golf With Style!
IBM's Playing Lessons with the Pros ("Your Game Night")
Inside the PGA TOUR
Live From...
Natural Golf Makeover Challenge
PGA TOUR Classics, also known as Golf Channel Classics (both on "Top Shelf Wednesday")
Personal Lessons (Rocco Mediate, Brad Faxon, Raymond Floyd, Kathy Whitworth & Tony Jacklin)
Peter and Friends
Peter Jacobsen Plugged In
Quest for the Card
Shell's Wonderful World of Golf
Sprint Pre & Post Game
The Big Break
Golf Channel Academy
- Golf Channel Academy Live (both are on "Your Game Night")
The Golf Channel Cinema ("Top Shelf Wednesday")
The Grey Goose 19th Hole ("Top Shelf Wednesday",
What's In The Bag?
Yoga for Golfers

[edit] The Golf Channel on-air talent

Programs talent appear on are in parentheses.

Tom Abbott (Golf Central UK)
Matt Adams (Business Reporter)
Adam Barr (What's in the Bag?, Golf Central Business Reporter)
Laura Baugh (LPGA course reporter)
Casey Bierer (Golf Central Business Reporter)
Grant Boone (LPGA & Nationwide Tour play-by-play)
Michael Breed (Nationwide Tour course reporter)
Billy Ray Brown (Champions Tour course reporter)
Steve Burkowski (Golf Central reporter)
Curt Byrum (Nationwide Tour analyst)
Donna Caponi (Champions Tour course reporter)
Vince Cellini (Golf Central and The Big Break III and IV and V and VI)
Brandel Chamblee (Golf Central, Sprint Post Game analyst)
Kay Cockerill (LPGA and Nationwide Tour course reporter)
Beth Daniel (LPGA analyst}
Charles Davis (Grey Goose 19th Hole analyst)
Dougie Donnelly (European Tour play-by-play)
Steve Duemig (Grey Goose 19th Hole analyst)
Nick Faldo (Lead Analyst, PGA Tour Coverage}
Jerry Foltz (PGA and Nationwide Tours course reporter, Quest for the Card)
Inga Hammond (Golf Central, The Approach w/ Callaway Golf, Golf Central updates)
Brian Hammons (Golf Central and Champions Tour play-by-play)
Brian Hewitt (Golf Channel insider)
Warren Humphreys (European Tour analyst)
Rosie Jones (LPGA Tour On-Course Reporter)
Kraig Kann (Golf Central, Sprint Pre-Game, Sprint Post-Game)
Renton Laidlaw (European Tour play-by-play)
Rich Lerner (Golf Central, Live From..., PGA Tour interviewer)
Mark Lye (Golf Central, Champions Tour course reporter)
Andrew Magee (The Approach w/ Callaway Golf, Sprint Post Game analyst)
John Mahaffey (Champions Tour course reporter)
David Marr III (Champions Tour Play-by-Play and interviewer, Champions Tour Learning Center)
Scott McCarron (Live From the Masters)
Rocco Mediate (PGA Tour On-Course Reporter)
Alex Miceli (The Approach w/ Callaway Golf)
Tina Mickelson (The Golf Channel Academy and Drive, Chip & Putt)
Frank Nobilo (Sprint Post Game, Live From... and Champions Tour analyst)
Peter Oosterhuis (Sprint Post Game)
Iain Page (Golf Central)
Dottie Pepper (Golf Central, Sprint Post Game, Live From..., LPGA analyst, PGA Tour On-Course Reporter)
Mike Ritz (Golf Central)
Katherine Roberts (The Turn health expert)
Mark Rolfing (Golf Hawaii, Champions Tour Play-by-Play, PGA Tour On-Course Reporter)
Tim Rosaforte (Sprint Pre-Game analyst)
Steve Sands (Golf Central)
Brandi Seymour (Nationwide & LPGA Tour Interviewer)
Val Skinner (LPGA course reporter)
Stephanie Sparks (The Big Break III, IV, V & VI, Golf Central updates)
Stina Sternberg {Golf With Style!, The Turn equipment reporter}
Kelly Tilghman (Golf Central, PGA Tour Play-By-Play Host)
Julian Tutt (European Tour play-by-play and On-Course Reporter)
Megan West (Golf Central and College Central)