List of Golf Channel personalities
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Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American
sports television The broadcasting of sports events (also known as a sportscast) is the live coverage of sports as a television program, on radio, and other broadcasting media. It usually involves one or more sports commentators describing events as they happen. ...
network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of
Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC Sports' headquarters in
Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...
. The channel focuses on coverage of the sport of golf, including live coverage of tournaments, as well as factual and instructional programming. It is the cable television rightsholder of the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, and PGA European Tour, and also holds rights to selected USGA tournaments and the NCAA Division I golf championships. Since 2016, it has also participated in NBC's coverage of the Summer Olympics, focusing on its golf competitions. Via the Golf Channel unit, Comcast also owns other golf-related businesses, including the course reservation service GolfNow, online golf instruction provider Revolution Golf, and the World Long Drive Championship. Some of these associated properties operate from the network's former home of
Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...
. As of September 2018, Golf Channel is available to approximately 70.3 million pay television households (76.2% of households with cable) in the United States.


History

The idea of a 24-hour golf network came from media entrepreneur Joseph E. Gibbs of Birmingham, Alabama, who first thought of such a concept 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 correct. With the support of the polling behind him, Gibbs and legendary golfer Arnold Palmer then secured $80 million in financing from several cable television providers (including
Adelphia Communications Corporation Adelphia Communications Corporation was an American cable television company with headquarters in Coudersport, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1952 by brothers Gus and John Rigas after the pair purchased a cable television franchise for US$300. C ...
,
Cablevision Industries Spectrum is a trade name of Charter Communications, used to market consumer and commercial cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the company. The brand was first introduced in 2014; prior to that, these serv ...
,
Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
, Continental Cablevision, Newhouse, and the Times Mirror Company) to launch the network, which was among the first subscription networks developed to cover one singular sport. Announced in February 1993, the launch date was targeted for May 1994; and it was launched on January 17, 1995, with a ceremonial flip of the switch by co-founder Arnold Palmer. The first live tournament the channel televised was the Dubai Desert Classic, held January 19–22. Originally a premium channel with limited subscribers, it retooled in September 1995 to be part of basic-tier pay TV to reach more viewers and ratings rapidly increased. In 1996,
Fox Cable Networks Fox Networks Group (FNG) is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company that oversees international television assets that were acquired from 21st Century Fox. It produces and distributes more than 300 entertainment, film, sports and factual chan ...
acquired a minority stake in the channel for $50 million. From 1999 to 2001, Golf Channel would hold part of the PGA Tour's cable rights for early-round coverage. To boost their availability, Golf Channel reached an agreement with
Fox Sports Networks Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...
(FSN) to air simulcasts of the coverage. In 2002, Golf Channel lost its rights to the main PGA Tour, but gained rights to the developmental
Buy.com Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...
.


Acquisition by Comcast

In 2001, Fox sold its 30.9% stake in Golf Channel, as well as its stake in
Outdoor Life Network OLN (formerly Outdoor Life Network) is a Canadian English-language Category A specialty channel. OLN primarily broadcasts factual-based and adventure-related reality programming aimed at male audiences. OLN is wholly owned by Rogers Sports & ...
, to minority owner
Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
, as part of a larger transaction by Fox to acquire Comcast's stake in Speedvision. In December 2003, Comcast acquired the remaining 8.6% stake of Golf Channel it did not already own from the Tribune Company, giving it full ownership. In January 2007, Golf Channel became the exclusive cable broadcaster of the PGA Tour as part of a new 15-year contract, replacing ESPN and USA Network. The contract included early-round coverage of all official money events, and 13 events per-season carried exclusively by the network. By then, Golf Channel had carriage in 75 million homes. Concurrently, Comcast also launched Versus/Golf HD, a
1080i 1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the screen. ...
high definition High definition or HD may refer to: Visual technologies *HD DVD, discontinued optical disc format *HD Photo, former name for the JPEG XR image file format *HDV, format for recording high-definition video onto magnetic tape * HiDef, 24 frames-pe ...
channel featuring programming from Golf Channel and sister network
Versus Versus (Latin, 'against') may refer to: Film and television * ''Versus'' (2000 film), a Japanese zombie film * ''Versus'' (2016 film), a Russian sports drama film * ''Versus'' (2019 film), a French thriller film * Versus (TV channel), form ...
. Golf Channel programming was broadcast during the daytime hours, and Versus programming was broadcast during the evening and primetime hours. This arrangement ended in December 2008, when both networks launched their own 24-hour high-definition simulcasts. In March 2008, Comcast acquired the online golf reservation platform GolfNow. It was re-located to Golf Channel's headquarters in Orlando.


Merger with NBC Sports

In January 2011, Comcast acquired a 51% majority stake in NBC Universal from General Electric. As a result of the re-alignment of Comcast's existing properties into NBC Universal, Golf Channel and sister sports network
Versus Versus (Latin, 'against') may refer to: Film and television * ''Versus'' (2000 film), a Japanese zombie film * ''Versus'' (2016 film), a Russian sports drama film * ''Versus'' (2019 film), a French thriller film * Versus (TV channel), form ...
were subsumed by a restructured
NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
division. On-air synergies between NBC's existing production unit began to take effect in February 2011 at the WGC Match Play Championship, when NBC's golf telecasts took on the Golf Channel branding as " Golf Channel on NBC", in a similar manner to ESPN's co-branding of sports output on ABC. NBC Sports personalities could now appear on Golf Channel, and former NBC Sports senior vice president
Mike McCarley Mike McCarley is an American media executive and the founder and CEO of TMRW Sports, a company which he founded with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.  Previously, he was president of golf for the NBC Sports Group after leading marketing for NBC's Olym ...
took over as the network's new head. The network also adopted an amended logo featuring the NBC peacock. In December 2013, Golf Channel unveiled a new logo, implemented in May 2014 to coincide with the
2014 Players Championship The 2014 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the 41st Players Championship. Martin Kaymer opened with a 63, led after each round, an ...
. The new logo replaces the "swinging G" emblem that had been used since the network's launch with a wordmark alongside the NBC peacock. The new logo was meant to provide a unified brand across Golf Channel's associated properties and services. In 2014, Golf Channel acquired rights to the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship. In 2015, it also began to broadcast the
NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships The NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship, played in the month of May, is the annual competition in women's collegiate golf for individuals and teams from universities in Division I. Golf was one of twelve women's sports added to the NCAA cha ...
. In 2017, Golf Channel extended its rights to the tournaments through 2029. On June 8, 2015, it was announced that NBC Sports had acquired rights to The Open Championship beginning in 2017 under a 12-year deal; after former broadcaster ESPN opted out of the final year of rights, NBC began coverage in
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
instead. Early round coverage is aired by Golf Channel, which marked the first time ever that Golf Channel had ever broadcast one of the four Men's major golf championships. On May 3, 2016, NBC announced that Golf Channel would air the bulk of the men's and women's golf tournaments for the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
, covering up to 300 hours of the tourney, with 130 of those hours live. In 2016, Golf Channel acquired the World Long Drivers Association, organizer of the
World Long Drive Championships The World Long Drive Championship is an annual long drive competition in the sport of golf. It was first held in 1974, and since 2000 has comprised Open, Masters (over-45s) and Women's events. From 1995 to 2013, the events were sanctioned by the ...
; coverage of its events were subsequently added to the network. In 2017, Golf Channel acquired Revolution Golf, an online provider of golf instructional materials. Before the final round of the 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii tournament, Golf Channel production staged a walkout. In February 2019, Golf Channel announced a new subscription service known as GolfPass. The service will feature a variety of content, including a streaming library of archive content, instructional content, as well as special offers (such as credit for free round of golf per-year, and a premium tier offering additional discounts).
Rory McIlroy Rory Daniel McIlroy (born 4 May 1989) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who is a member of both the European and PGA Tours. He is the current world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, and has spent over 100 weeks in tha ...
will also be involved in the service, hosting new instructional content for GolfPass, as well as an autobiographical web series. In February 2020, it was reported that Golf Channel would consolidate its television operations with the remainder of NBC Sports at its facilities in
Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...
, in a move expected to occur over the next 12 to 18 months. The GolfNow and GolfPass services will continue to primarily operate from Orlando. With the move to Stamford, Golf Channel also ended its long-time morning show ''Morning Drive'', replacing it with the new midday show ''Golf Today'' from Stamford beginning January 4, 2021. In 2021, amid the renewal of NBC Sports' rights to the circuit, and the upcoming shutdown of long-time sister network
NBCSN NBCSN was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated t ...
(the former Versus), NBCUniversal began to put a greater emphasis on Golf Channel's rights to the PGA Tour. That November, it was announced that early-round coverage of the Open Championship, U.S. Open (which moved to Golf Channel after NBC re-acquired the rights to USGA tournaments in 2020), and their women's counterparts, would move to USA Network in 2022. At the
2022 Players Championship The 2022 Players Championship was the 49th Players Championship, held March 10–14 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. It was the 41st edition at the Stadium Course and concluded on Monday due to weather delays. The purse was increa ...
, Golf Channel adopted a special logo used on-air during PGA Tour telecasts and studio programming, which is co-branded with elements of the PGA Tour logo.


Programming


Event coverage

Golf Channel is the pay television rightsholder of the PGA Tour, broadcasting live coverage of early rounds, and early window coverage of weekend rounds prior to network television coverage. Some events (particularly, early-season events such as the former Fall Series, and alternate events held against majors) are broadcast in their entirety by the network. Golf Channel airs primetime encores of each round during PGA Tour events, including network television broadcasts from NBC or CBS where applicable. Golf Channel also broadcasts coverage of PGA Tour Champions and Korn Ferry Tour events. Outside of events organized by the PGA Tour, Golf Channel also carries coverage of the European Tour, LPGA Tour, and Asian Tour. Golf Channel was the cable broadcaster of two of the men's majors, including the U.S. Open and other USGA championships (since June 2020) and the Open Championship (since 2016, including their
women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
and senior men's events). In November 2021, it was announced that early round coverage of the U.S. Open, the Open Championship, the U.S. Women's Open, and the Women's British Open, would move to USA Network beginning in 2022. Since 2016, it participates in NBCUniversal's coverage of the Summer Olympics by covering its golf competitions. It has also carried coverage of the
Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...
and Solheim Cup alongside NBC, and the NCAA Division I Men's and
Women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
golf championships Since its integration with NBC Sports, Golf Channel has been infrequently used as an overflow channel for non-golf programming, including two games of the
2018 Stanley Cup playoffs The 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL). The playoffs began on April 11, 2018, after the 2017–18 regular season and concluded on June 7, 2018, with the Washington Capitals winning their fir ...
(due to programming conflicts with USA Network and CNBC), and as part of NBC's "
Championship Sunday Survival Sunday is a term used to refer to final day coverage of the Premier League in England. The phrase is primarily used by Sky Sports, when relegation places are still to be decided, and is used on all the adverts for the end of season footba ...
" effort to televise all matches on the final matchday of the Premier League soccer season.


News and analysis

*''
Golf Central ''Golf Central'' is Golf Channel's news program. It was launched in 1995, in the same year as the network it airs on. A nightly half-hour show, ''Golf Central'' features news and highlights from the major golf tours and events of the world, in add ...
'' *''Golf Today''


Factual and reality

*'' Feherty'' *''Golf's Greatest Rounds'' *'' Shotmakers''


Instructional

*''Golf Channel Academy'' *''PGA Tour Champions Learning Center'' *''Playing Lessons'' *''School Of Golf'' *''The Golf Fix''


Notable personalities

The Golf Channel uses a number of people for tournament, news and instructional programming.


Current personalities


Hosts and reporters

*
Tom Abbott Tom Abbott (born 7 December 1981 in London, England) is a broadcaster and sports commentator, best known for his work with The Golf Channel and NBC. He serves as a presenter and commentator for coverage of the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, and European To ...
*Matt Adams *Shane Bacon *Cara Banks *Grant Boone *Steve Burkowski *Vince Cellini * Kira K. Dixon *
Terry Gannon Terrance Patrick Gannon (born November 1, 1963, in Joliet, Illinois) is a sportscaster for NBC Sports and the Golf Channel, currently announcing golf, gymnastics, and figure skating. Gannon played basketball for North Carolina State University ...
*Damon Hack *Martin Hall * Dan Hicks *Rex Hoggard *Hailey Hunter *Anna Jackson *Ryan Lavner *Rich Lerner *Todd Lewis *
Eamon Lynch Eamonn or Éamon or Eamon may refer to: *Eamonn (given name), an Irish male given name *Eamon (singer) (born 1983), American R&B singer-songwriter and harmonicist * ''Eamon'' (video game), a 1980 computer role-playing game for the Apple II *"Éamon ...
*Blair O'Neal *
Bob Papa Robert L. Papa (born September 19, 1964) is an American sportscaster who is currently the radio play-by-play voice for the New York Giants of the National Football League. Papa also is the lead broadcaster for PGA Tour Champions events on Golf ...
*
Jimmy Roberts Jimmy Roberts (born 1957) is a sportscaster for NBC Sports. Roberts joined NBC in May 2000 after serving as a sports reporter for almost 12 years at ESPN and ABC Sports where he won 11 Sports Emmy Awards. Early life and career Roberts grew up in ...
*Amy Rogers * Steve Sands *George Savaricas * Kathryn Tappen *
Mike Tirico Mike Tirico (; born December 13, 1966) is an American sportscaster. He is currently the NFL play-by-play announcer on NBC's '' Sunday Night Football'', having replaced Al Michaels in 2022. From 2006 to 2015, Tirico served as a play-by-play an ...
*
Whit Watson Whit Watson (born 1971 in Winter Park, FL) is an American sportscaster. He currently works for Golf Channel, hired in August 2010. At Golf Channel, Watson is primarily assigned to Golf Central as a studio anchor, but also reports from the field a ...


Analysts

* Paul Azinger *
Notah Begay III Notah Ryan Begay III (born September 14, 1972) is a Native American professional golfer. He is one of the only Native American golfers to have played in the PGA Tour. Since 2013, Begay has served as an analyst with the Golf Channel and NBC Spor ...
*
Phil Blackmar } Philip Arnold Blackmar (born September 22, 1957) is an American professional golfer. He played on the PGA Tour from 1985 to 2000 and on the Champions Tour from 2007 to 2012. He was the tallest player on the PGA Tour during his time on tour, stand ...
*
Amanda Blumenherst Amanda Blumenherst (born November 4, 1986) is an American professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She was a three-time National Player of the Year at Duke University and won the U.S. Women's Amateur title in 2008. In 2013, sh ...
*
Billy Ray Brown William (Billy) Ray Brown (born April 5, 1963) is a former American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1980s and 1990s, and a current on course reporter for Golf Channel and commentator for CBS Sports. Brown was born, raised, ...
* Curt Byrum * Brandel Chamblee *
Gary Christian Gary John Christian (born 7 August 1971) is an English professional golfer who has played on the Web.com Tour and the PGA Tour. Christian was born in Carshalton, England. As a junior, he played golf at Addington Palace Golf Club, England. He pla ...
* Kay Cockerill * John Cook *
Jim Gallagher Jr. James Thomas Gallagher Jr. (born March 24, 1961) is an American professional golfer and sportscaster. Early life Gallagher was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. His father, a career club pro, started him in golf at age six. His sister, Jackie, ...
* Trevor Immelman *
Tripp Isenhour John Henry "Tripp" Isenhour III (born April 6, 1968) is an American professional golfer. Isenhour was born in Salisbury, North Carolina. He played college golf at Georgia Tech and turned professional in 1990. Isenhour played on the Nationwide T ...
*
Peter Jacobsen Peter Erling Jacobsen (born March 4, 1954) is an American professional golfer and commentator on Golf Channel and NBC. He has played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. He has won seven events on the PGA Tour and two events on the Champions ...
*
Gary Koch Gary D. Koch (born November 21, 1952) is an American professional golfer, sportscaster and golf course designer, who formerly played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Champions Tour. Early years Koch was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana ...
* Billy Kratzert * Justin Leonard *
Jim "Bones" Mackay Jim "Bones" Mackay (born May 8, 1965) is an American golf caddie and golf commentator. For 25 years, he was the caddie for Phil Mickelson. His nickname, "Bones", was created in 1990 when PGA Tour player Fred Couples couldn't remember the name of ...
* Paige Mackenzie * Roger Maltbie *
Arron Oberholser Arron Matthew Oberholser (born February 2, 1975) is an American professional golfer and an analyst and commentator for the Golf Channel. Career Oberholser attended San Jose State University. In 1996, as a junior, he won six college golf title ...
*
Craig Perks Craig William Perks (born 6 January 1967) is a professional golfer from New Zealand who won the 2002 Players Championship. Early life and amateur career Born and raised in Palmerston North, New Zealand, Perks played college golf in the United ...
* Morgan Pressel * Mark Rolfing *
Karen Stupples Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic la ...
* Lanny Wadkins * Mark Wilson *John Wood


Notable former personalities

* Brian Anderson * Billy Andrade (2010–2012) *Lara Baldesarra (2012–2013) *
Adam Barr Adam Barr is a television screenwriter and producer best known for his comedy credits including the hit NBC series ''Will & Grace''. In the early nineties he teamed up with best friend Peter Ocko, with whom he wrote 12 episodes of ''Parker Lewis ...
*
Michael Breed Michael S. Breed (born May 14, 1962, in Greenwich, Connecticut) is a professional golf instructor and television host. In 2003, he was selected as a Top 100 Instructor in America by ''Golf Magazine'', in 2011, he was voted one of the Top 50 Instru ...
*
Ryan Burr Ryan Burr (born March 17, 1978, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a sports television journalist. Burr worked for the NBC Sports Group from 2012 to 2021, with his duties mainly consisting of hosting all programs on Golf Channel and college basketball ...
(2012-2020) * Donna Caponi-Byrnes *Lisa Cornwell (2014-2020) *
Robert Damron Robert Douglas Damron (born October 27, 1972) is an American professional golfer, who has played on the PGA Tour. He is a studio analyst for the Golf Channel. Damron was born in Pikeville, Kentucky and raised there and later in Orlando, Florida ...
* Beth Daniel (2007–2010) * Charles Davis *
Steve Duemig Steve Duemig (November 26, 1954 – 16 May 2019) was an American sports media personality and had a daily local sports talk show on AM 620 WDAE in Tampa since 1996 which has been the #1 rated sports talk show in the area, and worked for AM 910 WF ...
* David Feherty (2011-2022) *
Jerry Foltz Jerry Foltz (born August 14, 1962) is an American former professional golfer and current commentator for the LIV Golf Invitational Series. He was formerly a long time commentator for the Golf Channel. Amateur career Foltz was born in Las Vegas, ...
(1999–2022) * Matt Gogel (2007-2021) * Jim Gray *Brian Hammonds (1995–2015) *
Kraig Kann Kraig Kann (born on May 3, 1966 in LaGrange, Illinois) is a former on-air personality on Golf Channel, former chief communications officer of the LPGA, and current Managing Director of Kann Advisory Group and Host on SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio.Golf Ch ...
(1995–2011) *
Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United State ...
*Peter Kessler (1995–2002) *
Erik Kuselias Erik Kuselias is an Emmy Award, Emmy award winning television and radio personality and host who currently works for CBS Sports, where he hosts “Sportsline” (the network’s show on sports wagering) and CBS Sports HQ. A Mensa International ...
(2011–2012) *
Ann Liguori Ann Liguori is a nationally known sports radio and television personality, talk show host, journalist, author, and television producer in the world of sports media. She was the first woman to host a call-in sports show on WFAN-New York, where sh ...
* Nancy Lopez *
Mark Lye Mark Ryan Lye (born November 13, 1952) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. Early life Lye was born in Vallejo, California. He attended San Jose State University, where he was a three-time All-A ...
*
Andrew Magee Andrew Donald Magee (born May 22, 1962) is an American professional golfer who played for more than 20 years on the PGA Tour. Magee was born in Paris, France, where his father, a Texas oil man, was working at the time. He grew up in Dallas, Texa ...
*
John Mahaffey John Drayton Mahaffey Jr. (born May 9, 1948) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments including 10 PGA Tour events. Mahaffey was born in Kerrville, Texas. He attended the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. He turn ...
(2004-2019) *Chantel McCabe * Win McMurry * Johnny Miller (2011–2019) *Jennifer Mills (1995–2006) * Frank Nobilo (2004-2019) *
Peter Oosterhuis Peter Arthur Oosterhuis (born 3 May 1948) is an English professional golfer and golf broadcaster. Oosterhuis played on the European circuit from 1969 to 1974, winning 10 tournaments and taking the Harry Vardon Trophy for heading the Order of Mer ...
(1995–2014) * Phil Parkin (2006–2015) *
Dottie Pepper Dottie Pepper (born August 17, 1965) is an American professional golfer and television golf broadcaster. From 1988 to 1995 she competed as Dottie Mochrie, which was her married name before a divorce. She won two major championships and 17 LPGA T ...
(2005–2012) *
Judy Rankin Judy Rankin ( Torluemke; born February 18, 1945) is an American professional golfer and golf broadcaster. A member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, she joined the LPGA Tour in 1962 at age 17 and won 26 tour events. Since 2010, Rankin has served a ...
(2010-2022) * Ahmad Rashad (2013) * Tim Rosaforte (2007–2019) * Charlie Rymer *Kristina Shalhoup *
Val Skinner Val Skinner (born October 16, 1960) is an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. Amateur career Skinner was born in Hamilton, Montana. She was the 1974 Nebraska Junior Girls champion and the 1976 Nebraska High School State ch ...
(2002–2013) *Holly Sonders (2011–2014) *
Stephanie Sparks Stephanie Sparks (born July 18, 1973) is a former on-air personality at The Golf Channel and a former golfer, whose best years in golf came as an amateur. Golfer Sparks was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. From 1992 to 1994, she played golf at D ...
(2000–2013) *
Brian Tennyson Brian Tennyson (born July 10, 1962) is a retired American golfer. Tennyson was born in Evansville, Indiana. He played college golf at Ball State University. He was twice named as an NCAA All-American in 1982 and 1983; in 1984, the Golf Coaches As ...
*
Lauren Thompson Lauren Brooke Frucci ( Thompson; born July 29, 1982) is an American television personality, print model and voiceover actor who worked for Golf Channel, mostly as a co-host on "Morning Drive", (from 2010–2020) the channel's daily morning show. S ...
(2008–2020) *
Kelly Tilghman Kelly Tilghman (born August 6, 1969, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina) is a former broadcaster for Golf Channel, and NBC Sports, and is the PGA Tour's first female lead golf announcer. On July 29, 2020, it was announced that Tilghman was hired by ...
*
Ted Tryba Ted Tryba (born January 15, 1967) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. Tryba was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He played at Ohio State University. When he was four years old, he lost ...
*
Bob Valvano Bob Valvano (born January 29, 1957) is a former college basketball coach and an American sportscaster based in Louisville, Kentucky. Television and coaching During the college-basketball season, he is the lead game analyst for ESPNRadio, and oc ...
* Scott Van Pelt (1995–2000) *Gary Williams (2011–2020)


Viewership

For the month of October 2013, Golf Channel averaged a daily viewership of 84,000.


International version


Canada

The Golf Channel is also available in Canada on most cable and satellite providers, as it is authorized for carriage as a foreign cable television service by the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
. While it mostly airs the American feed, live events coverage is subject to blackouts due to
TSN TSN may refer to: Science and technology * Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function * Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System * The Science Netwo ...
holding many of its broadcasting rights domestically.


Golf Channel UK

A British version of the channel called Golf Channel UK was operated by sporting goods retailer JJB Sports, and was available on the
BSkyB Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...
satellite service. It broadcast many of the programs seen on the U.S. channel, but was unable to attract a viable audience as it offered few live golf tournaments; the channel shut down on December 31, 2007. Since the acquisition of
Sky plc Sky Group Limited is a British media and telecommunications conglomerate, which is a division of Comcast, and headquartered in London. It has operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Sky is Europe's l ...
by Comcast in late-2018, NBC Sports properties have begun to increase their collaboration with Sky Sports for expanded coverage of relevant events; Golf Channel and Sky Sports Golf trialed on-air talent sharing and co-productions at the
2019 Players Championship The 2019 Players Championship was the 46th The Players Championship, Players Championship and was played March 14–17 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. It was the 38th edition held at the Stadium Course and the first in March in 20 ...
.


Golf Channel Latin America

The Latin American version of the Golf Channel was launched in 2006 as a DirecTV joint venture, and was acquired from DirecTV by former DirecTV executives Jason Markham and Evan Grayer together with Inversiones Bahia in 2018. The channel broadcasts professional tournaments from the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Latinoamérica, European Tour and LPGA Tour with Spanish-speaking journalists, as well as Golf Central and other English-language shows. In 2019,
Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...
bought the channel.Discovery acquires Golf Channel Latin America
- Golf Digest, 18 December 2019


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Golf Channel Golf in the United States Golf on NBC Golf on television English-language television stations in the United States Television channels and stations established in 1995 Companies based in Orlando, Florida Sports television networks in the United States