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 Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematic ...

owned by the NBC Sports Group division of

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primar ...

, 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 Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% f ...

, 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 202 ...

. The channel focuses on coverage of the sport of

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, including live coverage of tournaments, as well as factual and instructional programming. It is the cable television rightsholder of the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of week ...

, and PGA European Tour, and also holds rights to selected USGA tournaments and the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

golf championships. Since 2016, it has also participated in NBC's coverage of the Summer Olympics, focusing on its

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. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

. 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 Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

, 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 Gallup, Inc. is an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. Founded by George Gallup in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide. Starting in the 1980s, Gallup transitioned its ...

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,

Continental Cablevision MediaOne Group, Inc. (Comcast MO Group, Inc.) was created by US WEST Inc, one of the original Baby Bells Regional Bell Operating Companies, acquisition of Boston-based Continental Cable and combined with its previously acquired Atlanta-based Wom ...

, Newhouse, and the

Times Mirror Company The Times Mirror Company was an American newspaper and print media publisher from 1884 until 2000. History It had its roots in the Mirror Printing and Binding House, a commercial printing company founded in 1873, and the ''Los Angeles Times'' ...

) 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 Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...

. 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 channe ...

acquired a minority stake in the channel for $50 million. From 1999 to 2001, Golf Channel would hold part of the

'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 Ma ...

(FSN) to air

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...

s 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. Th ...

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 & Me ...

, to minority owner

, 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 Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...

, 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 ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

and

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madi ...

. 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 scree ...

high definition channel featuring programming from Golf Channel and sister network Versus. 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 The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...

from

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...

. As a result of the re-alignment of Comcast's existing properties into NBC Universal, Golf Channel and sister sports network Versus 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 ...

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 Golf telecasts have aired on NBC since 1954, with some of its earliest telecasts having included the 1954 U.S. Open, and the first televised coverage of the Ryder Cup in 1959. Presently, NBC televises around 8 PGA Tour events per-season, alte ...

", 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 took over as the network's new head. The network also adopted an amended logo featuring the

NBC peacock The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ar ...

. 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 __notoc__ A wordmark, word mark, or logotype, is usually a distinct text-only typographic treatment of the name of a company, institution, or product name used for purposes of identification and branding. Examples can be found in the graphic iden ...

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 The NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, played in late May or early June, is the top annual competition in U.S. men's collegiate golf. The teams that win their respective Division I conference championships are given automatic spots in th ...

. 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 The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later t ...

beginning in 2017 under a 12-year deal; after former broadcaster

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 of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

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 The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the major championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the most prestigious tournaments in golf. Historically, the national open and amateur championships of Great Britain a ...

. 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 ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

, 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 The Sony Open in Hawaii is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, and is part of the tour's FedEx Cup Series. It has been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, since the event's modern-day inception as the Hawaiian ...

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 ...

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

, 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 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 to programming prim ...

(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

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

, 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 PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many year ...

and

Korn Ferry 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. ...

events. Outside of events organized by the PGA Tour, Golf Channel also carries coverage of the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fi ...

, and

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf tour in Asia except for Japan, which has its own Japan Golf Tour, which is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on the tour count for Wo ...

. 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 The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

(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 regardle ...

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

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 The Solheim Cup is a biennial golf tournament for professional women golfers contested by teams representing Europe and the United States. It is named after the Norwegian-American golf club manufacturer Karsten Solheim, who was a driving force ...

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 regardle ...

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

and

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk s ...

), and as part of NBC's " Championship Sunday" effort to televise all matches on the final matchday of the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

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 David William Feherty (born 13 August 1958) is a former professional golfer and current golf broadcaster. As a touring professional he won five European Tour events, competed at the Open Championship twice (1989 and 1994), and played on Europe' ...

'' *''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 *Blair O'Neal * Bob Papa *

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 ESPN on ABC, ABC Sports where he won 11 Sports Emmy Awards. Early life and career Rober ...

*Amy Rogers * Steve Sands *George Savaricas *

Kathryn Tappen Kathryn Tappen (born April 9, 1981) is an American sportscaster. Tappen works on NBC Sports Group's coverage of the Notre Dame Football, '' Football Night in America'', Golf, as well as the Summer and Winter Olympic Games among others. Early li ...

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 anno ...

* Whit Watson

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 Sport ...

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, stan ...

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, a ...

Curt Byrum Curt Allen Byrum (born December 28, 1958) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. He is the older brother of PGA Tour golfer Tom Byrum. Byrum was born and raised in Onida, South Dakota. He learne ...

* Brandel Chamblee * Gary Christian *

Kay Cockerill Kay Cockerill (born October 16, 1964 in San Jose, California) is an American golfer. Amateur and college career She won the U.S. Women's Amateurs in 1986 and 1987. As a non-scholarship player at UCLA she had six individual wins from 1983 to 198 ...

* John Cook * Jim Gallagher Jr. * Trevor Immelman * Tripp Isenhour *

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 * Billy Kratzert *

Justin Leonard Justin Charles Garrett Leonard (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional golfer. He has twelve career wins on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1997 Open Championship. Early years Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Leonard graduated ...

* Jim "Bones" Mackay * 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 titles ...

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 Morgan Pressel (born May 23, 1988) is an American professional golfer and golf commentator who played on the LPGA Tour. In 2001, as a 12-year-old, she became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open. She was the 2005 American Ju ...

* 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 William Thomas Andrade (born January 25, 1964) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Champions Tour. He was previously a member of the PGA Tour, where he was a four-time winner. Early life Andrade was born in Bri ...

(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 * Ryan Burr (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, Flor ...

Beth Daniel Beth Daniel (born October 14, 1956) is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1979 and won 33 LPGA Tour events, including one major championship, during her career. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fa ...

(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 W ...

David Feherty David William Feherty (born 13 August 1958) is a former professional golfer and current golf broadcaster. As a touring professional he won five European Tour events, competed at the Open Championship twice (1989 and 1994), and played on Europe' ...

(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 *Peter Kessler (1995–2002) * Erik Kuselias (2011–2012) * Ann Liguori *

Nancy Lopez Nancy Marie Lopez (born January 6, 1957) is an American former professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won 48 LPGA Tour events, including three major championships. Amateur career Lopez won the New Mexico Women's ...

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- ...

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, Texas ...

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 John Laurence Miller (born April 29, 1947) is an American former professional golfer. He was one of the top players in the world during the mid-1970s. He was the first to shoot 63 in a major championship to win the 1973 U.S. Open, and he ran ...

(2011–2019) *Jennifer Mills (1995–2006) *

Frank Nobilo Frank Ivan Joseph Nobilo (born on 14 May 1960) is a professional golfer from New Zealand. Nobilo had a successful playing career, winning 14 pro tournaments around the world. He was at his peak during the mid-1990s when he also produced strong ...

(2004-2019) * Peter Oosterhuis (1995–2014) * Phil Parkin (2006–2015) * Dottie Pepper (2005–2012) * Judy Rankin (2010-2022) *

Ahmad Rashad Ahmad Rashad (born Robert Earl Moore; November 19, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former professional football player. He was the fourth overall selection of the 1972 NFL Draft, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was known as Bobby Mo ...

(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 cha ...

(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 A ...

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 Scott Van Pelt (born ) is an American sportscaster and sports talk show host. He co-anchored the 11 p.m. edition of ''SportsCenter'' on ESPN, served as the co-host of '' SVP & Russillo'' alongside Ryen Russillo on ESPN Radio, and hosts various ...

(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 broadcast ...

. While it mostly airs the American feed, live events coverage is subject to blackouts due to TSN 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 JJB Sports plc was a British sports retailer. On 24 September 2012, shares in JJB Sports were suspended, and the firm called in administrators. On 1 October 2012, it was announced that Sports Direct had purchased part of the business, includ ...

, 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 ...

by Comcast in late-2018, NBC Sports properties have begun to increase their collaboration with

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

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.

Golf Channel Latin America

The Latin American version of the Golf Channel was launched in 2006 as a

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...

joint venture, and was acquired from

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 Discove ...

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