[Adam Clayman]

present Golf on television, if you were hired to be the producer?

What innovations would you bring to the tableau?

Would you accentuate the architecture? Give credit to the designer more than once a weekend?

What?

[Mike_Young]

More aerial views of the player's swing and ball direction

no need to discuss architecture anymore so than at a football game or baseball game...the average fan just doesn't care.

mic some of the caddies

split screen...

ground view of putts rolling as well as aerial....

JMO

[Alex Miller]

Drones. Or, you know, those little helicopters that can be remotely controlled. I understand they may make a little noise, so here's what I propose.

If there is a featured group (which there often is), send the shottracker guy ahead with a drone so they can launch and give the viewer a never-before-seen view as the drone travels along the ideal path of the golf shot for the player. Obviously it can't fly right up to the green where the next group is putting, but maybe bring it to the top of the path the ball would fly on and zoom in on the green.

This would, IMO, be way cooler than the computer models and pre-recoded helicopter fly-by's. These guys could also be used while shots aren't being hit inside the ropes to provide a new perspective for the viewers. I don't know if it would accentuate the architecture, but I know there are countless courses that aren't adequately captured via camera towers behind the green.

[Jeff Tang]

I'd like to see more shots from ground level where you can actually see the flight of the ball relative to the ground and where it's at.  I hate watching a broadcast where they zoom in on a ball in mid-air where you can only see the ball and the sky and have no idea where it's going until it gets low enough where you can see the hole again.

[Chris Mavros]

I'd like to see more shots from ground level where you can actually see the flight of the ball relative to the ground and where it's at.  I hate watching a broadcast where they zoom in on a ball in mid-air where you can only see the ball and the sky and have no idea where it's going until it gets low enough where you can see the hole again.

Agree with this.  It's useless when you see a player swing, then the close up of his face, then the ball in the air until it lands.  The ground level shot behind the player or showing the shot parallel to it is so much better.  

I would mention the particular architectural challenges of the course more.  When the 17th at Sawgrass is the most talked about course feature, there's a lot more to explore to bring in the average viewer.  

[Carl Johnson]

How much money do I have to spend?

[Joe Bausch]

I'd like to see more shots from ground level where you can actually see the flight of the ball relative to the ground and where it's at.  I hate watching a broadcast where they zoom in on a ball in mid-air where you can only see the ball and the sky and have no idea where it's going until it gets low enough where you can see the hole again.

Ding ding ding!  We have a winner.

The European tour does a better job of showing fairway shots from ground level behind the player and you can sort of see the shape of the shot.

Why USA telecasts are focused on zooming in on the flight of the golf ball amazes me.  Can you imagine if baseball did the same thing?  How dumb would that be proclaimed?

[Carl Nichols]

The lowest-cost thing I'd do is spend more time on shots and less time on putts. 

[BHoover]

More golf, less commercials and talking heads.

[Will Lozier]

Shot-tracker on every shot with ground level or behind cameras.  

[Pat Burke]

Tape the first 12-13 holes, go to live for the remaining.
Before cutting to live, have a chance to define and recognize
the storie(s) developing.  
With the ability to edit on the fly, a lot of fluff can be lost.

[RJ_Daley]

I also agree with the waste of time of the ball against the sky shots and the greater value and enjoyment of the tracer technology.  All in all, I think the hole graphics and aerial views of the hole corridors are pretty good these days.  I like Pat's idea of pretaping the earlier action (they do to some extent) and then keying in on the real action or drama of the competition as it unfolds in the latter holes.  Obviously that works even better on the Sunday round.  

I think the pounding down our throats the Tiger effect when he is on the course, showing too much of him, particularly when he isn't even in the hunt to win, is just hurting the marketing of the game, and opposite of what they seem to be trying to do, sell the game and sell more merch.  I think the sport would be more compelling to watch if they did focus on the competition and shot making than the cult of personality.

At the end of the day however, the TV execs and producers know what they have to do to appeal to the golf TV consumer, and that means playing the personality-celebrity game, emphasizing the prodigious length of drives, and how much the sponsors give to charities, the fluff stories and idyllic golf courses, which leads to selling more golf resort travel, more beer and boner pills.  

[Alex Cameron]

I agree with those who have written that more coverage should allow the viewer to follow the ball flight. Ideally, almost all shots would be seen as though you were playing (or at least walking) alongside the group being telecast, with a cut to the green after the ball has landed.

From a technical standpoint this shouldn't be very difficult - we've had the ability to make a hockey puck glow for over a decade, and the approach used for shot tracker (just an algorithm that follows pixels attributable to the ball) could be converted into a trackable ball.

[Joe Leenheer]

Helmet....err...hat cam.

Cup cam....looking up at the player....maybe just on 18.

More cameras built into the course like when they do it in the bunkers for the Open Championship.  Maybe just in front of teeing area.

Allow players to be interviewed when they make the turn...kind of like a football coach at halftime....imagine the commentary you could get after a double on the 9th  

How about mini blimps instead of drones...that would be quiet enough right?

[Ronald Montesano]

Enforcers, like they have in the NHL. Golf needs fighting.

Nature target practice. If a golfer randomly goes Tripp Isenhour and hits the animal (bird, deer, gator, whatever) he has three strokes whacked from his card.

Distraction conquest points. Encourage streakers to come zipping along the fairways and greens. If the player manages to maintain composure and execute the shot, two strokes are saved.

Dress In The Dark feature: golfers close their eyes and choose a shirt from one bin and pants from another. There can be no way that the two would ever match. Golfer then selects two mismatched shoes and is off for a fun round. Bonus strokes saved for adding a Minnie Pearl hat.

[RJ_Daley]

Dress In The Dark feature: golfers close their eyes and choose a shirt from one bin and pants from another. There can be no way that the two would ever match. Golfer then selects two mismatched shoes and is off for a fun round. Bonus strokes saved for adding a Minnie Pearl hat.

Havve you seen the Pittsburg Steelers or Packers throw-back uniforms? 

[Rich Goodale]

Drones. Or, you know, those little helicopters that can be remotely controlled. I understand they may make a little noise, so here's what I propose.

If there is a featured group (which there often is), send the shottracker guy ahead with a drone so they can launch and give the viewer a never-before-seen view as the drone travels along the ideal path of the golf shot for the player. Obviously it can't fly right up to the green where the next group is putting, but maybe bring it to the top of the path the ball would fly on and zoom in on the green.

This would, IMO, be way cooler than the computer models and pre-recoded helicopter fly-by's. These guys could also be used while shots aren't being hit inside the ropes to provide a new perspective for the viewers. I don't know if it would accentuate the architecture, but I know there are countless courses that aren't adequately captured via camera towers behind the green.

Great idea, Alex!

I would just add that the drones should be armed.  Not with live ammo, of course, but with rubber bullets and loudspeakers to let the slow players and cheaters know that we are watching them and are not happy.  I'm sure that if Keeegan Bradley or Jim Furyk had a rubber bullet or two aimed at their buttocks when they rock forward and backward and forward and backward they'd clean up their routines/acts.  Also if Tiger or Monty were observed by the drone hitting their balls from the wrong place, it could blast music down at them, Noreiga-style, until they moved their balls back to where they should be.....

Rich

[Thomas Dai]

Some highly amusing ideas above.

When we see TV golf we normally only see the players in the feature groups or those at the top of the leader-board so what we usually see is great shots and putts being holed from everywhere. I'd like to see an event focussing on the players at the back of the field, guys really grinding to make a score and make the cut, screw-ups and bad shots as well as good. Might need a 'bleep' machine but it would give a different perspective on the pro-tour game. Wishful thinking though, don't see it happening.

All the best

[Sean Remington (SBR)]

    Really like most of the suggestions so far.   Somebody mentioned a mic on the Caddy.   Along with that idea how about a Hat Cam.  Put a small camera on the hat of either the caddy or the player.  It would be interesting to see what they see.

[Phil Lipper]

I think they need to show more Tiger and Phil especially when they are not on the leaderboard.
Seriously I think the networks do a great job with their coverage, I wish all the coverage was more like the Masters, but thats not realistic.

[Adam Clayman]

Phil, You must be on the younger side. Us old farts think the network coverage is mind-numbingly terrible.

Back in the day, camera shots moved quickly from player to player. Stimulating both the eye and the golfer/viewer's fix, to see as much golf as possible and sometimes an occasional foozle.

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