Has Fox Sports channel done the game of golf some good!

[Scott McWethy]

I just looked over this article:

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/articles/2018/04/fox-sports-to-air-more-than-150-hours-of-live-usga-championship-.html

There are so many tournaments that normally wouldn't be televised that I can't wait to see on an HDTV.  Chicago Golf Club, Quaker Ridge, Shinnecock, etc.

I wonder if some of these tournaments would get much coverage at all if it weren't for Fox Sports.  A lot of great golf coverage coming our way with some of this years venues.

[Cal Seifert]

I wish the last walker cup had more than 3 minutes of replays uploaded to youtube.  Other than that the Fox coverage was excellent.

[Tom_Doak]

Of course, Fox Sports was forced to do this under the terms of their contract to televise the U.S. Open.  I doubt they offered extra money to get the rights to the others.

[WilliamN]

Of course, Fox Sports was forced to do this under the terms of their contract to televise the U.S. Open.  I doubt they offered extra money to get the rights to the others.

Yes, but ...


1. They’ve brought back coverage of the Mid-Am.  I loved watching the 2016 finals and was disappointed they didn’t televise last year.  Suggests Fox has some flexibility in terms of which championships they cover.  It’s a shame they missed out last year as Parziale was such a great story and I suspect that has something to do with the return.  (Overall, the press release says “150 hours of live coverage” vs. last year’s “140 hours” - so I’ll take that as a positive)


2. They also had Gil Hanse in the booth.  Did not think they used him as well as I would have liked, but what a treat to have that perspective for the golf nerds


Overall, Fox has been innovative with their coverage and while it is taking some getting used to - they’ve put some pressure on CBS (and to a lesser extent NBC) to innovate on their coverage of other events.  That is also a good thing!

[Steve Lang]

  Kudos really go to Rolex.

"Beginning in 2018, Rolex will be the exclusive presenting partner of coverage for eight USGA championships, including the U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Amateur. Rolex’s commitment will allow an uninterrupted broadcast of these championships, providing fans hours of continuous live action."

I guess its all about time.

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

One thing I've enjoyed from Fox was the Fox tracker, which captured more shots of the golf course. I cant stand telecast's over saturation of watching putts all the time. Rarely do I get any appreciation of the course staring at green turf that could be from anywhere.

[Scott McWethy]

One thing I've enjoyed from Fox was the Fox tracker, which captured more shots of the golf course. I cant stand telecast's over saturation of watching putts all the time. Rarely do I get any appreciation of the course staring at green turf that could be from anywhere.

Ryan, agree with you 100%.  I remember watching the Walker Cup when it was held at Royal County Down some years ago.  I was really looking forward to it, but it was more of a highlight package where 80% of the coverage was putting.  I really wanted to see the golf course, but mainly just saw the greens.  I can't remember who broadcast it, but thought it was a piss poor job for such an important event.  It looks like with Fox's coverage, it is many more hours so hoping to see some nice drone footage of the golf courses.  I thought Fox did a fantastic job at the Walker Cup last year at LACC.  I understand that they can't give major coverage of some of these smaller tournaments but do hope that they highlight the golf courses and not just the participants putting on the greens.