Golf Channel Ramps Up for 2010

With all of the press releases I’ve been posting today, all have come from the heavy hitters in sports media, ESPN, NBC, Fox, the NFL. Now, we have one from Golf Channel and the first PGA Tour stop of the season is this Thursday, believe it or not. Yes, golf is back and I do like watching live primetime golf especially when the tournaments are in Hawai’i and I’m in cold New England like now.

So here’s what’s on tap for Golf Channel this week.

2010 PGA TOUR Season Kicks off Thursday on GOLF CHANNEL

Cable Network Reveals New HD Studio Tonight, Golf Central airs at 6 p.m. ET

ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 4, 2010 — The 2010 PGA TOUR Season kicks off this week on GOLF CHANNEL with the SBS Championship in Maui. A field of 28 winners from the 2009 season will compete for a $5.6 million purse, featuring the four major champions from 2009 – Angel Cabrera (Masters), Lucas Glover (U.S. Open), Stewart Cink (Open Championship) and Y.E. Yang (PGA Championship). Seven of the top-10 players from the 2009 PGA TOUR Money List are scheduled to compete.

Live, HD coverage of the SBS Championship will air Thursday from 3:30-8 p.m. ET; Friday-Saturday from 6-10:30 p.m. ET and Sunday from 6-10 p.m. ET. 

Golf Central will unveil its new HD studio tonight at 6 p.m. ET, previewing the storylines heading into Thursday’s tournament action. Golf Central Pre Game will debut Thursday with a live, two-hour preview show starting at 1:30 p.m. ET, commencing from the network’s Orlando studios and on-site in Maui. Golf Central Pre Game will air at 5:30 p.m. ET Friday-Sunday with half-hour preview shows.

SBS Championship

Dates: Jan. 7-10

Venue: Plantation Course at Kapalua, Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii

Airtimes (Eastern):

Thursday         3:30 – 8 p.m. (Live) / 8:30 p.m. – 1 a.m. Replay

Friday              6 – 10:30 p.m. (Live) / 11 p.m. – 3:30 a.m. Replay

Saturday          6 – 10:30 p.m. (Live) / 11 p.m. – 3:30 a.m. Replay

Sunday            6 – 10 p.m. (Live) / 11 p.m. – 3 a.m. Replay

Golf Central Airtimes (Eastern):

Monday – Wednesday            6 – 6:30 p.m. (Live)

Thursday                                 8 – 8:30 p.m.  (Live)

Friday-Saturday                      10:30 – 11 p.m.  (Live)

Sunday                                    10 – 11 p.m. (Live)

GOLF CHANNEL Live Tournament Broadcast Team:

Rich Lerner (Show Host / Interviews)

Kelly Tilghman (Play by Play)

Nick Faldo (Lead Analyst)

Frank Nobilo (Tower)

Mark Rolfing (Tower)

Jerry Foltz (On Course)

Billy Ray Brown (On Course)

Steve Sands (Interviews)

Broadcast Notes: All four rounds of the SBS Championship will be produced and broadcast in high definition…AimPoint, GOLF CHANNEL’s Emmy-award winning graphics technology that predicts the break of a putt and suggests where a player must aim to hole out, will be used during the telecast on holes No. 15 and 18 at the Plantation Course….With the PGA TOUR’s new club grooves policy taking effect this week, GOLF CHANNEL analyst Nick Faldo will compare the groove changes by hitting shots out of the rough and around the green. Faldo also will re-create key shots from the 18^th hole throughout the week for the telecast.

Looking forward to seeing the kickoff to the Tour this week.