Again this week, I’ve amassed press releases in the Fang’s Bites inbox and I need to post a whole slew of them.
Let’s start with the tournaments Golf Channel is airing this week.
GOLF CHANNEL TOURNAMENT COVERAGE
Oct. 29- Nov. 1, 2009
Viking Classic
Dates: 10/29 – 11/1
Venue: Annandale Golf Club, Madison, Miss.
Airtimes (Eastern):
Thursday 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. (Live) / 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. (Replay)
Friday 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. (Live) / 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. (Replay)
Saturday 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. (Live) / 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. (Replay)
Sunday 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. (Live) / 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. (Replay)
GOLF CHANNEL Broadcast Team:
Rich Lerner (Play by Play)
Brandel Chamblee (Analyst)
Jerry Foltz (Tower)
Mark Lye (Tower)
Matt Gogel (On Course)
Inga Hammond (Interviews)
GOLF CHANNEL Broadcast Notes: The Viking Classic is the fourth of five events in the PGA TOUR’s Fall Series that will air exclusively on GOLF CHANNEL.
Charles Schwab Cup Championship
Dates: 10/29 – 11/1
Venue: Sonoma Golf Club, Sonoma, Calif.
Airtimes (Eastern):
Thursday 4:30 – 7 p.m. (Live) / 9:30 p.m. – Midnight (Replay)
Friday 4:30 – 7 p.m. (Live) / 9:30 – 11 p.m. (Replay)
Saturday 4:30 – 7 p.m. (Live) / 9:30 – 11 p.m. (Replay)
Sunday 4:30 – 7 p.m. (Live) / 9:30 p.m. – Midnight (Replay)
GOLF CHANNEL Broadcast Team:
Brian Hammons (Play by Play)
Frank Nobilo (Analyst)
Dave Marr III (Tower)
John Mahaffey (Tower)
Billy Ray Brown (On Course)
Donna Caponi-Byrnes (On Course)
Tim Rosaforte (Interviews)
GOLF CHANNEL Broadcast Notes: The Charles Schwab Cup Championship is the final event of 2009 Champions Tour season and features a 30-man field that will determine the winner of the Charles Schwab Cup and the $1 million annuity.
Volvo World Match Play Championship
Dates: 10/29 – 11/1
Venue: Finca Cortesin Golf Club, Malaga, Spain
Airtimes (Eastern):
Thursday 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Live)
Friday 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Live)
Saturday 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Live)
Sunday 9 a.m. – Noon (Live)
GOLF CHANNEL Broadcast Notes: The Volvo World Match Play Championship will feature some of the top players in the world such as Sergio Garcia, Anthony Kim, Paul Casey and Angel Cabrera… The tournament will air in HD.
Dates: 10/29 – 11/1
Venue: Serapong Course, Sentosa Golf Club, Sentosa, Singapore
Airtimes (Eastern):
Thursday 1 – 6 a.m. (Live) / 6 – 10 a.m. (Replay)
Friday 1 – 6 a.m. (Live) / 6 – 10 a.m. (Replay)
Friday 11 p.m. – 4 a.m. (Live) / 6 – 10 a.m. (Saturday)
Saturday 11 p.m. – 4 a.m. (Live) / 6 – 9 a.m. (Sunday)
On Monday, Golfchannel.com will explore five stories from 1999.
GolfChannel.com Provides Firsthand Accounts of Five Memorable Golf Stories From 1999
ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 28, 2009 – GolfChannel.com will turn back the clock 10 years to re-tell five memorable stories in golf from firsthand accounts – including Team U.S.A.’s comeback in the Ryder Cup, Jean Van de Velde’s historic collapse at the Open Championship and the tragic passing of golf icon Payne Stewart.
The editorial endeavor, titled Project ’99, will center on the theme, “I was there when…” Starting Monday (Nov. 2) and running through Friday (Nov. 6), GolfChannel.com will highlight one feature per day, taking readers back to 1999 through the eyes of the writers covering the stories.
Project ’99 features will include:
Monday, Nov. 2
1999 PGA Championship: The Tiger Woods-Sergio Garcia battle took center stage at Medinah, but GolfChannel.com editorial manager Mercer Baggs, covering the tournament for GOLF CHANNEL, recalls so much more happened that week, including a bitter Ryder Cup controversy.
Tuesday, Nov. 3
World No. 1 David Duval: Ten years ago, David Duval was atop the golf world. He was ranked No. 1, shot 59 in the final round to win the Bob Hope Classic and claimed four PGA Tour titles before the Masters. GolfChannel.com editorial director Jay Coffin writes about Duval’s amazing ascent and recalls firsthand his even more amazing decline.
Wednesday, Nov. 4
Payne Stewart Tragedy: Never have such highs and lows revolved around one player. Payne Stewart made us shed tears of joy in winning the U.S. Open, while his tragic death four months later made us cry in despair. GolfChannel.com senior writer Rex Hoggard takes readers back to that unforgettable ride of emotions.
Thursday, Nov. 5
Van de Velde Collapse at Carnoustie – It was one of the most epic collapses in major championship history. GOLF CHANNEL’s Rich Lerner was at Carnoustie in 1999 and writes about how everything fell apart so suddenly for Jean Van de Velde, and how the Frenchman – and everyone else – handled the aftermath.
Friday, Nov. 6
U.S. Comeback at 1999 Ryder Cup – “I have a good feeling about tomorrow. That’s all I’m gonna say.” And with that, U.S. captain Ben Crenshaw set the stage for the most dramatic finish in Ryder Cup history. GolfChannel.com senior writer Randall Mell was at Brookline for that unforgettable Sunday.
An alumnus from Golf Channel’s Big Break reality show will be hitting the PGA Tour next year.
Former Big Breaker Matt Every Wins Nationwide Tour Championship
Victory Earns Spot on 2010 PGA TOUR
Orlando, Fla. (Oct. 26, 2009) – GOLF CHANNEL’s Big Break alumnus Matt Every won the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship to earn playing privileges on the 2010 PGA TOUR. It marks the first time a former Big Breaker has won a Nationwide Tour event and the third time a contestant will be a PGA TOUR member.
Closing with a 5-under-par 67 to earn the $180,000 winner’s paycheck, Every vaulted from 49th on the circuit’s money list to 10th. The top-25 finishers in earnings secured playing privileges for the 2010 TOUR.
Every will join James Nitties – who he competed against in Big Break VIII: Mesquite – and Tommy Gainey (Big Break IV: USA vs. Europe, and Big Break VII: Reunion) as former contestants to compete on TOUR. Currently in his rookie season, Nitties is 94th on the money list and has posted two top-10 finishes this year. Gainey joined the circuit in 2008 and his
second-place finish in the 2008 Children’s Miracle Network Classic is the highest by a Big Breaker on TOUR.
In addition, four former Big Break contestants currently compete on the LPGA Tour, highlighted by Kristy McPherson, who was a member of the 2009 United States Solheim Cup team.
Now in the 12th season, Big Break provides male and female golfers with an opportunity to realize their lifelong dreams of playing big-time professional golf against some of the best players in the world. In each series, GOLF CHANNEL cameras follow contestants on and off the golf course as they execute their best strategies in challenges that test every phase of their golf game. One golfer is eliminated from the series each week, with the last person standing reaping the ultimate reward. Past champions won tournament exemptions to compete on some of the world’s top professional circuits, such as the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, European Tour, LPGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Canadian Tour.
Currently airing Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. ET, Big Break Disney Golf showcases a field of 12 men – collectively the most talented cast in series history, but individually at different stages in their careers – battling for the opportunity to fulfill the desire to play professional golf at the highest level.
Shot mainly at both the Magnolia and Palm Courses at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla., the winner of the series will receive an exemption to compete in the 2010 Children’s Miracle Network Classic. The series marks the first time that a Big Break winner will compete in a TOUR event on the same course in which the series was filmed.
Utilizing unique venues at Walt Disney World Resort, Big Break Disney Golf’s challenges also will take place at Main Street U.S.A., Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex and the Walt Disney World Speedway. Intertwined into several episodes will be cameos by TOUR players and memorable moments from the Children’s Miracle Network Classic.
Speaking of Big Break, here’s the latest person eliminated from this season’s show.
Maxwell Eliminated from Big Break Disney Golf
ORLANDO, Fla. (Oct. 28, 2009) – Sporting a bold style of play to match a colorful wardrobe, Kevan Maxwell doesn’t back down. It was his aggressive nature, though, that led to elimination from Big Break Disney Golf.
Maxwell’s demise came at the hands of Kevin Erdman and Sean Kalin in an elimination challenge where the trio hit from three locations, all of which offered risk/reward scenarios that tested both course management and shot-making ability. The player recording the most strokes was eliminated.
The first location demanded contestants hit a 155-yard shot from the left rough and over water with a tree in the player’s sightline of the hole. Instead of playing safely to the right of the green or short to the fairway, Maxwell chose to go over the tree with hopes of hitting the green to apply pressure on his opponents. The bold plan backfired when his ball clipped the tree and landed in the water fronting the green. Maxwell posted a five, one more than Erdman and Kalin.
“I just caught it thin,” Maxwell said of his effort. “If I pull it off, it changes the story for the other guys. If you fail, you fail. You just can’t be afraid to fail.”
Playing aggressively on the remaining two locations while his opponents took the safe route, Maxwell was not able to make up ground and became the third player from the 12-man field eliminated from the 10-week series.
Elimination by Episode:
Show 1: Ed Moses
Show 2: Andreas Huber
Show 3: Kevan Maxwell
The golf landscape is populated by players like Maxwell who posses the talent but not the means to pursue a professional career. Working at Kiawah Island Golf Resort by day and delivering pizza at night leaves him neither the time nor money to compete and develop his game. What he does have is a passion that seemingly has no expiration date.
“Anybody who knows me knows golf is what I want to do, and it is my heart’s desire,” said Maxwell. “I love to practice as much as I love to play. I know I could make it if I had more time to put into the game. When my time comes, I will be able to do it. I have to go back home and go to work to make some money to pay bills and play in tournaments.”
Big Break Disney Golf premiered with a field of 12 men – collectively the most talented cast in series history, but individually at different stages in their careers – battling for the opportunity to play professional golf at the highest level.
Shot mainly at both the Magnolia and Palm Courses at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla., the winner of the series will receive an exemption to compete in the 2010 Children’s Miracle Network Classic. The series marks the first time that a Big Break winner will compete in a TOUR event on the same course in which the series was filmed.
Utilizing unique venues at Walt Disney World Resort, Big Break Disney Golf’s challenges also will take place at Main Street U.S.A., Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex and the Walt Disney World Speedway. Intertwined into several episodes will be cameos by TOUR players and memorable moments from the Children’s Miracle Network Classic.
In addition to the tournament exemption, the winner will earn cash and prizes with a potential value of more than $50,000 that includes entry fees paid to compete in the 2010 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament from SkyCaddie, a $10,000 shopping spree at Dick’s Sporting Goods, free golf for a year courtesy of GolfNow.com, and an endorsement contract from Adams Golf including $10,000 cash.
GOLF CHANNEL’s Vince Cellini and Stephanie Sparks reprise their roles as co-hosts to add insight to the series.
Past Big Break champions won tournament exemptions to compete on some of the world’s top professional circuits, such as the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, European Tour, LPGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Canadian Tour. Former Big Breakers Tommy Gainey and James Nitties currently compete on the PGA TOUR while four previous female contestants currently play on the LPGA Tour, including Kristy McPherson, a member of the 2009 U.S. Solheim Cup Team.
The fourth episode of Big Break Disney Golf will air Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET.
Ok, I may have another press release post before I do links.
