Kelly Tilghman began the telecast with expansive opening remarks. It was a historic day for this 37-year-old homegrown talent, who began as an intern in the Golf Channel video library and was now becoming the first woman to do play-by-play full time for a major men's sport on a national level.
In the trailer her face had been tight, and she obsessively pounded her laptop, scouring for last-minute minutiae. Now, on-air, she seemed poised and even a little saucy. Noting the absence of Tiger Woods, Tilghman remarked, in her best gossip-show patois, that Woods and his wife had recently announced they had "a bun in the oven."
In the truck Hirshland groaned. "Oh, my. That's probably the first time in Golf Channel history anyone's ever said that. I sure hope it is."
In the truck six staffers monitored a grid of 72 video screens that showed everything that was happening around the Plantation course. They communicated by headsets with the on-course talent, cameramen and support staff. (Golf Channel had imported more than 100 workers for the week.)
Through headphones it was possible to hear a halfdozen people talking over each other, the snippets of conversation somehow finding their way to the right person.
"I don't care about John Rollins arriving at the clubhouse — is there anybody better?"
"Is Dottie (Pepper) supposed to be wearing an Adidas shirt?"
"Rocco (Mediate), just so you know, you'll be on camera while the questions are being asked, so don't make any funny faces."
"Can someone get a shot of the rainbow? Please."
There was no yelling, no snafus and no sense of impending doom. Watching contentedly in the back of the truck was Don McGuire, senior vice president of programming. He was brought in to help shepherd Golf Channel into its new era, a familiar proposition for a onetime TNT executive who oversaw the NBA's arrival at that network in the late 1980s.
That was, at the time, considered a highrisk move for the league. Now the NBA and TNT are comfortably intertwined, and the Golf Channel-PGA Tour parallel escapes no one in McGuire's orbit.
"We've always looked at this as doable," said McGuire. "We've got the know-how and the manpower. Covering golf is what we do, and it has been for more than a decade. Been there, done that."
As the preview show ended and the real golf was about to begin, Golf Channel CEO Dave Manougian settled in front of a TV back in the trailer. He has been with the channel since its inception in 1994, and it was his relentless wooing of Tour commissioner Tim Finchem that helped clinch the game-changing contract.
){kind=link}