U.S. Open Viewing Tip Sheet And What To Expect From Pebble Beach

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Your most vital piece of information sits above, with the Fox schedule with ET times. Look at those prime time windows. Have I mentioned that California U.S. Opens are just better? Oh, anyway…

The Forecaddie previews a new twist on Toptracer technology from Fox Sports next week. Sounds like we will need players to go for the 14th green in two if we want to see in all its glory. And the live drone should be great fun getting the seagulls view of the action!

Golf Channel will provide plenty of programming as well, starting with Monday’s World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony followed by Morning Drive and Live From the U.S. Open coverage all week. You will note in their release my name attached to two features: one on poa annua and another Chandler Egan’s 1929 redesign of the course and whether it needs to be restored. I hope you enjoy the pieces and I’ll do my best to make sure to preview when they will air.

It’s going to be a stellar week from the Monterey Peninsula!

For Immediate Release from Fox Sports:

FOX SPORTS CONTINUES PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY EVOLUTION 
FOR 119TH U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Tethered Drone, Operates from a Boat off the Northern California Coastline,

To Offer Unique Views of Pebble Beach

LOS ANGELES – FOX Sports continues its industry-leading production technology development, with additions and upgrades in place for its coverage of the 119th U.S. Open Championship from Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif., from Thursday, June 13 to Sunday, June 16 on FOX, FS1, FOX Deportes, FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports App.

"We are planning our most comprehensive and technologically advanced U.S. Open to date, matching the excitement level surrounding the championship being held at iconic Pebble Beach,” said Zac Fields, SVP Graphic Tech & Innovation, FOX Sports. “We’re constantly improving the viewing experience of this great event and the FOX Sports team is excited to offer viewers more dynamic experiences from the golf course than ever before.” 

FOX Sports remains at the forefront of ball-tracing technology in 2019, as the network equips the tee box on all 18 holes with Trackman radar technology. Nine holes are equipped to show viewers a standard ball-trace over live video, with enhanced club and ball data. The remaining nine holes will display Emmy-nominated FOX FlightTrack, a live trace over a graphic representation of the golf hole, offering more perspective to the viewer. All 18 holes will have the ability to insert a real-time live carry distance. 

Three roaming wireless RF tracers will work to provide ball tracing on approach shots. There will also be FlightTrack for fairways shots on two holes, Nos. 6 and 14. New this year will be a mobile tower camera equipped with Toptracer technology, also positioned on No. 14, allowing for more dynamics within the shot. Unlike most tracer shots, where the camera must remain still, this camera will allow FOX Sports to pan, tilt and zoom to see the ball as it comes towards the camera. 

Just a few weeks ago, FOX Sports’ Shane Bacon and Joel Klatt played a round at Pebble Beach and discussed No. 14’s difficult approach and tough green, offering insights on what to expect from the pros at the U.S. Open: https://vimeo.com/340574507

FOX Sports’ image capture continues to evolve at the U.S. Open, with the most 1080p HDR cameras in place for any live event in the U.S. ever, placing over 50 cameras across the course, and in each tower camera and blimp to help capture the stunning beauty of Pebble Beach. 

Alongside this technology is the new penalty area camera system, which houses three cameras for over 210 degrees of capture alongside the out of bounds markers at holes Nos. 4 and 5.

As FOX Sports has done since its USGA debut in 2015, live replay coverage of the event continues to capture every camera across the course simultaneously with 178 record channels and 54 playout channels. 

A Pebble Beach first, FOX Sports will deploy a live tethered-aerial drone camera to be launched and operated from a boat along the coastline at Pebble Beach, giving the viewer unique live action on the course.

In addition to its television broadcast and featured groups and holes streams, this year FOX Sports introduces a new “USGA Practice Tee” channel, which is focused on the driving range and uses Toptracer Range technology for added insight as players warm up. Fans at Pebble Beach will see players’ shots being traced on LED boards at the range, while the broadcast and all streaming channels will be able to go into greater detail on swing technique, ball flight and more. Streaming feeds are available on FOXSports.com, the FOX Sports App, DirecTV and USGA.org.

Continuing to develop elements in augmented reality (AR) that offer viewers greater context, FOX Sports will be using various shots from multiple blimps and cranes to layer graphics on top of video, including, but not limited to, wind direction and speed, player on-course location and course statistics.

In addition to the new “USGA Practice Tee” channel, the “Featured Holes” channel gets an upgrade for 2019. Data from Trackman units on these holes will be displayed on the streaming feeds in real-time. Viewers will see data for live shots along with more advanced statistics throughout the championship.

In preparation for this week’s event, multiple days of aerial production drone flights were completed last week, capturing unique images from each of the 18 holes.

Staff & Support

  • 455 technicians

  • 72 support staff

  • 66,000+ man-hours over 15 days

  • Field Support

    • 51 miles of multi-strand fiber optics (over 1,872 miles of actual fiber connectivity)

    • 912 strands of fiber optics available across the course

    • IP Networking

      • 1,056 1Gbps Ethernet ports distributed across the course

      • 28 managed network locations

      • 94 distinct managed networks

      • 6 Gbps of Internet data managed

      • 78 Gbps of broadcast data managed

  • Cameras

    • 121 Total Cameras

      • 18 – 1080p wireless cameras

        • 6 – 1080p HDR wireless cameras

      • 52 – 1080p HDR cameras

      • 12 – 100x lens-based cameras

      • 19 – 95x lens-based cameras

      • 5 – Xmo High-frame-rate cameras (4,000+ fps)

      • 2 – Sony – 8x – High-frame-rate cameras (480fps)

      • 4 – Cinematic Cameras with FOX Films look

      • 3 – RF Tracer cameras

      • 2 – Mini portable robotic cameras

      • 75’ Strada Camera Crane

  • Audio

    • 12 audio consoles

    • 232 microphones across the course

      • 8 RF announcers

      • 18 hole microphones

      • 20 RF walking microphones 

  • Replay / Post Production

    • 178 Record Channels

    • 54 Playout Channels

    • 768 TB real-time storage

    • 5 Edit Bays

Revised: U.S. Women's Open Final Round Draws Just A .5

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Paulsen at Sports Media Watch waits for the final rating (not the overnight) and it’s an all-time low for the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open.

The fall of this event in terms of viewership from the Sorenstam days is shocking:

As recently as three years ago, final round coverage had a comparably healthy 0.9 and 1.31 million. Five years ago, when Michelle Wie won, the final round had a 1.4 and 2.04 million on NBC. Thirteen years ago, when Annika Sörenstam last won, ratings and viewership reached as high as 3.1 and 4.28 million.

Keep in mind that coverage aired directly opposite the final round of the PGA Tour Memorial tournament, which featured Tiger Woods (2.1, 2.96M). While last year’s coverage also faced the Memorial, the PGA Tour event aired primarily on tape delay due to rain.

The final round was no match for the corresponding days of the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur (0.9, 1.36M) or last year’s Women’s British Open (0.7, 964K).

Ratings: 2019 Memorial Scores 1.7 Final Round, U.S. Women's Open's .6 Pushing All Time Low

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Tiger Woods in contention helped bump up the Memorial ratings 33% over last year, with a 1.7 overnight according to Sports Business Daily.

The U.S. Women’s Open’s overnight from CC of Charleston was a .6, up just a tiny bit over a similar .6 last year and continuing a trend of hovering around record lows since the move to Fox. This, despite being commercial free broadcasts.

Chuck May Want To Talk To Chuck After Somber Colonial Kickoff

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All longtime golf fans are grateful to Charles Schwab for rescuing the Colonial, even if it meant wiping the club’s name off the iconic title in favor of the forgettable Charles Schwab Challenge. Then again, had they left Colonial in the title, we’d all still just call it the Colonial. And may still.

But the longtime supporter of golf might be scratching his head a bit after year one of a four year deal even after a perfectly normal PGA Tour event. A fascinating mix of leaders were extinguished by Kevin Na’s closing 66 only to have Na immediately give away quite possibly the most clever winner gift in some time: a restored Dodge Challenger. Mike McAllister reports for PGATour.com.

Granted, Na did pledge before the tournament started to gift the car to Harms, who deserves more than an iconic American sports car for carrying Na’s bag(gage):

But the keys handoff did lead to that gloriously awkward winner’s photo with the car, Harms, Schwab and Na, along with a tournament official in the back left expressing only minor agony.

Adding to the awkwardness of the day: a subdued CBS telecast marked by multiple shots from the clouds (aka blimp), the dreaded bereavement track, and tributes to legends lost like Dan Jenkins, Bart Starr, etc. Still, the general somberness became more apparent when Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo were shown at the 18th before a tribute to “retiring” CBS workers was shown.

The tribute was quite touching, with Nantz refusing to sugarcoat the situation while Faldo’s eyes watered and turned red as they discussed the role of the many talented craftspeople losing their jobs. Excuse me, retiring. In mass. All in the same week.

As they introduced the primary crew members and some of the great moments covered or lengthy tenures, it was obviously a huge blow to the CBS Sports team.

While words like retirement and voluntary were bandied about, we all know what this is about, as telegraphed a couple of months ago:

Cost cutting moves: CBS is looking for about $100 million in cost savings in the next three years from belt-tightening and restructuring in search of greater efficiencies. That process could lead to streamlining of redundant operations and voluntary employee buyouts. “We reorganizing and thinking about functions that go across multiple divisions,” Ianniello said.

If it were any other corporate leader than Schwab—who has seen just about everything in golf—I’m guessing phone calls would be made, inquiries made and questions asked about so many layoffs in the midst of the golf season—with a mid-telecast tribute—and at a time the CBS schedule is at full force.

So Chuck probably won’t have to talk to Chuck. But if he were miffed at how year one played out, no one would blame him.

Hogan Documentary Coming To Golf Channel June 17 And 18

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Producer Israel DeHerrera kindly let me screen parts of Hogan knowing my affinity for all things Ben Hogan and research into the Hawk’s Los Angeles years. All I can say: it’s the film you hoped would be delivered on Hogan’s incredible life and times.

For Immediate Release (with two other sneak previews at this link):

Hogan: Monday-Tuesday, June 17-18, 9 p.m. ET

Hogan (trailer), a two-part biopic on 64-time PGA TOUR winner Ben Hogan chronicles one of the greatest comeback stories in sports history, reflecting on the Texan’s indelible impact on professional golf in spite of a near-fatal automobile accident that put the prime years of his career in serious jeopardy. Coming from humble beginnings, the film examines Hogan’s incredible journey to becoming one of the greatest golfers of all-time, serving as the inspiration for the 1951 motion picture “Follow the Sun”. Being presented with limited commercial interruption by Charles Schwab, Hogan’s two parts – Monday night’s “Perseverance” and Tuesday night’s “Perfection” – will be narrated by Emmy Award-winning actor Kyle Chandler, and be produced for GOLF Films by 13-time Emmy Award winner Israel DeHerrera.

CBS (Sort Of) Avoids Historic Production Disaster During 2019 PGA Final Round

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A new contract kicks in next year for the PGA of America with CBS and ESPN. Details are sketchy, and given the PGA’s tendency to prioritize profit over what’s best for their fans or the game, I’m not optimistic that we will see a cutback in promos and ads.

What is also not clear: will there be higher standards demanded by the PGA of America of their broadcast partners beginning next year? It’s always a tricky thing to be telling television professionals how to do their job, but for starters the odd tradition of CBS witholding major production elements from their weekday PGA Championship partner needs to go. We can only hope the PGA would have stipulated this in writing to protect their product when it airs on ESPN.

One thing you can’t legislate: production mistakes. As Andy Nesbit writes at For The Win, fans are livid with the certified disaster that was CBS going to an interview with Dustin Johnson instead of staying with the incredible drama at the 18th hole. That’s where Brooks Koepka was faced with a brutal lie on a bunker edge. A double bogey sends the tournament to a playoff.

An unusually chatty Johnson was gabbing away as Koepka hacked his ball quite impressively back into the fairway. The ball was easily chunkable from such an awkward position.

Nesbitt writes before rounding up the Twitter outrage: “It was just terrible timing and angered fans watching the drama unfold on TV.”

While it’s not comparable to the infamous Heidi debacle, had Koepka flubbed the shot and collapsed, the decision to conduct an interview would been one of the great blunders in television history. Still, the moment will be remembered and analyzed given the need to set up the scenarios facing Koepka, who is notoriously fast. Fans were deprived of watching a huge moment and undoubtedly CBS’s Lance Barrow feels awful about it.

Let’s hope with a new contract and a clean slate at Harding Park, all of the parties get together and beef up the PGA Championship broadcast in the interest of their credibility, the health of the championship and most of all, the desires of fans watching at home.

First PGA In May: 3.9 Overnight For CBS Coverage, Peaks At 5.4 During Conclusion

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Brooks Koepka’s 2-stroke victory started as an apparent runaway but got interesting and the numbers suggest viewers turned over as the lead shrunk. CBS’s final round coverage drew a 3.9 rating, down significantly from last August’s 6.1 overnight when Tiger, Koepka and other top names dueled down the stretch.

Last year’s Players Championship, the final in May ( a week prior to the new PGA date) and featuring Woods in contention, drew a 4.1, up from a 2.6.

Austin Karp of SBJ posted some numbers and context.

The (Next) Match: Forget Tiger And Phil, How About Brooks And Brandel?

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In winning his second PGA and fourth major in his last eight starts, Brooks Koepka still gladly shared his anger at having his toughness questioned by Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee.

“Telling me I wasn’t tough,” Koepka said during a news conference. “That pissed me off. That really pissed me off.”

He wouldn’t name Chamblee, but did not leave any question who he was talking about.

Chamblee spent this week walking back some of his Koepka critiquing during the week, even comparing this run to Tiger’s play in 2000.

But I believe we need to take this manspat to the next, proper level: pay-per-view!

Since The Match II hasn’t been announced yet, I’d like to propose Brooks vs. Brandel.

Koepka can play all the way back while Brandel plays from the senior tees. Brooks can give Brandel two aside and we can all bet on it. Even better, they won’t give five footers and while the witty banter won’t be there, the potential for drama will be! Think about it MGM!

Chamblee defended himself in an interview with Morning Read’s Alex Miceli and on Morning Drive, suggesting he never said Koepka was not tough, though he said at the Masters he was not convinced of Koepka’s toughness.


CBS's New "Aerial Tracing" Is Getting Slaughtered, Maybe A Bit Unfairly?

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People, people! Breathe!

Sure, the latest attempt at breakthrough technology was not perfect in its Saturday debut. GolfDigest.com’s Christopher Powers rounds up the rants in reaction to the first hole tee shot of Justin Rose, the technology’s debut on CBS.

The issue appears to be one of scale and visibility. The holes were presented horizontally, forcing a reduction in hole scale that made it hard to tell if a ball was heading for fairway or rough. The shot from the blimp kept the entire hole in view, which took us even farther away from being able to see details. There was also some uncertainty in when to cut away from the trace to the ball landing.

I still see a level of authenticity in seeing the actual hole instead of a graphic (since the graphics often do not reflect reality).

If the architectural features of the landing can be better delineated by the view, and the hole presented vertically to improve size and perspective, this could have great value.

Here is the Tweet with quite the onslaught of comments


2019 PGA First Round Ratings Hold Steady, Close To Last Year's May Players

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Paulsen at Sports Media Watch notes the “slight bump” in PGA round one ratings, the first in the new May date. Up 1% from the 2018 PGA, down 7% from 2017 PGA.

The average audience of 990,000 viewers was comparable to last year’s Players, played a week earlier, where the audience was slightly larger (1 million viewers).

Tip O' The Cap: Fox's Shane Bacon Heads To U.S. Open Sectionals

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Nice work by the Fox Sports lead-when-Joe-Buck-isn’t-working voice of golf to make the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying this year. Good luck Monday in Dallas.

Though there is a U.S. Senior Women’s Open this weekend to cover first. At least you have Mid-Pines and Pinehurst nearby for some early morning or late evening practice!

Koepka Explains Why He Escalated Chamblee Manspat; Admits To No Photoshop Skills

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Golf.com’s Dylan Dethier talks to Brooks Koepka about why the top golfer took to Twitter to post a photo of Brandel Chamblee sporting a clown’s nose after the Golf Channel commentator’s latest criticism of the three-time major winner.

During the Masters, Chamblee ripped Koepka for his recent weight loss by suggesting that the 29-year-old lost the weight for vanity reasons. It has been rumored that Koepka lost the weight ahead of an appearance in ESPN‘s The Body Issue later this year.

“He’s done it a lot, he’s always got an opinion on something,” Koepka said. “And I don’t really respond too much. I know he said a bunch of things at Augusta and I never responded, that’s not really my style.

“But there comes a point where you just don’t care, and like I said, a picture’s worth more than a thousand words.”

Koepka does admit the image came from a buddy in a group text exchange. I smell an opening for Brandel!

Meanwhile, the saga has generated debate about who can discuss and critically analyze careers and we discussed today on Morning Drive:

He Wins Majors, Photoshops Too: Brooks Koepka Ups Manspat With Chamblee

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You know Brooks Koepka is annoyed when he takes back control of his Twitter account from sponsors to post this jab at Brandel Chamblee, Golf Channel analyst and recent critic of the three-time major winner.

In the latest installment of Chamblee’s views of Koepka, he tells Jaime Diaz on their podcast that there are “likely two” players who can “hang” with the revitalized Tiger Woods. From Dylan Dethier’s Golf.com account:

“In the aggregate, you’d have Dustin and Rory who are the likely two who could hang with him,” he said. “Jon Rahm’s still got a lot to learn. His iron play’s not as sharp as it needs to be to be the best player in the world, and it forces him to have to pitch the ball…his pitching, generally speaking, is not as good as it needs to be. And Spieth’s game has fallen off. So it’s really only two players who could challenge him. 

“Irrespective of the world rankings, I think all of us know what we need to know without the world rankings telling us, and it’s Rory and it’s Dustin Johnson and it’s Tiger Woods, but Tiger’s simply not going to play enough to get the points that he needs to get.”

Koepka has won three majors over the previous two seasons and was in contention at the Masters again this year, finishing T2, one back of Woods.

In reply, Koepka posted this image of Chamblee with a retweet:

We will be discussing this and other weighty issues on Monday’s Morning Drive.

Though I will say for now that I think a few more layers taking some shine off the nose and adding a bit more dimensionality would suggest Koepka needs to quit his day job.

USGA Downsizing: Where Has The Money Gone?

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It’s a question that will ruffle the feathers of Executive Committee members and USGA groupies, but after the news reported by Rex Hoggard at GolfChannel.com that downsizing in Far Hills is a thing, the question must be asked: where has the money gone?

From $37 million a year in NBC/ESPN money to $93 million under Fox through 2026, and yet, as Hoggard writes, the organization confirms 63 employees 55 and older have been offered a benefit plan closed to new participants in 2008. So far, he reports, 50 have taken the offer, kissing goodbye to oodles of institutional knowledge, insight and wisdom at a time the organization needs it more than ever in its history given issues the game faces.

From Hoggard’s report the USGA confirmed the program:

“As the USGA continues to evolve its organizational structure in an effort to drive greater impact and sustain a strong financial future, we have offered a voluntary retirement incentive plan to a segment of our staff,” the USGA said in a statement provided to GolfChannel.com. “It provides eligible employees with enhanced pension and retiree health benefits, with no obligation to participate.”

The deadline to accept the plan was Tuesday, and although employees still have a window of seven days to decide if they want to participate, sources have told GolfChannel.com that at least 50 have volunteered.

Costs for all businesses rise and the USGA has done its part to up purses for the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open, while better compensating host venues to pick up costs that come with the U.S. Open. They’ve improved Golf House, protect golf history when it’s called for and invest in some “grow the game” programs, it’s still hard not to wonder where the Fox money has gone.

Hoggard writes:

The move is surprising for an organization that appeared flush with cash from a 12-year television deal the USGA signed with Fox Sports in 2013.

According to various reports, the television rights deal is worth $93 million per year and the association reported $214 million in total revenue in 2017 according to tax forms.

Since we can’t really pick apart the budget, the news of layoffs and reorganization provide a wonderful opportunity to revisit where the organization was supposed to be with the Fox millions. That means re-reading Ron Sirak’s definitive Golf Digest story on the deal and what it would do for the USGA.

Of course, it’s cringeworthy reading given proclamations in Sirak’s story by the deal’s visionaries Glen Nager, Gary Stevenson, Tom O’Toole, Mike Davis, Casey Wasserman and Sarah Hirshland. Four of those names have all moved on to leave the mess behind to Davis.

Let’s catch up with them!

While this review is no comfort to those who are taking early retirement to help the USGA keep the lights on, it’s hard to say anyone but Wasserman has landed in a better place.

Nager is representing a dreadful Chinese company suing the United States and looking even more miserable than ever, Hirshland is dealing with the unfixable US Olympic Committee mess and stepping in it early on, while Stevenson has an MLS job and Pac-12 network launching on his resume, a notch above “former Enron executive” in the current sports business world. O’Toole, meanwhile, has not turned up in a green coat at the Masters but has been seen driving around carts with Fox logos at recent U.S. Open’s. I’m not sure if he’s working as Joe Buck’s go-fer, or just a friend of the network, but it’s not a great look for all involved.

Wasserman’s highly successful and generally well-regarded agency is still collecting USGA consulting checks as the engineer of the deal, but I can’t imagine his word in the golf world carries the weight it once did given Fox’s failure to deliver the USGA to the promised land of increased prominence and Masters-level ratings dreamed of by Nager.

The U.S. Open became golf’s lowest rated major in 2018.

Furthermore, Fox Sports 1 has not provided what was predicted by Hirshland in the Sirak story, and the organization has consolidated its exposure to a smaller audience. Maybe the documentaries portion is true:

"Financials are absolutely important, but that was not the only factor," says Hirshland, neither confirming nor denying the monetary terms of the deal. "First, we get the opportunity to expand our exposure and tell our story to a broader audience. We also get the opportunity to create some distinctiveness about the role we play in the game through ancillary programming like previews of major events, wrap-ups of lesser events and documentaries that use our archival material."

While Fox Sports 1 has finally stabilized in terms of programming, ratings and vision for the future, this AP story by Joe Reedy today mentions many things, but no plans to expand its place in golf.

Which brings us back to those who have devoted their lives to the sport serving the USGA and have institutional knowledge to share, but now face early retirement: if the Fox money and massive revenues of the U.S. Open—plus nearly $500 million in the bank according to the latest tax filings—are not enough to keep the USGA from needing to downsize, then where is the money going? What has happened?

Sadly, the folks who made the decisions possibly leading to this day have all moved on to other jobs while many of the folks they left behind are giving up theirs. It’s hard to see how this could possibly be good for the good of the game.