When Is More Sound Too Much Sound On A Golf Telecast?

Fox didn't have the best of technical days during round two of the 2018 U.S. Open, with about 7-8 minutes of no audio that fell while key players were on the course. If the Golf Gods were decent, the technical issues would have landed during a painful Fox synergy play featuring a Bill Hemmer interview. Perhaps if you're a regular viewer it was exciting to learn how life in the Hamptons works for the Fox News anchor, but for most it was an agonizing way to transition between announce teams while plugging a network show.

For every fan annoyed by the sound of balls hitting the bottom of the cup, the telecast featured several reminders of how much on-green dialogue we get to hear thanks to Fox's aggressive placement of microphones and other efforts to push the technology envelope.

But as the Sporting News' Michael McCarthy writes, Shinnecock is proving to be a tough place for Fox's 200-plus microphones given the, uh, style of New York fan energy projected toward players.

On Thursday, viewers didn't get many revealing nuggets between opposing players or between players and their caddies. Instead, they heard a lot from a loud and proud New York crowd. It was like listening to the soused, rowdy crew at the notorious 16th hole of the Phoenix Open. Technology giveth, and it taketh away.

On Friday, it got worse. As Timothy Burke of Deadspin noted, the increased audio led to a particularly raunchy fan conversation being picked up as Patrick Reed was playing a shot.

I'm all for Fox pushing the boundaries and trying to pick up the sound, even if the collateral damage is a bit rough at times.