Hooked On Golf Blog

Embedded in this post is the 2nd video in my two part mega series “Behind Golf Channel’s broadcast at a PGA Tour event.” I continue my tour of the Golf Channel’s live TV broadcast trucks, visiting Audio Effects, Engineering and Production.

Audio Effects

In the first chunk of this video I visit the Audio Effects section and my pal Jamie.  Jamie’s gig is controlling the on-course sounds like tee shots and course sounds.  We pot up some course sounds, and get to see Jamie troubleshooting a bad cable.

Engineering

Next in the video is the Engineering section, where I visit wiring guru Freddy.  Freddy is the guy who is in charge of the connection between all media input sources like cameras and mics, and the production trucks.  Golf Channel’s gear is top of the line, featuring many thousands of feet of fiber optic cable.  Freddy knows where to plug those cables in.

Pre-Production – Production

In my last segment of this block buster video, I sit in the director’s chair of the main production truck.  I prefer to call it the captain’s chair in the bridge of the Enterprise.  From here I get to watch my buddy Doug and Katie (a.k.a. Babs) working some pre-production for the day’s show.

During the live broadcast this area is where all it all comes together.

Video Part Two

Thanks Golf Chanel

I’d like to express my thanks to my new friends at Golf Channel for letting me invade their space while they were trying to work.

Related Links

Part One: Behind Golf Channel’s broadcast at a PGA Tour event.

Golf Channel live broadcast photo gallery.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Media, Golf Videos, Miscellaneous, PGA Tour Golf Channel

This is part one of two in a series:
Behind The Scenes Of Golf Channel’s Live Coverage On The PGA Tour

Intro

I was looking for some unique stuff to cover while down in Puerto Rico for the PGA Tour’s Puerto Rico Open.   Yes I could write about the same old stuff every other media person would at this event like John Daly, Puerto Rico etc, and I will.   But I wanted to come up with something original and unique.  Something perhaps which people are curious about but haven’t had the chance to satisfy that curiosity.

I walked into the TV compound with cameras in hand and knocked on Golf Channel’s door.  I was a bit nervous and hoped that they would be cool and not tell me to get lost.  After a few seconds I knocked again.  Nobody home.  I knocked on the doors of about four trucks there and there wasn’t anybody in any of them.  Then I heard screaming, laughing and general chaos coming from a tent a few yards away at the end of the compound.  Inside was the whole Golf Channel crew.  They were done for the day, eating lunch, and having a raffle.  I asked who was in charge and they directed me to a guy named Eric.  I introduced myself to Eric while he ate lunch, and told him I’d like to do some “behind the scenes” stuff.  Eric was very nice and said the idea sounded great, but the crew was done for the day so I should come back tomorrow.  I thanked Eric and came back the next day.  I had a terrific time meeting all the Golf Channel crew as well as seeing the amazing gear and work they do.

Compound Overview

At this gig Golf Channel had about five big rigs there.  Two appeared to be where they stored cameras and staged some general logistics.  One was the power source, with generators on board.  Makes sense.  They have to be in control of their power source so that if there’s a local outage their broadcast doesn’t go down.  The two remaining trucks were the real fun ones.  Those two housed the talented members of the production team and the mega cool high tech equipment which collects, edits and broadcasts the program.

Production – where it all comes together

Graphics

Overview of media flow (audio, video, graphics) for Golf Channel’s on course broadcast

The audio and video sources (microphones and cameras) head to engineering.  From engineering the signal is distributed to graphics, audio, tape, live broadcast or wherever the signals need to go.

Graphics, video and audio is edited and/or sent to live broadcast in the production truck.

Live Cameras

All over the course are camera towers with cool cats like my pal Darren running them.  Darren can be seen doing his thing in the first video of this two part series, which is embedded in this post.  The cameras connect to the gut of one of the Golf Channel trucks via thousands of feet fiber optic cable.

Pre-Production

Cables coming into engineering

Engineering

The video signals from the cameras as well as all the on course audio signals route into “engineering” where wiring guru Freddy, another new pal of mine, routes it to the production section.  I interview Freddy in part two / video two of this series.

Graphics – Fiber – Effects

The graphics/fiber/effects section is where replay is done as well as graphic overlays like score tables, stats etc are generated.  Effects microphones which capture audio from the course are in this same truck, next room over.  My buddy John Thompson talks us through this section of the rig in video one, embedded in this post.

Production

The production truck is where it is all put together.  The production truck assembles the content into the live program as well as produces ahead of time, the small vignettes they cut to during the course of a show or breaks in the action.  The director and producer orchestrate the show from here, as seen in my 2nd video in part two of this series.

Engineering and my pal Freddy

Audio Effects

Related Links

All of my behind the scenes Golf Channel images can be found in the HOG TGC Gallery.

Part Two of Behind Golf Channel’s Live Broadcast is coming soon.  I’ll make a hot link here when it is posted.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Media, Golf Videos, Miscellaneous, PGA Tour Golf Channel

Transitions Championship
PGA TOUR
Thursday 3/18 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET GOLF
Friday 3/19 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET GOLF
Saturday 3/20 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET NBC
Sunday 3/21 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET NBC

WGC – CA Championship
World Golf Championships
Thursday 3/11 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET GOLF
Friday 3/12 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET GOLF
Saturday 3/13 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET NBC
Sunday 3/14 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM ET NBC

Kia Classic presented by J Golf
LPGA Tour
Thursday 3/25 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM ET GOLF
Friday 3/26 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM ET GOLF
Saturday 3/27 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM ET GOLF
Sunday 3/28 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM ET GOLF

Trophee Hassan II
European Tour
Thursday 3/18 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM ET GOLF
Friday 3/19 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM ET GOLF
Saturday 3/20 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM ET GOLF
Sunday 3/21 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM ET GOLF

The Cap Cana Championship
Champions Tour
Friday 3/26 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM ET GOLF
Saturday 3/27 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET GOLF
Sunday 3/28 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET GOLF

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Champions Tour, European Tour, LPGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, PGA Tour

Tiger Woods has just announced he’ll return to professional golf at The Masters.  I would have thought he’d try to get one competitive round in before that to warm himself up, likely Bay Hill.

The Masters is a perfect place for Tiger to return because of the high level of security and the strict rules enforced on the grounds at Augusta National.

Will Tiger win or contend?  I sort of doubt it, but he is Tiger Woods.

Tiger’s Press Release Below

Read more…

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru PGA Tour, The Masters, Tiger Woods The Masters, Tiger Woods

I’ve just uploaded another batch of photos to the HOG 2010 Puerto Rico Open Photo Gallery, bringing the total to almost 250.  In this batch are a bunch of shots from when I followed John Daly around.  Boy was that fun.  This guy has so much raw talent it is sick.  Just looking at his technique in some of the still images I captured shows very well why this guy is so good.  When he hits the ball it makes a different sound than when other players do.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru PGA Tour John Daly, Puerto Rico Open

The Masters will be broadcast in 3D, for those with 3D capable computers or televisions.

I’ll be watching the Tuesday practice rounds in real 3D, AT AUGUSTA NATIONAL…

More here or here.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru PGA Tour, The Masters, Tiger Woods The Masters

I called this post “Part 1″ because I plan on doing a few updates today.  But I’d rather spend my time on the course seeing the action and taking photos, than sit here in the press room looking at the backs of golf writers’ heads.  With that in mind I won’t be in the press room for extended periods of time writing for hours.  I’ll do that later.  Time to gather content.

Tournament Status

Even though it is Saturday and the action has been going today for a few hours, the first round hasn’t been completed.  In fact, some players haven’t even started their first round.

Above: Rocco Mediate chips close on the par-5 5th hole, en route to birdie.

Rain

By 2pm on the first day of play Thursday over six inches of rain had rendered the course uplayable.  There are unconfirmed reports that there’s been over 14 inches of rain this week.  Just to put that in perspective, the YEARLY rain fall for my home state of Utah is just over 15 inches.

The play I did watch yesterday was greatly affected by the standing water.  I saw players’ drives hit the fairway and bounce backwards.  They’re playing preferred lies due to the massive amount of water in the ground.

Notables

Skip Kendall is in the house, leading after his first round with a -7 65.  There are a handful players sitting at -5.  John Daly is in the field.  His first round is done and he’s at -3.  (Pictured right: Steve Flesch ponders his last shot from a greenside bunker.)

My Status

I have a terrible cold and cough.  I feel like I’m going to hack out a lung soon.  I went roughly two days without sleep and nearly 24 hours without food, getting here and doing the gig yesterday (Friday).  Then I had a few too many adult beverages at the cocktail party.  I was weak from being so tired and having not eaten.  I woke up at 4:30am with a massive headache.  I was obviously dehydrated this morning because I chugged about a gallon of water and “cramberry” (local spelling) juice.  I’m good now though.  I’m uploading about 90 photos from yesterday to the HOG Puerto Rico Open Gallery right now and then I’m off to hit the course.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf, PGA Tour Puerto Rico Open

I’m SO tired I can’t even begin to express how I must crash and go to sleep.  Today was a great day, full of awesome events like simply GETTING HERE.  I met several PGA Tour players, shot a ton of images and the best part of the night was meeting my new pal and golf legend Chi Chi Rodriguez.  I sat and talked to Chi Chi and his wife for a while.  What a great guy, and the ambassador of golf to Puerto Rico.

I’d love to cover more, but I haven’t slept in nearly 48 hours… Must go to bed now.   Stay tuned.

I’m also tweeting and facebooking my updates from Puerto Rico so check them out.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru PGA Tour, Site News Chi Chi Rodriguez, Puerto Rico

I’m happy to announce I’ve been confirmed to attend and cover the PGA Tour Puerto Rico Open.   I’ll be down at the Trump International Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico next weekend.

Being that I consider myself a blogger and not a journalist, I’m going to try and cover this in a way other than how the regular, stuffy and predictable golf media would.   Anyone can tell you who birdied #15, and I probably will do some of that.  But I want to find some angles which normal press simply doesn’t cover.  Feel free to comment here if there’s something you’d like to see or hear about.

Stay tuned.  I’m very excited for this opportunity.  I’m going to try and get a round of golf in at one of the Trump courses there too, obviously for the pleasure of playing but for more content as well.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Media, PGA Tour, Site News Puerto Rico Open

I like the new fashions of these new guns on tour.  For one, they’re bringing more attention to the sport and they’re also creating entire product niches and markets with the white belts, fancy belt buckles, pastel and neon colors, diva sunglasses etc.

I only wish I was the brilliant one who coined the descriptive phrase “metrosexuals on tour” in reference to the Phoenix Open.  That came from a forum thread over on The Golf Space.  I’d already come up with my own name for the tournament, which I thoroughly enjoyed by the way.  “Battle of the white belts.”

We have Rickie Fowler in contention, wearing some very killer but slightly feminine Puma gear.  Those amazing Puma Cell Fusion shoes he was wearing are the same ones I’m reviewing right now.  Stay tuned.  Winner Hunter Mahan was sporting a white belt and cool sunglasses which looked to be a combination diva/Elvis style.  No sideburns though unfortunately.  Camilo Villegas was completely decked out in what I’d call “tightie whitie.”  His whole outfit was white and fit very tightly.  Ya gotta have the body for that kind of getup, like me.  Right.

Other quotes…  Hmm.  “Battle of the flat bellies” (except for Mark Calcavecchia) or the other good forum quote: “put on ice skates and they would have fit in with the Olympic Men’s Figure Skating competition.”

I think these guys are cool.  I’m really looking forward to the next few years on tour to see how they develop.

Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru Golf Apparel, PGA Tour Camilo Villegas, Hunter Mahan, Ricky Fowler, White Belt