College golf has been on TV for a decade. How has that changed the sport? 'It's priceless'

NICHOLS HILLS, Okla. — The changeless activity of play carts betwixt shots. The humming sound of generators strategically placed astatine different spots connected nan course. Camera crews moving connected nan fairways betwixt players preparing to deed their shots.

Those are each communal sights and sounds astatine master play events, but successful nan past decade they’ve go much commonplace successful assemblage golf, particularly nan Division I level.

The D-I assemblage play nationalist championships were broadcast connected Golf Channel for nan first clip successful 2014, pinch nan men having a twelvemonth successful nan spotlight earlier nan women sewage their camera clip a twelvemonth later. Ever since, nan sport’s footprint has grown and continued to do so. This fall, more than 180 hours of assemblage play is being shown connected Golf Channel, including unrecorded events 5 consecutive weeks successful October.

“It surely changed for nan good, each positive,” Oklahoma men’s coach Ryan Hybl said. “I mean, we person measurement much folks that are consenting to travel retired and watch us. I deliberation it’s only a positive. I surely deliberation that nan unit has been escalated, which is not a bad thing.”

For definite programs, for illustration Oklahoma, playing connected TV has go commonplace. The nationalist title is simply a spot teams look guardant to nan aerial time, but astatine galore apical tournaments successful nan autumn and spring, cameras are darting astir pursuing nan early stars of nan master games and giving players their first glimpse astatine what it’s for illustration to play pinch a spot of added pressure.

Last week, nan Jackson T. Stephens Cup featured, astatine nan time, nan top-ranked men’s and women’s programs successful nan state competing astatine Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club: nan Oklahoma men and Arkansas women. Just this fall, it was nan Razorbacks 2nd clip being connected camera, successful summation to their location event, nan Blessings Collegiate, earlier this month.

“It gives awesome vulnerability to our play program,” Arkansas women’s coach Shauna Taylor said. “It really gets us, you know, for us, specifically, astatine blessings collegiate we tin showcase our home, and that’s that’s truthful valuable for america for 3 days to show Blessings.”

Maria Jose Marin, a standout sophomore for Arkansas, has gotten utilized to cameras pursuing her successful caller months. She captured medalist honors astatine nan U.S. Women’s Amateur astatine Southern Hills successful Tulsa, Oklahoma, successful August, earlier making a tally into nan semifinals. The adjacent month, she competed astatine nan LPGA’s Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, made nan cut, and aft completing her last information was playing astatine nan Blessings Collegiate nan adjacent day.

Fast guardant to past week, she led nan Razorbacks to a squad title astatine nan Jackson T. Stephens Cup, their 3rd triumph of nan fall. Two of those came connected TV.

“That’s immense for her and immense for our programme and our marque and their vulnerability and our exposure,” Taylor said. “It’s priceless.”

The maturation of assemblage play connected TV has besides been boosted by apical amateur events besides getting their stock of aerial time. The Augusta National Women’s Amateur has provided an avenue dissimilar immoderate different for nan apical female amateurs to person their stories told and build their brands. The USGA has done a bully occupation of showcasing its inferior and amateur events to audiences, and players proceed to make their names winning immoderate of nan country’s astir prestigious events.

But now, dissimilar successful nan past, nan apical amateurs don’t spell into nan shadows during nan autumn and outpouring erstwhile they’re successful college. They stay connected TV, representing their colleges.

“People really tune in. People really look guardant to it,” Stanford coach Anne Walker said. “I don’t ever retrieve group being capable to really travel nan individuals wrong nan sport. You could travel a team, but it was harder to really way connected nan individuals and nan individual stories and what their travel had been. These stories conscionable support pouring into people’s homes, truthful you tin really travel your favourite players now.”

Walker coached nan top female amateur of all-time, Rose Zhang, whose fame and fame was without a uncertainty bolstered by her occurrence playing connected television, whether it was her brace of individual wins astatine nan nationalist championship, nan Augusta National Women’s Amateur victory, a brace of trophies successful USGA events and more.

College play besides fits into an early-week clip slot erstwhile nan master crippled isn’t playing, giving those looking for unrecorded action an avenue to watch nan apical amateurs successful nan world. For those players who capitalize connected that opportunity, nan sky’s nan limit for really it tin propel them into nan future.

Walker utilized nan illustration of nan Caitlin Clark effect successful nan WNBA this year, resulting successful grounds crowds and viewership numbers. Even Walker said she was drawn to nan athletics aft not paying overmuch attraction to it successful nan past.

Yet TV gave nan athletics and Clark a level to grow, and it skyrocketed. College play has done nan same, and there’s still room to grow.

“We request to person really compelling individual stories to tie group into golf, and past erstwhile we get them in, past they will beryllium compelled to travel teams, and past they’ll beryllium compelled to travel assemblage play and LPGA golf,” Walker said.