10-Part Series Featuring Former Professional Golfer Mark Burk Premieres January 11 At 9:30 P.M. ET
ORLANDO, Fla. (Dec. 7, 2010) – Two years ago the life of 53-year old professional golfer Mark Burk changed forever. The golfer who won tournaments all around the world and coached A-list celebrities found himself homeless and living in abandoned construction pipes in Palm Springs after a romantic relationship went awry.
In the new 10-part, docu-reality series Pipe Dream, Golf Channel chronicles Burk’s journey to get his life back on track, regain his golf career and restore his good name. Beginning with the series worldwide premiere on Jan. 11 at 9:30 p.m. ET, Golf Channel viewers will find out if Burk is able to get back in the game or if it all proves to be just a pipe dream. Actor James Remar, best known for his roles in Sex and the City and Dexter, provides the narration for the series.
From the tender age of 13, Mark Burk knew he only wanted to do one thing – play golf. Studying under renowned instructors including Ben Doyle, Jim Flick, Peter Kostis, and Kip Puterbaugh, Burk played in various professional golf tournaments across the country and internationally, spending a year on the Sunshine Tour in South Africa. After playing competitively, he became a golf instructor and Hollywood consultant, teaching actors Halle Berry and Hugh Jackman how to swing a golf club for the film Swordfish.
But after years of living a charmed life, Burk became homeless in 2008. Due to a remarkably bad turn of events, including an alleged domestic violence dispute with then girlfriend, supermodel Beverly Johnson, he was left penniless and without a place to live. Pipe Dream documents Burk’s struggle to survive on the streets, as well as his efforts to achieve his goal of getting back on the green. Throughout the 10-episode series, viewers will watch as Burk begins to pick up the pieces of his life, get a job, deal with a pending legal battle against his ex-girlfriend and attempt to make it through the Champions Tour Qualifying School.
“Pipe Dream follows the story of a man whose life has been turned upside down and now struggles daily to reclaim his name and his dream. Even through all of Mark’s personal and professional struggles, it’s been his passion and respect for the game of golf that has kept him alive,” said Keith Allo, Golf Channel vice president of programming and original productions. “We are very excited to continue to bring unique and diverse programming to Golf Channel and feel that Pipe Dream will not only resonate with golf fans but with anyone, who at one time in their life, dared to dream against all odds.”
Pipe Dream helps kick off an exciting slate of original programming debuting this January on Golf Channel along with the buzzed-about third season of The Haney Project which will follow political lightning rod Rush Limbaugh’s attempts at improving his golf game with the help of Hank Haney, one of the world’s best golf instructors and the former swing coach to Tiger Woods. The New Year also brings Golf Channel’s highly-anticipated first morning show program, Morning Drive, and the start of the 2011 PGA TOUR season.
About Golf Channel
Golf Channel is a multimedia, golf entertainment and services company based in Orlando, Fla. The Golf Channel cable network, co-founded by Arnold Palmer and a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is available in more than 120 million homes worldwide through cable, satellite and wireless companies. Exclusive partnerships with the world’s top tours allow Golf Channel to feature more live golf coverage than all other networks combined, added to a programming schedule distinguished by golf’s best news, instruction and original programming. Golf Channel’s digital platform of businesses is led by GolfChannel.com, a leading golf destination on the Internet, delivering unmatched coverage of the world of golf, as well as services that help the recreational player with how to play, what to play and where to play golf.
Contact:
Dan Higgins, Golf Channel Public Relations, 407-355-4018, dhiggins@golfchannel.com
Jeremy Friedman, Golf Channel Public Relations, 407-355-4058, jfriedman@golfchannel.com
Callie Burrows, Dan Klores Communications, 212-981-5209, callie_burrows@dkcnews.com
