Two major championships and The Solheim Cup headline 22-event schedule in 2011; exclusive Golf Channel coverage of Kraft Nabisco Championship marks season’s first major, March 31
ORLANDO, Fla., (Feb. 17, 2011) – Golf Channel’s coverage of the 2011 LPGA Tour season is the most anticipated in the network’s history and will feature full coverage of the first two major championships of the year and shot-by-shot coverage of the The Solheim Cup, one of the biggest events in women’s sports. The network’s coverage of the 2011 LPGA Tour season will kick off tomorrow with Honda LPGA Thailand at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Headlining the 2011 broadcast schedule will be live coverage of the Kraft Nabisco Championship (March 31-April 3), marking the first time the major championship will be on Golf Channel. The network will broadcast 20 hours of live coverage throughout the tournament, including six hours of live coverage on Thursday and Friday. In June, Golf Channel will air live the second major of the year, Wegmans LPGA Championship (June 23-26), and will follow later in the season with more than 24 hours of live, shot-by-shot coverage of The Solheim Cup (Sept. 23-25), from Killeen Castle, Ireland.
In total, Golf Channel will broadcast 22 LPGA Tour events – 12 domestic and 10 international. Twelve of the 14 events in North America will be televised live. Golf Channel will program coverage of the remaining seven international events – most originating from Asia – at optimal viewing times. The Solheim Cup will air live.
Golf Channel is entering the second year of a 10-year partnership with the LPGA Tour as the exclusive cable home. In 2010, the network introduced and featured several unique production elements to enhance the telecasts and showcase the personalities of LPGA Tour players, most notably fitting players with microphones during competition. “Mic’d Up” now also is featured on PGA TOUR telecasts.
Golf Channel will introduce a new, enhanced graphics package for its LPGA Tour telecasts, beginning with the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup, (March 17-20). During Friday telecasts, a player in the field will join the network’s announcers as a player analyst. Other popular elements also will return, including rookie and player profiles, interviewing players as they are walking the fairways and making the turn on the weekends (Walk and Talks), and weekly tips from players.
Golf Channel will continue to provide enhanced news coverage of the LPGA Tour and will produce several programs with LPGA stars throughout the year.
DATE EVENT ROUNDS BROADCAST
2/17-20 Honda LPGA Thailand 2-4 TD
2/24-27 HSBC Women’s Champions ALL TD
3/18-20 RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup ALL LIVE
3/24-27 Kia Classic ALL LIVE
3/31-4/3 KRAFT Nabisco Championship ALL LIVE
4/28-5/1 Avnet LPGA Classic ALL TD
5/19-22 Sybase Match Play Championship ALL TD/LIVE
6/3-6/5 ShopRite LPGA Classic ALL TD/LIVE
6/9-6/12 LPGA State Farm Classic ALL TD
6/23-6/26 Wegmans LPGA Championship ALL LIVE
7/21-7/24 Evian Masters presented by Societe Generale ALL TD
8/4-8/7 Imperial Springs LPGA ALL TD
8/19-21 Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola ALL LIVE
8/25-28 CN Canadian Women’s Open ALL TD/LIVE
9/9-11 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship pres. ALL LIVE
by P&G
9/15-9/18 Navistar LPGA Classic ALL LIVE
9/23-9/25 The Solheim Cup ALL LIVE
10/6-10/9 LPGA Hana Bank Championship ALL TD
10/14-10/16 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia ALL TD
10/20-10/23 LPGA Taiwan Championship ALL TD
11/10-11/13 Lorena Ochoa Invitational ALL LIVE
11/17-11/20 Titleholders ALL LIVE
Number of events, schedule and times subject to change
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 part of the NBC Sports Group, is available in more than 140 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 www.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