Women’s and men’s golf championships to be contested in back-to-back weeks at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Oregon, May 20-June 1; “Golf Central” to provide wraparound news on-site; Haskins Award and Annika Award winners to be announced live on “Golf Central,” Tuesday, June 7; Exemptions to LPGA Tour, PGA Tour events and invitations to the newly expanded East Lake Cup determined at NCAA Golf Championships
ORLANDO, Fla., May 5, 2016 – Golf Channel will deliver unprecedented primetime news and tournament coverage of the 2016 NCAA Division I Women’s and Men’s Golf Championships, contested in back-to-back weeks beginning May 20 and concluding June 1 from Eugene Country Club in Oregon. Golf Channel will originate more than 100 hours of coverage on-site, as well as expanded coverage online via Golf Channel Digital and through the network’s social media channels.
Golf Channel Coverage Plan: Golf Channel will dedicate its full suite of production resources to the NCAA Women’s and Men’s Golf Championships, featuring more than 25 combined hours of live tournament coverage – the majority in primetime. In addition, Golf Central will feature nearly 25 hours of combined pre-and-post event live news coverage produced on location, which will be supplemented by daily news updates on Morning Drive and Golf Channel Digital.
Hosted by the University of Oregon at Eugene Country Club, the 2016 NCAA Women’s and Men’s Golf Championships will feature teams and student-athletes who advanced from NCAA Regional Qualifying.
Golf Channel’s live tournament coverage of the women’s championships will begin on Monday, May 23 to crown the individual national champion, as well as to track the teams attempting to qualify for the eight-team match-play tournament. Golf Channel’s coverage also will include all three rounds of the team match-play tournament on Tuesday, May 24 and Wednesday, May 25. The same television coverage is planned for the men’s national championships the following week: Monday, May 30 – Wednesday, June 1.
Golf Channel NCAA Women’s Golf Championships Coverage (all times ET)
Monday, May 23
Final Round, Individual National Championship
7-10 p.m. (Live)
Tuesday, May 24
Quarterfinals, Team Match Play
1:30-3:30 p.m. (Live)
Tuesday, May 24
Semifinals, Team Match Play
6:30-10 p.m. (Live)
Wednesday, May 25
Finals, Team Match Play
6-10 p.m. (Live)
Golf Channel NCAA Men’s Golf Championships Coverage (all times ET)
Monday, May 30
Final Round, Individual National Championship
7-10 p.m. (Live)
Tuesday, May 31
Quarterfinals, Team Match Play
1:30-3:30 p.m. (Live)
Tuesday, May 31
Semifinals, Team Match Play
6:30-10 p.m. (Live)
Wednesday, June 1
Finals, Team Match Play
6-10 p.m. (Live)
Blumenherst, Castrale, Cook and Oberholser Join NCAA Broadcast Team: Newcomers to Golf Channel’s NCAA on-air team include Amanda Blumenherst – one of the most decorated women’s collegiate athletes in history from Duke University and 2008 U.S. Women’s Amateur Champion – who will join Golf Channel as a news analyst for the women’s golf championships. Golf Channel analyst Nicole Castrale also will join the live tournaments team as a course reporter for the women’s golf championships. John Cook, member of the 1979 NCAA Team National Champions at Ohio State University, will serve as a course reporter for the men’s golf championships. Golf Channel analyst Arron Oberholser will serve as a news analyst for the men’s golf championships.
Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships On-Air Teams: Golf Channel’s on-air team for the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships will include Bob Papa as play-by-play host for both the men’s and women’s golf championships. Joining Papa in the booth as lead analysts will be Lanny Wadkins for the men and Karen Stupples for the women. Curt Byrum will serve as hole announcer for both championships. Notah Begay, Billy Ray Brown and John Cook will report from the course for the men, with Brown, Nicole Castrale and Kay Cockerill reporting from the course for the women. Golf Channel’s college insider Steve Burkowski will join the broadcast booth for both championships as co-analyst.
Lisa Cornwell and Ryan Burr will host Golf Channel’s on-site news coverage for the women and men’s golf championships, respectively. Joining Cornwell will be Blumenherst, Burkowski, Golf Channel Digital senior writer Ryan Lavner and Paige Mackenzie, with Oberholser and former University of Florida men’s golf coach Buddy Alexander joining Burr, Burkowski and Lavner for the men’s golf championships.
College Central – Golf Channel Digital Coverage: Golf Channel will provide comprehensive coverage via College Central, Golf Channel Digital’s home for college golf. Led by Jay Coffin, Lavner and Burkowski, College Central will be the source for all things college golf, including tournament results and scores, features and columns, video highlights and breaking news.
ANNIKA and Haskins Award Winners to be Announced on Golf Central Tuesday, June 7: Golf Channel will announce the winners of two of the most prestigious awards in college golf – the Fred Haskins Award Presented by Stifel and the ANNIKA Award Presented by 3M – following the conclusion of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships, on a live edition of Golf Central, Tuesday, June 7 at 6 p.m. ET. The show will include profiles on the top candidates for both awards and live interviews with the winners.
The ANNIKA Award Presented by 3M honors the nation’s most outstanding female Division I collegiate golfer as selected by her peers, coaches and the golf media. The 2015 winner of the ANNIKA Award was Duke Freshman Leona Maguire, who tallied three wins and finished individual runner-up in the 2015 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships. Voting for the ANNIKA Award opens following the conclusion of the NCAA Women’s Regional Championships on Sunday, May 8 at www.AnnikaAward.com. The Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings are used to identify the top female collegiate golfers throughout the year.
Through an expanded partnership between Golf Channel, Golfweek, the Fred Haskins Commission and Stifel, the Fred Haskins Award Presented by Stifel honors the nation’s outstanding male collegiate golfer as selected by his peers. The 2015 winner of the Haskins Award was Stanford sophomore Maverick McNealy, who culminated a 2014-15 regular season with nine top-10 finishes – including six victories – the Pac-12 Championship and Pac-12 Player of the Year. The 2016 Haskins Award winner also will receive a sponsor’s exemption to compete in The Greenbrier Classic on the PGA TOUR.
Voting for the Fred Haskins Award Presented by Stifel will take place following the conclusion of the NCAA Men’s Regional Golf Championships on Thursday, May 19 at www.HaskinsAward.com. The Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings are used to identify the top male collegiate golfers throughout the year. The Fred Haskins Commission, which for the past 45 years has overseen the Fred Haskins Award presented by Stifel, also oversees the ANNIKA Award Presented by 3M.
Marathon Classic to Offer Two Exemptions From 2016 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships
The individual champion from the 2016 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships and a representative from the team national champions will once again receive exemptions to compete in the 2016 Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning and O-I.
East Lake Cup Expanding to Three Days: The East Lake Cup, taking place in late October at historic East Lake Golf Club and featuring the top-performing teams from the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships, will expand to a new three-day format for 2016. Modeled after the NCAA Golf Championships, the new format for the East Lake Cup will consist of an opening round of stroke play to crown an individual male and female champion and determine seeding for the following two days of match play competition. Golf Channel will air live coverage of the East Lake Cup Monday-Wednesday, Oct. 31-Nov. 2. Invitations for the field will be extended to the semi-finalists of the team match-play tournaments at both the 2016 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships.
ABOUT THE NCAA
The NCAA is a diverse association of more than 1,100 member colleges and universities that prioritize academics, well-being and fairness to create greater opportunities for nearly a half a million student-athletes each year. The NCAA provides a pathway to higher education and beyond for student-athletes pursuing academic goals and competing in NCAA sports. More than 54,000 student-athletes experience the pinnacle of intercollegiate athletics by competing in NCAA championships each year. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association and the corporate partnerships that support the NCAA and its student-athletes.
ABOUT GOLF CHANNEL
Golf Channel is a multimedia, golf entertainment and services company based in Orlando, Fla. Serving the most-affluent audience in all of television, Golf Channel – co-founded by Arnold Palmer in 1995 and now part of NBC Sports Group – is available in more than 200 million homes in 84 countries and 11 languages around the world. Golf Channel features more live golf coverage than all other networks combined, including tournament action from the PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour, The Open Championship, Olympics, and Ryder Cup, as well as high-quality news, instruction and original programming. Golf Channel’s digital platforms, headed by GolfChannel.com, deliver unmatched coverage of the world of golf. Fans are able to enjoy 24/7 live streaming of Golf Channel content through Golf Live Extra and NBC Sports Live Extra and select programming is simulcast via SiriusXM’s PGA TOUR Radio. In addition, Golf Channel connects the world to golf through a wide array of digital and lifestyle services including Golf Channel Mobile, a comprehensive app covering golf’s latest headlines, scores and analysis; GolfNow, the world’s largest online tee time booking platform and golf course technology partner, which includes the GolfNow Mobile App, featuring on-course GPS tracking, in-round scoring and game tracking; GolfAdvisor.com, the world’s largest golf course ratings and review resource for golfers, by golfers; a North American network of Golf Channel Academy instructional facilities; and Golf Channel Am Tour, the world’s largest amateur golf tour.
Contact:
Jeremy Friedman
Golf Channel Communications
407-355-4058
Jeremy.Friedman@golfchannel.com
