The Golf Channel’s slogan, “Golf’s Home,” has always been more of
a marketing gimmick than reality. But there will finally be some truth in
advertising on January 4, when the cable network begins its 15-year contract
with the PGA Tour to broadcast the first two rounds of every event (except
majors) and full coverage of 13 tournaments. That’s 114 PGA Tour rounds a year,
in addition to the dozens from the LPGA, European, Champions and Nationwide
tours.
The man in charge of keeping track of all the balls in the air is
production chief Tony Tortorici. “This is a lot like getting ready for an
Olympics except than an Olympics goes away after two weeks,” says Tortorici.
“We’re reinventing how golf is going to be done. We like to do things people
don’t expect.”
One surprise has been his announcing team of analyst Nick Faldo
and longtime Golf Channel anchor and host Kelly Tilghman, the first female
play-by-play announcer for PGA Tour telecasts. She got the nod over her male
counterparts despite never having done live play-by-play, although she performed
well in two tryouts.
“They just bring a little different perspective,” says Tortorici.
“While there may be some disappointment [among the other on-air talent], they
realize that there aren’t many better places to be working now in sports
television. It’s such a vibrant place to be. Besides, there’s plenty of work to
go around.”
Tortorici, who spent 20 years with ABC producing college football
and basketball before joining the Orlando-based Golf Channel in 1999, is
familiar with juggling so many telecasts. “We had five or six football games on
a Saturday,” he recalls, “with a lot of split-second decision making, so I’ve
been through all that.”
When he started at the golf network, Tortorici thought he would be playing
more, but that hasn’t been the case recently. “It hasn’t been easy to play,
especially this past year. But I feel lucky to be in a job that’s challenging
and something I really like being around.”
