FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 2nd, 2019
GOLF Channel Adds Fifth Collegiate Event to its Programming Slate with Newly-Created Maridoe Collegiate Invitational, Sept. 14-16, 2020
Taking Place at Maridoe Golf Club Near Dallas, Maridoe Collegiate Invitational to be Televised to a Worldwide Audience in More Than 50 Countries
ORLANDO, Fla., May 2, 2019 – GOLF Channel today announced a multi-year partnership with Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas, to create and televise the Maridoe Collegiate Invitational, a new men’s college golf championship that will take place September 14-16, 2020. The Maridoe Collegiate Invitational, which will be televised in more than 50 countries, will become the fifth annual collegiate golf event to air on GOLF Channel. The announcement was made today by Albert Huddleston for Maridoe Golf Club and Tom Knapp, executive vice president, programming and partnerships, GOLF Channel.
“We look forward to our collaboration with GOLF Channel by introducing the Maridoe Collegiate Invitational to a worldwide audience and showcasing great golf at one of the best tests of golf anywhere in the country in Maridoe Golf Club,” said Huddleston.
“As we continue to expand our college golf platform, partnering with Maridoe Golf Club to create a new collegiate event in Dallas underscores GOLF Channel’s commitment to raising the profile of college golf and showcasing the sport’s future stars,” said Knapp.
The Maridoe Collegiate Invitational will be a 54-hole team and individual stroke play championship that will feature top Division I men’s golf programs from throughout the country. Teams will be announced at a later date. GOLF Channel will deliver live tournament coverage Monday-Wednesday, Sept. 14-16, complemented by on-site news and digital coverage.
Maridoe Golf Club officially opened in 2017. Maridoe and its membership are dedicated to continuing the legacy of championship golf in North Texas. In its short existence, Maridoe has hosted the 2018 Texas Golf Association’s Texas Shootout and Four-Ball Championship, and will host the 2019 Texas Mid-Amateur Championship, the Trans-Mississippi Championship and the 2020 Southern Amateur Championship.
The Maridoe Collegiate Invitational joins the NCAA Women’s and Men’s Division I Golf National Championships, the East Lake Cup Collegiate Match Play Championship and the Western Intercollegiate presented by Topgolf as the five collegiate tournaments airing on GOLF Channel. The Western Intercollegiate presented by Topgolf, one of the longest-running college golf tournaments in the U.S. The 73rd edition was contested April 15-17 at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif., with Stanford sweeping the individual and team titles. The East Lake Cup, created by GOLF Channel and East Lake Golf Club, is a three-day fall championship that invites the eight semifinalists from the previous NCAA men’s and women’s golf championships. The East Lake Cup is hosted at historic East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga., and benefits the East Lake Foundation. In total, GOLF Channel is airing more than 50 live tournament hours of college and amateur golf coverage in 2019, the most of any television network.
GOLF Channel is the television home for college golf. Following its announcement in 2013 as the exclusive television provider of the NCAA Golf Championships, GOLF Channel has provided live coverage of the men’s NCAA championships since 2014 and the women’s NCAA championships since 2015, which now are hosted at the same venue in consecutive weeks in May. The 2019 NCAA Women’s and Men’s Golf National Championships will take place at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., May 17-29, where GOLF Channel will dedicate more than 100 hours of combined news and tournament coverage.
Leading up to the NCAA Golf Championships, GOLF Channel’s six weeks of college golf coverage includes the NCAA women’s and men’s regional selections shows (April 24 and May 1, respectively) and regional championships digital coverage. Throughout the collegiate golf season, GOLF Channel deploys its comprehensive portfolio of news, digital and social media coverage year-round in covering collegiate golf, including specials for regional and national qualifying, on-site and wraparound news from golf’s biggest college events, and year-end award shows for the Haskins and ANNIKA Awards presented by Stifel.
Also on Monday, May 6 at 9 p.m. ET, GOLF Channel will premiere its second season of Driven, a four-part documentary series that will follow the journeys of the University of Alabama men’s golf team and their “Iron Bowl” rivalry with Auburn University as they look to return to the NCAA Golf National Championships in May. The series also will follow reigning NCAA national champions Oklahoma State Cowboys as they look to defend their 2018 title. Season two of Driven is co-executive produced by PGA TOUR superstars Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas.
-NBC Sports Group-
