FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 27th, 2019

LIVE COVERAGE OF THE 2019 NCAA MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS KICKS OFF TODAY ON GOLF CHANNEL

Two National Championships to be Decided Over a Three-Day Span – Individual (Today, May 27) and Team (Wed., May 29)

 Top-Eight Teams Qualify for Team Match Play Starting Tuesday

Live Coverage of NCAA Men’s Golf Championships Monday-Wednesday on GOLF Channel

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., May 27, 2019 – Coming on the heels of Wednesday’s dramatic championship match where Duke defeated Wake Forest in a playoff to claim their seventh NCAA women’s golf team national championship, today GOLF Channel returns to the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., kicking off three days of live coverage of the 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf National Championships.

GOLF Channel’s coverage begins with the final round of the individual stroke play national championship. Reigning NCAA national champions Oklahoma State boasts the top two players on the leaderboard heading into the final round: Matthew Wolff (-7) leads by two strokes over teammate Austin Eckroat (-5). GOLF Channel will prepare viewers for the final round with Golf Central Pre Game from 2-4 p.m. ET, followed by live tournament coverage from 4-8 p.m. ET.

The top eight teams will advance to team match play competition on Tuesday to ultimately determine the team national champion. GOLF Channel will air the quarterfinals of team match play on Tuesday from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. ET, followed by the semifinals from 4-8 p.m. ET. On Wednesday, the national championship match will air from 4-8 p.m. ET.

Golf Central will surround live tournament coverage with pre- and post-event news produced on-site at the Blessings Golf Club, along with daily news updates on Morning Drive. The NCAA Men’s Golf Championships is connecting 14 consecutive days of live tournament coverage. In total, GOLF Channel will air more than 50 live tournament hours of college and amateur coverage in 2019, the most of any television network.

News and tournament coverage of the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships also will be streamed via GOLF Digital,

NCAA Men’s Golf Championships Airtimes (all times ET)

Monday, May 27        Individual National Championship     4-8 p.m. ET (Live)

Tuesday, May 28        Quarterfinals, Team Match Play         11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. ET (Live)

Tuesday, May 28        Semifinals, Team Match Play             4-8 p.m. ET (Live)

Wednesday, May 29   Team National Championship            4-8 p.m. ET (Live)

NCAA Men’s Golf Championships Broadcast Team:

Bob Papa – Play-by-Play

Curt Byrum – Lead Analyst

Steve Burkowski – Hole Announcer

Notah Begay – On Course Reporter

Billy Ray Brown – On Course Reporter

John Cook – On Course Reporter

Chantel McCabe – Interviews

George Savaricas – Golf Central Host

Arron Oberholser – Golf Central Analyst

Ryan Lavner – College Insider

Chantel McCabe – Reporter

FEATURES: GOLF Channel will air several features during the course of the three days of coverage, including:

  • Jason Enloe (SMU) – Last year, tragedy struck Jason Enloe and his family. His 35-year old wife, Katie, passed away in January of 2018. Jason now has to raise his two young daughters alone, while coaching his SMU men’s team. Support has been great for Enloe, as his squad rallied around him, as Enloe continues to try to juggle his new life. Ryan Lavner shares the story of the Enloes and their new reality.
  • Cole Hammer (Texas) – The Texas Freshman has all the tools to be the next great Longhorn, but as Chantel McCabe reports, there’s a long way to go for Hammer to become the next Crenshaw or Spieth.
  • Collin Morikawa (Cal) – What’s it like to be one of the best golfers in the country? Then add a full course load at one of the best colleges in the nation. Ryan Lavner shares how Cal’s Collin Morikawa juggles golf and school, and excels at both.
  • Justin Suh (USC) – One of the best amateur players in the world was struggling on the collegiate level. He found that the mental side of golf was his biggest issue. George Savaricas shares the secrets of Justin Suh’s mental game and how it has allowed this Trojan star to reach new heights.
  • Matt Wolff (Oklahoma State) – The golf swing. Usually, having a unique one isn’t always the best thing. In the case of Matt Wolff, ‘If ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ The swing of Matt Wolff is fresh and fun, but to everyone but his opponents, as he is now one of the best golfers in the NCAA. Ryan Lavner reports.

DIGITAL AND SOCIAL COVERAGE: GOLF Digital will feature expanded editorial coverage of the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships from its team of writers via College Central. Coverage will include scoring updates, features, analysis and reaction. Ryan Lavner and Brentley Romine will contribute on-site at the Blessings Golf Club. On-site social media coverage will include dedicated Facebook Live activations, as well as Instagram and Twitter content via the network’s social media handles. Social media host Alexandra O’Laughlin will contribute on-site during the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships, featuring live activations with on-air personalities and student-athletes in the field. Social media also will be integrated into the NCAA Golf Championships live tournaments and news coverage using the Hashtag #NCAAGolf.

ANNIKA AWARD AND HASKINS AWARD WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED ON GOLF CENTRAL TUESDAY, JUNE 4: The winners of two of the most prestigious awards in college golf – the ANNIKA Award and Haskins Award, both presented by Stifel – will be announced live on Golf Central, Tuesday, June 4 at 6 p.m. ET. The show will include profiles on the top candidates for the awards and live interviews with the winners, who also will receive an exemption to compete in the 2020 Evian Championship and the 2019 A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier, respectively. The ANNIKA Award and Haskins Award honor the nation’s most outstanding female and male Division I collegiate golfer as selected by their peers, coaches and the golf media.

MATCH PLAY SEMIFINAL TEAMS TO EARN INVITATIONS TO EAST LAKE CUP: The East Lake Cup, taking place in late October at historic East Lake Golf Club, will feature the top-performing teams from the 2019 NCAA Women’s and Men’s Golf Championships. Invitations for the field will be extended to the semifinalists of the team match play rounds at both championships. Modeled after the NCAA Golf Championships, the format for the East Lake Cup consists of an opening round of stroke play to crown an individual male and female champion and to determine seeding for the following two days of match play competition. GOLF Channel will air exclusive live coverage of the competition.

GOLF Channel is the television home for college golf, televising five college golf events. GOLF Channel became the exclusive television provider of the NCAA Golf Championships in 2013, and has provided live coverage of the men’s NCAA championships since 2014 and the women’s NCAA championships since 2015 – both now hosted at the same venue in consecutive weeks in May.

GOLF Channel also televises the Western Intercollegiate presented by Topgolf, one of the longest running college 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 championship that invites the eight semifinalists from the previous NCAA men’s and women’s golf championships. Hosted at historic East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga., in October, the competition benefits the East Lake Foundation. In 2020, GOLF Channel will televise the Maridoe Collegiate Invitational, a new 54-hole men’s team and individual stroke place college championship. The network also 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.

-NBC Sports Group-