TV Coverage of Golf

[Ulsterman1930]

When it comes to coverage of golf the BBC leads by a mile. Peter Alliss is not everyone's cup of tea, however he is hard to better when it comes down to the game itself, how it should be played and administered. Mind you he served a good apprenticeship under Henry Longhurst. Ken Brown would appear to be groomed as the successor to Alliss and this would not be a bad move. Last weeks coverage of the BWW PGA Masters was superb from start to finish, the only BLACK SPOT was the introduction of Bruce Forsythe and his gabblings on how he made a success of Al Fayed's bonanza recently. The person responsible for inviting him into the lounge deserves a severe kick up the a**e !

 

[birdieman]

Lay off Brucie, he's a class act, agree that Alliss and Brown are great, Wayne Grady is a good commentator too, not sure about Torrance. Faldo is an excellent commentator on the US coverage, Beeb could try and poach him. His knowledge of swings is as good as anyone's.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I have to say that Alliss and Brown are a great pairing who compliment each other perfectly. However that said I also think that Murray and Critchley over on Sky take some beating and I much prefer the on course team at Sky.

Howard Clark tells it how it is and if a player hits a poor shot or the lie is bad he will say so. Richard Boxall adds a bit of humour with his tales of his time on tour. He seems to have a horror story for virtually every hole covered where he or his partners seem to have come to grief at some point in time. Wayne Grady is just something else. He is totally left field and I love some of the phrases he uses to describe the action. I think he is Europes answer to David Feherty on the US coverage (who I also love).

I'm afraid this is one area the BBC really need to improve on. Maureen Modahl is great as she has a knack of getting close in to the action and is actually quite informative but the rest lack something (presentation skills, an in-built ability to describe the scene - not sure what but something is missing)

We have covered the presenting side of things and I think it is pretty universal that Lineker is rubbish. I think the Rob Lee/Di Stewart combo are great and the fact that they have golfers in the studio means that armchair fans really get an understanding of why someone played a certain shot and the swing fundamentals involved.

Setanta are doing an ok job but I think Dominic Holyer has shown in recent weeks that he is out of his depth. Sarah Stirk and Roland Rafferty work well as a studio team but Coltart tries too hard to be the funny guy and there is just something about Jay Townsend that I don't like.

The reason Bruce Forsyth was on the BBC coverage is simple. He lives on/near the course and is always there in the members only area. He is BBC staff and so cheap to get on for "filler" if necessary. Sadly without an autocue or script he is like a fish out of water and can't ad lib or think on his feet. It is another sign of BBC dumbing down that they feel the public would want to hear his views as an average golfer or they feel the need call on so called "celebrities" to enhance their coverage.

 

[Dodger]

Cannot believe nobody has mentioned THE star of T.V.golf coverage Wayne Riley! This guy is superb I could listen to him all day.
I've got to say I think that Brown apart the BBC coverage is getting worse and worse.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I put down Wayne Grady but actually meant Riley. The guy is class

 

[shanker]

Peter Alliss is not everyone's cup of tea, however he is hard to better when it comes down to the game itself, how it should be played and administered. Mind you he served a good apprenticeship under Henry Longhurst.

Agree with you Ulsterman. Alliss is the best. I could listen to him all day. I know he does drop the odd clanger but who cares?
What happened to Alex Hay? On the question of Lineker, I've never actually heard him commentate but wonder why we should have footie players talking about golf. Imagine Alex Ferguson on Wimbledon or the Ashes!

 

[brendy]

I think the mistake line acre made was thinking that because he was a golfer, he could commentate.
I love my golf but would never in a million years think of taking on a hosting job as I just dont know enough about the game nor have filler annecdotes, that is why murray walker, peter Aliss, Alex Hay, ted lowe etc are all respected in their own fields of expertise. They are a rare breed.
On a slight aside, I hope F1 coming back to bbc one next year will get someone asking murray to come back, he hinted that he would think about it if asked.

 

[USER1999]

The bbc team are fine, but the coverage is terrible. I think I saw more shots of rhododendrons than golf, and they only seemed to follow about 4 groups. Too many shots of the crowd, kids, people aseep, eating ice cream, whatever. Theremust have been some golf on they could have shown.

 

[OldWindy]

On a slight aside, I hope F1 coming back to bbc one next year will get someone asking murray to come back, he hinted that he would think about it if asked.

Just don't tell jug-ears - he'll want that job, too.

 

[Nico]

I think PA is top drawer,but I would give up listening to him if we could get the Sky team for Wentworth/Open etc.

Homer,it Ronan not Roland.

We definately need a "Keep the Crisp Chaser Off The Screen" movement.

 

[muttleee]

I think the mistake line acre made was thinking that because he was a golfer, he could commentate.
I love my golf but would never in a million years think of taking on a hosting job as I just dont know enough about the game nor have filler annecdotes, that is why murray walker, peter Aliss, Alex Hay, ted lowe etc are all respected in their own fields of expertise.

The funny thing is that most people thought Steve Rider was great despite him not being an ex-pro.

 

[Wildrover]

The thing is that Rider and Jug Ears are not commentators, they are presenters doing the pieces to camera etc they do not commentate on live action. Steve Rider was far and away the king of that.
Murph, you will get your wish next year as the PGA, Loch Lomond and Brit Masters all switch to Sky, leaving the Beeb with the Masters and Open only.