Golf on TV Yearbook 07: CBS

Sal Johnson over at Golf Observer made some comments concerning CBS' golf effort this season and, in particular, after this past weekend's Barclays. Since I've been - let's say - a critic of CBS and their golf telecasts in the past few years, I thought I should weigh in as well. Sean McManus, don't say I never did anything nice for you.

This season has seen a marked improvement for the Eye in broadcasting golf. They made the moves they had to in order to improve their commentary cast. They ditched Lanny Wadkins, who was a total disaster as lead color commentator. They replaced him with one half of the best golf duo of our era, Nick Faldo (of Faldo & Zinger). They lured over Ian Baker-Finch, who really had no choice after ABC got out of the golf game for all but one week per year. More importantly, they relegated Bobby Clampett to the course where he can only make goofball comments in 3-5 second intervals.

I've always enjoyed Feherty and McCord. You'd be a moron not to enjoy their humor injected into a sport that often fails to show a sense of humor. Oostie is a professional through and through. In fact, I'm pretty sure that he was a mentor (knowingly or unknowingly) to Baker-Finch. They both present the facts in a clear manner with an anchorman's delivery, but allow themselves to show honest interest and emotion when the time is appropriate.

Faldo, when in the booth, seems to make life a lot easier for Jim Nantz. Nantz seemed to struggle dramatically with Wadkins in the booth. He had to pry Lanny for insight of any kind that was useful to the telecast. With Faldo, though, there is natural chemistry. Nantz can set up Faldo and get what he was looking for in return. Despite that, Nantz doesn't hand over the telecast to Faldo - unlike what Kelly Tilghman has a tendency to do. It works.

Peter Kostis has been appropriately positioned as more of a swing teacher and not on-course reporter or interviewer. After all, that's not really Kostis' profession. He's an instructor with some high profile clients and a lot of media exposure. Fans are probably more interested in his swing analysis and CBS has responded by showing more of that in slo-mo features and the like. This was a great decision because fans crave to know how exactly it is that the pros hit it so far, so straight, and are so good.

There are still some things missing, though. No network that broadcasts golf seems to use statistics and the thrilling ShotLink package enough. There's so much information available because of this technology, but so little is actually shared with the viewer. (Chris Lewis joins me in this crusade.) I want to know more about how often players hit fairways, what impact that has on them hitting greens, and their overall scoring trends. NO WIN ZONE. I want real data that shows how guys are making their moves. What was the turning point in a guy winning versus another fading away from view? Tell me. I'm smart enough to handle it. You don't have to go Brett Avery on me every week, but do better than John Madden would.

Finally, the courses and people that make these golf tournaments happen need to be made to come alive more on TV. Helicopter fly-bys with lousy graphics imposed on the screen don't work. They don't reveal the character of the course. If CBS were broadcasting this week from Boston, I would implore them to show the dramatic and impressive changes to TPC Boston. And most fans just don't seem to know enough about the players (not PLAYERS). Give me more features on them and not just stupid information about their favorite fish. Put together player packages like they do for pro wrestling or football or something. Make me love or hate a guy and I'll care more - or at all in the case of Brian Bateman, winner of the Buick in Michigan. (Who?!)

Overall, CBS has really come a long way this season. They have things to improve upon, but they're things that plague every golf broadcast. CBS is clearly the pick of the litter, and while that may not be saying much compared to the competition, it does say a lot.