Review: The Fox Sports Golf Debut

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There must have been a reason Joe Buck opened Fox Sports' first golf telecast with an apology and a "we're not worthy" tribute to CBS, NBC and Golf Channel's production teams. Perhaps someone saw their practice runs and knew day one televising golf was going to be rough around the edges. And it was rough but not without promising signs.

Buck got off to a rough start trying too hard to be funny while Norman was more focused on telling the golf story, with only occasional discussions of himself (Click to enlarge)Fox kicked off their foray into golf with a four-hour Franklin Templeton Shootout telecast featuring a few moments of fresh twists on golf broadcasting and one compelling exchange thanks to cameraman bullying from Billy Horschel and Ian Poulter toward (I wrote about for this for The Loop). Mostly though, the telecast glitches reinforced the well-oiled nature of the incumbent golf networks, with way too many jarring cuts, announcer over-talking (especially when audio engineers picked up conversations) and a rough start for lead man Joe Buck.

Pretty much everything dreaded when USGA moved its championships to Fox Sports was evident in the initial telecast. Way too much Fox bringing attention to themselves and not enough golf. Cheesy attempts at hipster status (Buck declaring "There's some Fox attitude!" the first time rock and roll was used to commercial). And dated looking graphics employing the chunky Fox font while the Fox logo was on screen at all times yet inexplicably not given a watermark finish. (Branding baby!)

One of a few slightly elevated rear view shots that helped show off the shot players faced. Note the upper right Fox logo. (Click to enlarge)The on-screen logo blends in to a stadium setting but on a golf course? Not so much. And remember, every USGA event highlight of the next 12 years will have that logo. Pretty garrish.

The telecast also displayed glimpses of everything golf fans could hope for with the naming of Mark Loomis as coordinating producer: some fresh efforts to use drones for filming holes more tactfully (not just flying down the center as fast as possible), some excellent rear camera views to better show off course architecture, and most intriguing of all,"Fox Labs" attempts to show green contours and hole locations better.

The all-male announce team, without Holly Sonders, who starts in 2015, had a mixed day. The guys were clearly amped up early on, with nearly everyone talking too much without actually saying anything. They talked over player-caddy or player-player chats, and tried too hard to let you know they were all bonded buddies having a great time. Brad Faxon, who settled in as the day went on, was the worst over-talking culprit while Buck was almost relentless in his attempts at coolness. I'm a huge Buck fan on baseball, but his style seemed out of his element while it was Greg Norman, prone-to-windbaggery and self promotion, who mostly came off more focused on telling the tournament story instead of making the telecast about Fox's debut. (Well, there was the completely unnecessary review of that morning's 5K run for the Shootout's cause, which Norman hosted.)

Spotters were in a camera shot, not the first time cameras were obstructed by people (Click to enlarge)Steve Flesch had a strong start at the 16th hole announcer, with a pleasant style reminscent of Mark Rolfing or Gary Koch. Scott McCarron was not offensive but also not much of a presence as an on-course reporter the way Maltbie or a Pepper can raise the bar, and instructor E.A. Tischler seemed in over his head (or perhaps he was announcing from two feet under water?). Still, his instruction content was short-and-sweet compared to the bizarre call to compare Faxon and Norman's short games which then led to more lame banter for the next half hour when players were hitting wedge shots.

Faxon also had a tendency to talk quietly at times, so when he said Justin Leonard was married to Amanda with four children, it sounded like Justin Leonard was married to a man with four children. Still, talking too much is a minor offense, whereas Buck just couldn't help himself with lame jokes, attempts at coolness or suggestions that anyone besides this reviewer or friends and family were paying attention:

- "Quit squeezing me Greg" after they showed Ultimate Fighters which then led to Greg praising how chiseled the guys were

- "We're going to take a break, gather our thoughts, loosen our ties and get ready for the back nine in Naples" even though they came back on camera had not loosened their ties

Fox Labs produced this green circling the hole to some effect (Click to enlarge)- Suggesting Twitter had erupted ala the Kardashian rear-end photo when he said David Fay was the USGA Executive Director, not the former. I could find no such Tweets, which likely means the Far Hills red phone rang. Or worse, there was an in-person production truck visit.

Former Executive Director Fay came in handy with ruling situations, particularly on the 17th hole dispute when the entire team shined. Ironically, because the group sounded like their adrenaline rush had worn off by hour three, they wisely zipped up to let the hard work of sound and camera folks do the storytelling. That silence only made Buck and Norman's post-shot comments stronger. There was a slightly sarcastic reference by Norman to Poulter as "sunshine," which told you all you needed to know about Norman's thoughts on Poulter's childish behavior (without embarrassing the lad). The 17th hole moment also proved Fox can handle the inevitable controversial situations that will arise at the USGA events they will cover.

On the production side, there were way too many jarring cuts from shot to shot without dissolves or wipes, a couple of incidents of people in shots who were not players (including two Fox spotters in case), and someone telling announcers the wrong information a few times (Norman as architect of the course gracefully corrected an initial declaration that they were headed to 10, while Buck had to mop up a declaration that they were headed to commercial break when they weren't).

A high-contrast look at the 18th green contours seemed to have potential but late day shadows dulled the effect (Click to enlarge)As promised, Loomis delivered several compelling shots with a gently rising shot that took you from behind ground level to 40-or-so feet above the golfer, allowing the viewer to take in the hole. Drone shots were also adeptly employed, captured by folks who wisely started low, then raised the elevation without rushing down the fairway. With the course's interesting design features and its architect in the booth, there was plenty to look at and analyze.

And finally, for "fresh and innovative" the "Fox Labs" unveiled a high contrast attempt to show green contours to minimal-but-promising effect when used on a green without corporate chalet shadows interfering. There was also a larger green circle around the cup to better show where the hole was located. All in all, both touches were just innovative enough to show promise.

But as expected, Fox has a long way to go before they can declare themselves at the level of the other networks. As Saturday's telecast reminded us, competence in golf broadcasting is underrated and freshness overrated when you're too often making the telecast about your network instead of the tournament at hand. Granted, I understand this was their historic first go and that was to be noted, but it's a Fox tendency to let you know they are the cooler network and in golf, there is no interest in cool. We just want to see golf and be enterained.