Phelps Shifting From Coach Bob To Coach Hank

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For Immediate Release...

ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 11, 2012) – Recently crowned the most decorated Olympian in history with an astonishing 22 career Olympic medals, U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has plans for the next stage of his career: to play the world’s greatest golf courses and improve his golf game under the watchful eye of Golf Channel’s Hank Haney. The Haney Project will chronicle Phelps’ attempts to improve his game from tee-to-green with the guidance of Tiger Woods’ former swing coach when the hit original series returns for a fifth season on Golf Channel – television’s fastest-growing network among those servicing more than 80 million homes – in February 2013. The announcement was made today by Phelps and Mike McCarley, President, Golf Channel.

"I have traveled the world through swimming, but really haven’t had an opportunity to experience the world through my travels," said Phelps. "As I enter this next chapter of my life, I think I will be able to shift my competitiveness to anything I put my mind to and golf is one of the things I want to focus on. If I have a goal of dropping a certain amount of shots, or working on my short game or putting, those things are going to keep me motivated and fire me up and keep me excited. I want to play all the world's great golf courses, but I'd like to play them well. I'm excited about this project with Golf Channel and I’m looking forward to working with Hank and see what we can do together on the golf course."


"We look forward to chronicling Michael's transition from the most-decorated Olympian in history to a frustrated golfer trying to enjoy playing the world’s greatest golf courses,” McCarley said. “Golfers everywhere will be able to relate to his quest to improve his game.”

Production for fifth season of The Haney Project will begin in September.

Phelps, who received a pegboard featuring the world’s greatest golf courses as a Christmas gift last year, will follow other celebrity students who have starred on The Haney Project, including NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley, Emmy Award-winner Ray Romano and Grammy Award-winning Maroon 5 front man and mentor on NBC’s “The Voice” Adam Levine. Host of the annual Michael Phelps Foundation Golf Classic, Phelps will begin filling the pegboard when production begins in September.

Each episode of The Haney Project will follow Phelps on his quest to play better golf, whether it’s one-on-one instruction on the golf course with Haney or developing lessons he will be able to practice on his own. The series also will showcase Phelps in his own environment with cameos by famous friends and other experts who check in on him during his journey, including his mother, Debbie Phelps, and Bowman. Subway, which has a long-standing partnership with Phelps as one of its “Famous Fans,” will be joining as one of the charter sponsors of The Haney Project’s fifth season.

The first season of The Haney Project, which starred Charles Barkley in 2009, marked the highest-rated launch of an original series at that time. Earlier this year, the series joined Feherty to create a new Golf Channel primetime Monday lineup, which boosted viewership by more than 20 percent over the same time period in 2011 and more than 60 percent over 2010.

CBS Execs Do Not Mind Slow Play

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During this week's conference call, Ed Sherman asked CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus and producer Lance Barrow about slow play and not surprisingly it's not on their radar, with McManus noting that it might even add to the drama.

I’m not terribly concerned about it. Having watched a lot of golf this year, I know (slow play) has been a topic of discussion. But I haven’t seen it affect too many of the broadcasts. If they play slow because of the course conditions being tough at Kiawah, it adds to the drama.

Sherman isn't convinced and I'm actually of the mindset that CBS usually likes it when tournaments run long.  Four hour rounds for twosomes do not bother them because they simply have the tour, or in this week's case the PGA of America, adjust the tee times according. And let us never forget the importance of running long to give 60 Minutes a strong lead-in on the east coast. The real reason we're playing so late on Sundays.

"You can’t just kick off a golf telecast by showing golf anymore. No, no, you’ve gotta have a Hollywood-crafted history lesson with a somber narrator."

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SI's Gary Van Sickle is not at the Open Championship and we do miss his presence, especially when it comes to the kvetching about the R&A's weird design and coordination of operations designed to make it more difficult to do one's job.
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Big Break Greenbrier Winner To Get Exemption Into 2013 Event, No Word On Size Of Possible Appearance Fee

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For Immediate Release, but no word on possible enticements offered to the winner of golf's most cerebral television show after reports surfaced Thursday that the Greenbrier is offering appearance fees to star players:

Winner to Receive Exemption to 2013 Greenbrier Classic on the PGA TOUR
Big Break Greenbrier to Premiere Oct. 2
 
ORLANDO, Fla. (July 5, 2012) –Golf Channel’s popular Big Break reality competition series returns for its 18th season this fall at The Greenbrier resort in West Virginia – the historic retreat known as “America’s Resort” – providing the opportunity for the winner to compete alongside the PGA TOUR’s best at The Greenbrier Classic in July 2013.

Big Break Greenbrier, produced at The Greenbrier in June and scheduled to premiere Oct. 2, will feature a cast of 12 male professional golfers competing against each other in an attempt to make their lifelong dreams of playing alongside the world’s top golfers a reality. The ultimate winner will receive an exemption to The Greenbrier Classic in July 2013, cash and other prizes.

Big Break Greenbrier will unfold on the resort’s four golf courses: The Old White TPC Course – home to The Greenbrier Classic; The Greenbrier Course – a Jack Nicklaus design and home to the 1979 Ryder Cup and the 1994 Solheim Cup; The Meadows Course – a Dick Wilson and Bob Cupp design that is often referred to as the most scenic of The Greenbrier courses; and The Snead Course – the private residents’ course and a Tom Fazio design that showcases a remarkable test of strategic tee shots, precision approaches and undulating fast greens.

During the series, the competitors will reside in two deluxe, 3,000-square-foot timber-framed homes in The Greenbrier Sporting Club luxury residential community, located 3,300 feet atop Greenbrier Mountain.

“We are excited about hosting our newest Big Break season at The Greenbrier and offering the winner the opportunity to compete in the 2013 Greenbrier Classic,” said Tom Knapp, Golf Channel senior vice president of programming. “Big Break is one of the longest-running series on television and one of our most important original series franchises, and we strive to give our competitors tough tests on the golf course while showcasing a picturesque location. We accomplished both with Big Break Greenbrier.”