"Why would Dottie Pepper walk away from a big job covering televised golf?"

If you're missing Dottie Pepper's on-course announcing on NBC as I am, check out Ron Sirak's Golf World profile this week.

Pepper talks about life after playing and television.

Her decision, conveyed last October to executive producer and senior vice president of Golf Channel Molly Solomon, stunned everyone. Pepper, who stepped behind the microphone full-time in 2005, had emerged as one of the most respected commentators and, along with mentor Judy Rankin, was a pioneer for women in covering the men's game.

"We could have made a how-to tape from her work last year at the Ryder Cup and FedEx Cup," says Tommy Roy, producer, live tournaments/Golf Channel on NBC. "She was unbelievably good. I would call Molly and say, 'Dottie said X today at such and such a time. Put it in the seminar [for other announcers].' It surprised us all that she quit. It was kind of like when [former NFL great] Barry Sanders retired [at 31]."

Those who worked with her agree that, as an announcer, Pepper's biggest strength was her preparation. "She always had a tidbit about a player, the course or the event," Roy says. She was also candid and possessed the crucial and hard-to-teach skill necessary for TV work: knowing when to jump in and out, rarely interrupting and never rambling.

Sirak also talked to Ryan Herrington for a Golf World Preview podcast about visiting Pepper in upstate New York and how Dottie was bulletin/dart board material at the Solheim Cup.