With the ever-rising popularity of the game of golf, mainstream television decided they needed to cash in on the golf craze and founded The Golf Channel. The history of this cable phenomenon is really a storied one.

In’90, cable and cellular entrepreneur Joseph Gibbs of Birmingham, Alabama, offered to host a professional golfer for the’90 PGA Championship. Mr. Gibbs was ecstatic to learn he would be hosting Arnold and Winnie Palmer during the week of the tournament. A friendship was instantly born and as the friendship blossomed so did the discussion of a 24-hour cable network devoted entirely to golf.

A Gallup survey was then conducted soon after the initial talk of partnership, such that Gibbs could get a general consensus of the public interest. Although not entirely surprising, Gibbs was pleased that the survey confirmed the strong interest that the public had for the sport, such that the Golf Channel was officially launched. The entrepreneur and golf legend worked closely together in delivering Golf Channel to the public to fulfill their craving for golf action and promote more of this sport.

Both individuals worked together in financing and providing adequate funds to launch The Golf Channel and once they were able to put together up to $80 million, the channel was launched in’95. During the channel’s debut, it was able to garner up to 1,000 cable subscribers. The first live tournament was televised over The Golf Channel on January’,'95 and featured the Dubai Dessert Classic.

Since its initial launching, The Golf Channel has come a long way and become more and more popular. A great majority of satellite dish and cable networks now offer The Golf Channel in their lineup of channel offerings. During’99, this channel was also shown over Japan and Canada such that the entrepreneurs behind this program were able to regain their initial investment for the business venture.

The Golf Channel is now visualized as place to refer for all golf related news and future programs. The Channel also broadcasts a program called ‘College Central’ to focus on college related golf along with a program called ‘Golf Central’ which covers daily golf news on the globe. Besides, highlight of past golf tournaments and tips from golf professionals and legends for the curious viewers are also broadcast on the channel.

The Golf Channel also partnered with a reality-base program, The Big Break. The main concept behind the show is to train aspiring golf professionals and be able to enter major golfing events such as PGA Tour and LPGA events. This also proved to be a success.

The Golf Channel, in 2005, helped sponsoring a special tournament of two-player teams, named ‘Big Stakes’ which doled out a largest ever prize money of $3,000,000 to the winning team, prize money being the largest in history of any golf event. The entry fee for this tournament was however a smashing $100,000 for a two-member team. Garth Mulroy and David Ping, professionals from mini-tour circuit, were the winners of the first prize that was split between the two.

Two guys had a dream – one with business savvy, and one with golf savvy – and when The Golf Channel was born, that dream became a reality. Many households depend on The Golf Channel for their daily golf news – and this author’s household is no different. We love The Golf Channel – and you will too!

Popularity: 4% [?]