Birmingham , Albama based Joseph Gibbs, a cellular and cable businessman was quick to realize the ever-increasing popularity of Golf as a mainstream game and decided to convert the crazy golf popularity into hard cash. Thus came into existence ‘The Golf Channel’ founded by him. However the story of founding The Golf Channel has a rainbow tale.

Joseph Gibbs, a native of Birmingham, Alabama is a cable and cellular entrepreneur, who hosted the’90 PGA Championship, which is one of the first professional golf tournament ever. Gibbs played host to the tournament for Arnold and Winnie Palmer. They eventually built a strong friendship that gave way to what was to become a 24-hour cable network that was devoted entirely for the sport.

Consequent upon a Gallup survey, which gave evidence of strong public interest in golf, Gibbs and his golf legend were convinced that assisted by golf lovers in general, the conceived golf channel could be a reality and would flourish.

By’95, the new corporation had raised over $80 million to finance and launch The Golf Channel. It debuted with less than 1,000 cable subscribers. The Golf Channel’s first live televised tournament was the Dubai Desert Classic which debuted on January’,'95.

Since then, The Golf Channel has grown by leaps and bounds in popularity. Many cable and satellite dish systems now carry The Golf Channel as part of their regular lineup of channels. It is now broadcast in Japan and Canada and in’99, reached a “break even” status on their financial statements.

Today, The Golf Channel is considered the place to go for golf news and programming. They have a daily golf news show called “Golf Central” along with “College Central” which is dedicated to college golf. They air highlight shows of past tournaments and have many programs with professionals handing out golf tips to the eager viewer.

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 also spearheaded a special event in 2005 called Big Stakes Golf, which offered a $100,000 entry fee for a team of two that will win the special tournament. This ultimately became the largest golfing event in history of the sport, which declared both Garth Mulroy and David Ping as the grand prize winners.

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!

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