Hilton Head Island and the Verizon Heritage will be given prime television exposure throughout the United States and around the world when this year’s PGA Tour event is broadcast live for 16 hours over four days.
Four additional hours of live coverage will air on The Golf Channel.
“Our overall exposure is going to be up,” Heritage tournament information director Arnie Burdick said. “This tournament is going to be seen all over the globe. Hilton Head and the state of South Carolina couldn’t ask for more publicity or exposure. You couldn’t pay for this.”
Rounds today and Friday will appear on The Golf Channel from 3-6 p.m., with replays of the rounds appearing from 8:30-11:30 p.m. and 12:30-3:30 a.m. each day.
Frank Navalo will be the analyst and Jerry Foltz will serve as on-course reporter.
On Saturday and Sunday, The Golf Channel will broadcast live from 1-3 p.m. CBS will pick up the coverage both days and broadcast from 3-6 p.m.
The CBS broadcast team for this year’s event will include host Jim Nantz and former Heritage champion Nick Faldo. The Englishman won on Hilton Head Island in 1984 with four rounds in the 60s for his first PGA Tour victory.
Peter Oosterhuis, Gary McCord and Ian Baker-Finch will be the tower announcers. David Feherty and Peter Kostis will be out walking the course.
The tournament will also be broadcast in 220 other countries and in 35 different languages.
Live scoring updates will be available at www.pgatour.com.
While overall exposure of the tournament may be up, the number of media outlets covering this year’s tournament is a little down.
Burdick estimates more than 400 credentials were approved but said request fell about 15 short of last year. One notable loss is the Post and Courier newspaper out of Charleston, which is struggling along with the rest of the print industry.
“I’ve been at this paper since 1982 and we have never missed it in that time,” Post and Courier sports editor Malcolm DeWitt said. “I can’t recall us missing it before then either. Just like every other newspaper in the country, we’re being forced to make some hard choices, and that was a hard one. I’m really holding out hope that this is a temporary thing and we’ll be back at Hilton Head next year.”
