Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

PGA Championship Spotlight, Part 1: Video-Gamification of Golf's Final Major Changes How Viewers See the Sport

10/08/2018

PGA Championship Spotlight, Part 1: Video-Gamification of Golf's Final Major Changes How Viewers See the Sport Shot-tracer technology, live green animations, 4D replays enhance insight into the game By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Friday, August 10, 2018 - 10:45 am

Print This Story

Story Highlights

Golf has a reputation for being very much set in its ways. It's a game romantically - at times, stubbornly - steeped in tradition, a sport not exactly known for living on the bleeding edge.

CBS Sports and Turner Sports' joint coverage of the PGA Championship - which continues through Sunday on TNT and CBS - has spent the past few years blowing those notions to smithereens.

Toptracer technology provides a real-time look at the path of a shot off the tee. For the first time, CBS and Turner are able to offer Toptracer on all 18 tees, as well as in selected circumstances on golfers' second shots off the fairway.

In fact, viewers of this weekend's tournament, the final major of the golf season, may feel that they're watching a new videogame more than an old sepia-toned film. Turner and CBS are rolling out a slew of technologies - live ball tracking, green mapping, even 360-camera rigs - designed to give the viewer insight they've never enjoyed before.

The approach may be surprising to the casual observer, but it's widely embraced by many who both cover and consume the sport.

This audience is a bit more progressive than we give them credit for, in terms of what they'll accept on screen, says Matt Kane, an associate producer for Turner Sports. He is overseeing much of the Thursday and Friday coverage, which airs on TNT; the action flips over to CBS air on Saturday and Sunday. I believe that, when you don't see many of these elements, it leaves you as a golf viewer wanting more. These things have become expected now, especially at a major championship.

So, as golf's best tackle the course at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, these innovations are blasting their way onto viewer screens:

Toptracer

Perhaps the most impactful technological development of the past few years on CBS Sports and Turner Sports' golf coverage has been the integration of Toptracer. 3D radar tracking enables the real-time graphic display of the true path of a ball.

Shown on screen as a red line, Toptracer allows the broadcaster to show flight direction, speed, the height apex, and even the curve of the shot. When used correctly, it's golf's version of the yellow 1st & and Ten line. It's at that level of importance to the viewing experience.

Says Kane, The Toptracer technology is a game-changer in the coverage of this sport, for sure.

Toptracer is not new (it was first used for the 2016 PGA Championship, at Baltusrol in Springfield, NJ) but is being deployed much more aggressively this year. In the past, the tracer was available only on the tee shot from selected holes. Now it's available on all 18 tee boxes and, with the addition of Toptracer RF, is available even on some second shots from the fairway. Two RF cameras roaming the course are outfitted with the Toptracer technology, allowing additional use of the onscreen enhancement.

Toptracer data is married with a 3D rendering of the hole to give viewers a live animation of a tee shot in-flight.

It's really exciting because, from my experience, that's what fans want to see, says Harold Bryant, executive producer/SVP, production, CBS Sports. It's a great tool that will help us make this an even more exciting event.

The broadcasters also leverage Toptracer data to create what is called the ARL Virtual Eye. During the event, golfers on their tee shots will be shown with a 3D map of the hole on the right side of a split screen. With the combination of the Toptracer data and a virtual flyover of the hole, viewers get a highly accurate real-time look at where a drive is headed along the fairway and when it eventually comes to rest.

Execs from both Turner and CBS note the importance of these kinds of storytelling tools in broadcasts from a course that many viewers may not be familiar with. Bellerive has not hosted a major championship since 1992.

The Tracer technology has become integral to [our storytelling process] in broadcasting the sport of golf, says Kane. We've fully embraced it, along with the animations we've added. Viewers are very familiar with seeing Augusta every year, but, when you have a course like Bellerive, I think a fair amount of our job initially is to educate the viewer on what the course is like and how it plays. All of our technology direction is going towards that mission.

Hawk-Eye Green Technology

Broadcast tech at this PGA Championship is also solving the mystery of the green. For many years, broadcasters have used different technologies, such as grids and moving arrows, to show what undulations a golfer faces when putting. Although there will still be plenty of that on this show, CBs and Turner are deploying Hawk-Eye for a new approach to putting.

Hawk-Eye technology allowing CBS and Turner to offer a new look at putting, displaying a path to success based on data on swing power and green layout.

Hawk-Eye is known for its game-changing work on official reviews in tennis and on goal-line technology in soccer. Now the Sony-owned tech developer is changing how viewers watch putts, not by outlining the hills and curves of the green but by offering a predicted path to success. A shaded area is sandwiched between the line of a hard, powerful putt to the back of the hole and a curved line for a softer, finesse putt. The idea is that, if a golfer's putt leaves that shaded area, the putt will be off target.

According to Bryant, the technology is available for use on four holes this year, and the front bench is likely to call on it w
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2018/08/10/pga-championship-spotlight-part...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

26/06/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 21: Minnesota Vikings Allan Wertheimer - Large-Scale Shows in Minny

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

26/06/2026

Strike Fighter League Announces Second Online Tournament, Set for July 25 in Las Vegas

Strike Fighter League (SFL), a professional air combat digital sport combining f...

26/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: Wisycom Announces MPR60 Firmware Update, MATF Antenna Matrix, and PFL RFoF Box

Wisycom has announced three new additions to its professional wireless ecosystem...

26/06/2026

Eurovision Services Inaugurates Expanded Master Control Room in Madrid

Eurovision Services inaugurated an expanded Master Control Room (MCR) in Madrid on June 1, 2026, building on a broadcast hub the company has operated in the cit...

26/06/2026

Midco Sports and University of North Dakota Renew Broadcast and Sponsorship Partnership

Midco Sports and the University of North Dakota (UND) have announced a two-year ...

26/06/2026

G&D and VuWall Appoint Vutec as Exclusive South Africa Distributor

Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall, both part of the Panoptec Technologies Group, have appointed Vutec (Pty) Ltd as exclusive distributor for their KVM and ...

26/06/2026

Visit Seattle Launches Drone Scoreboard at Space Needle for FIFA World Cup 2026

Visit Seattle, the official destination marketing organization for Seattle and King County, has launched what it describes as the world's first drone scoreb...

26/06/2026

CP Communications Provides RF and Wireless Support for 2026 NBA Draft at Barclays Center

CP Communications provided RF video, audio, and crew communications support for ...

26/06/2026

Reimagined MoonPay X Games League Kicks Off With Three-Day Event in Sacramento

Produced by longtime partner Echo Entertainment, the action-sports property is now a team-based year-round league The inaugural season of the MoonPay X Games L...

26/06/2026

MultiDyne Acquires MRMC, Expands into Camera Robotics and Motion Control

The deal establishes MultiDyne Robotics and Motion Control, maintaining the well-known MRMC brand.MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems has acquired the assets ...

26/06/2026

TNT Sports Heads Into Year 2 of NASCAR Return With New NEP Truck, Expanded In-Car Experience

PX1 will debut at Sonoma as TNT leans into super-slo-mo, drones, SMT data integr...

26/06/2026

Ratings Roundup: USMNT-Australia Draws 23M Viewers; Mexico-South Korea Is Most-Watched Spanish-Language Soccer Match Ever

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

26/06/2026

David Kuckhermann brings calabash to Celemony Tonalic

Virtual session musician plug-in gains new percussion options Celemony's latest update for their virtual session musician platform complements the exist...

26/06/2026

Softube unveil the Console 1 Compact

Half-size model joins Console 1 line-up Shortly after the release of their new Flow Studio controller, Softube have announced the launch of another new surf...

26/06/2026

ELT Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial opportunities in electromagnetic warfare and defense

ELT Group and Rohde & Schwarz sign a cooperation agreement to explore commercial...

26/06/2026

Lightware Powers Teddy Swims UK And Europe Tour With Adva...

For Teddy Swims sold-out I've Tried Everything But Therapy tour, event technology specialists, PRG, provided video, automation and lighting across 19 date...

26/06/2026

Taurus TPN powers AV workflows at NurnbergMesse

Modern exhibition and event venues face the challenge of seamlessly integrating traditional conference technology, professional broadcast workflows and IP-based...

26/06/2026

FCC Adopts New Cybersecurity Requirements for Alerting Systems

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/06/2026

Study: Roku Most Used But Not Highest Rated Streaming Platform

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/06/2026

Samsung Ads Announces First Shoppable CTV Partners

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/06/2026

Gray Media Names Annie Cordell General Manager of WMBF

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

26/06/2026

Neko Oji: The Guy That Got Reincarnated as a Cat Edited with DaVinci Resolve Studio

Neko Oji: The Guy That Got Reincarnated as a Cat Edited with DaVinci Resolve Stu...

26/06/2026

Adobe to Acquire Topaz Labs

Adobe to Acquire Topaz Labs Brie Clayton June 25, 2026 0 Comments Adobe has seen strong demand for its AI products for creatives, including Adobe Fire...

26/06/2026

Berklee Students Earn Dedicated Section at Raindance Film Festival in London

Berklee Students Earn Dedicated Section at Raindance Film Festival in London Five documentary short films produced in the Africana Studies Department screen a...

26/06/2026

Automating post-production workflows with Baselight, Daylight, Nara & FilmLight API. New York. 8 July 2026

Catch up on the latest developments across Baselight and Daylight v7, Nara and F...

26/06/2026

DFT installs second Polar HQ at China News Film Confirming Position as China's Leading 8K Film Preservation Partner

26. June 2026 News DFT is pleased to announce that a second Polar HQ film s...

26/06/2026

New documentary Freedom Founder: Thomas McKean and the American Revolution comes to RT

New documentary Freedom Founder: Thomas McKean and the American Revolution airs ...

25/06/2026

Launching a Career in Broadcast Engineering: Academic Paths and Essential Certifications

Launching a Career in Broadcast Engineering: Academic Paths and Essential Certif...

25/06/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Jude Kieffer, Ball State University

This superstar shooter/storyteller from Central Indiana hopes to make his mark in the blossoming sports-documentary and -features space In the live-sports-vid...

25/06/2026

Presidio and NHL Renew Multiyear North American Technology Partnership

Presidio and the National Hockey League have announced a multiyear renewal of their North American partnership. Presidio will remain an Official Technology Inno...

25/06/2026

Strike Fighter League Hits the Industry as First Professional Air Combat Sport

Strike Fighter League (SFL) is the world's first professional air combat digital sport that combines elite human performance and physical immersion with cut...

25/06/2026

Rise Reveals 2026 Worldwide Mentoring Cohorts to Support Future Industry Leaders

Rise, the award-winning advocacy group for gender diversity in the broadcast and media technology sector, is pleased to announce the global mentoring cohort for...

25/06/2026

MLB Network To Air American Association of Professional Baseball All-Star Game for First Time on July 15

The 2026 American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) All-Star Game will...

25/06/2026

Mediaproxy Partners with HVS for U.S. Broadcast Market

Mediaproxy has named Heartland Video Systems (HVS) as its exclusive partner for US television broadcasting. The Wisconsin-based systems integrator will represen...

25/06/2026

Backblaze Inks Five-Year Multi-Exabyte Data Storage Agreement with CoreWeave

Backblaze has formed an agreement with CoreWeave to create The Essential Cloud for AI. Under the multi-exabyte, $335 million agreement, Backblaze will provide...

25/06/2026

Clear-Com FreeSpeak Cell Tested by RTL Deutschland on 5G Network at Nrburgring

Clear-Com has announced the successful deployment and testing of FreeSpeak Cell by RTL Deutschland during a live event production at the N rburgring race circui...

25/06/2026

Mobile TV Group Launches Full-Stack MTVG Production Platform, Powers Angels Broadcast Television

Mobile TV Group (MTVG) has announced the launch of the MTVG Production Platform,...

25/06/2026

Sony Pictures Entertainment Announces $100 Million Investment in Cosm

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has announced a $100 million strategic investment in Cosm as lead investor in the company's Series C financing round, acqu...

25/06/2026

FOX Sports Renews Concacaf Gold Cup Rights and Adds Nations League Through 2029

FOX Sports and Concacaf have announced a multi-year media rights agreement making FOX Sports the U.S. English-language home of the Concacaf Gold Cup and Concaca...

25/06/2026

InfoComm 2026: Daktronics and Grass Valley Win rAVe Pubs Best Solution for Large Venue or Live Events

Daktronics and Grass Valley have received the rAVe Pubs Best Solution for Large ...

25/06/2026

Music Production for Women announce Soundlab 2026

Six free workshops across two days Global music education platform Music Production for Women (MPW), have just announced a brand new and highly anticipated ...

25/06/2026

CIOKS launch the DC7 v2

Popular pedalboard PSU gets an upgrade The DC7 v2 is a new and improved version of CIOKS' renowned effects pedal PSU, and is said to be the thinnest, mo...

25/06/2026

Rev Ocean reverb from Arturia

Optimised for lush, enveloping sounds Described as an instantly rewarding reverb , the latest addition to Arturia's range of creative effects plug-ins ...

25/06/2026

Just 48 hours until GearExpo UK!

27 June 2026, Westminster University Harrow Campus GearExpo UK is now upon us, with just two days to go until 150 of the worlds top pro-audio brands and ind...

25/06/2026

The Name You Know, The Lineup You'll Love - SBS2 Returns

The Name You Know, The Lineup You'll Love - SBS2 Returns 25 June, 2026 Media releases SBS Viceland rebrands as SBS2 on Friday 21 August, bringing the c...

25/06/2026

Sports and Dramas Drive April Viewing Patterns in Nielsen's Latest Gauge Reports

Cable Gains Share for Second Consecutive Month in Six-Month-High Finish, Boosted...