Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Taking Golf Virtual, TGL Competition Inspires Unconventional Golf Sound

07/01/2025

Taking Golf Virtual, TGL Competition Inspires Unconventional Golf Sound The production's A1: Try to imagine combining a WWF show with a cocktail party' By Dan Daley, Audio Editor

Tuesday, January 7, 2025 - 7:00 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

Microphones will be on many of the 80-plus cameras scattered around the purpose-built SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. The venue will host the first round of the innovative Tomorrow's Golf League (TGL) in partnership with the PGA TOUR, a production that will fuse advanced tech and live action at 9 p.m. ET tonight on ESPN.

Golfers from the six clubs formed so far and backed by such entities as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's TMRW Sports will move seamlessly (it is hoped) between real and virtual tees, fairways, and greens, in the process traversing such hazards as a deep gorge or molten lava.

They're hitting a real golf ball into a [64- x 53-ft. projection] screen, and swing metrics provide spin, launch, angle speed, etc., in real time, explains Joe Carpenter, A1 for the event. It is so accurate.

The New York Golf Club, owned by NY Mets owner Steven Cohen will tee up first against the Bay Golf Club, owned by Marc Lasry's Avenue Sports Fund and Stephen Curry. The others are the Los Angeles Golf Club, owned by Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams; Atlanta Drive GC, owned by Arthur M. Blank; Boston Common Golf, owned by Fenway Sports Group; and Jupiter Links Golf Club owned by TGR Ventures and David Blitzer.

The Sound of Virtuality There will be microphones on some of the robocams; on a Spidercam; in the warm-up areas, where each golfer will each have their own mini-simulator; and on a so-called rover camera, which can roam the playing area seeking reaction shots. Golfers will be wearing Q5X PlayerMic transmitters as well as Bluetooth IFB packs and prototype Apple Beats earpieces. Carpenter, working from Game Creek Moonshine mobile unit onsite, says the challenge will be creating an individual mix for each golfer's earpiece as they move back and forth between reality and virtuality.

The TGL playing area within SoFi Center is roughly the size of a football field: 97 yards long x 50 yards wide.

Each golfer will have preferences as to what they want to hear in their ears: themselves or not, sound effects, teammates, announcers, Carpenter explains, adding that the mixes will be a combination of preprogramming (via an RTS ADAM frame) and live mixes. (Announcers Scott Van Pelt, Matt Barrie, and Marty Smith are lined up for event commentary.) Rory McIlroy, for instance, may want to hear his teammates and Matt Barrie but not himself. I'll create an individual program mix for each of the six golfers. In addition, pretty much every golfer, as soon as they step into the tee box and we're still in reality, will want to kill that program in their ear so nobody can talk to them accidentally while they're addressing the ball and hitting. It's wild.

The golfers won't be talking to are caddies - live ones, at least. Virtual caddies will display ball locations and other metrics. They're interactive, providing the golfers with feedback on distance, wind, lie, and other factors.

Complicated Course, Complex Mix Carpenter will be working with colleagues Dave Free and Mike Rew, who will submix the live SFX and the Q5X microphones and manage tape-replay audio, respectively. All the audio, as well as the final broadcast mix, will be captured and distributed in 5.1 surround.

Although the gofers are hitting into a giant screen powered by simulation manufacturer Full Swing from areas with real grass, fairway, rough, and sand for approach and tee shots (one of which has actual sand from the Masters' Augusta, GA, course), dubbed the Screen Zone, TGL tee sounds will be picked up by shotgun mics typically deployed at tees and elsewhere. For shots of approximately 50 yards or less, the setup transitions to a physical, custom-built Green Zone, a 22,475-sq.-ft. short-game area that transforms between holes. It's built atop a 41-yard-wide turntable that rotates to change approach angles and can morph its topography using nearly 600 actuators.

The Green Zone is about the size of four basketball courts, and numerous sounds will come into play there. Some will be fairly conventional, such as splashes for water landings or ricochets off trees, taken from a bespoke effects library of about 80 sounds that Carpenter and friend and PGA TOUR veteran Brad Faxon compiled for the production by knocking shots around a local Florida course.

Other sounds will be less conventional. When that ball goes into the virtual world, we're in a virtual computer [environment], and I'm going to have to decide what that sounds like, says Carpenter. Depending on the hole, if it's a canyon, it's going to be like rattlesnakes and the Snake River; if the ball hits off the canyon rocks, you're going to hear it sound like it glances off a rock. One of these holes is over some kind of volcano, and you'll see - and hear - the gurgling lava. If the hole's [supposed to be] in Ireland, maybe a little bagpipe in the background and a really stiff breeze to set the sense of place. The trick is going to be picking and syncing these sounds in real time.

Here, too, Sports Betting Has an Effect As complicated as the sound for this novel golf outing might be - every shot will be live and fast-paced to keep within the show's two-hour scheduled slot - it's made more complicated by sports betting: Carpenter will have to tailor his mix feeds for regions that prohibit the practice.

If gambling's legal in one place, you get one program and can advertise gambling, he points out. In another feed, gambling advertising gets [removed] entirely. Between gambling or no
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/01/07/taking-golf-virtual-tgl-competi...
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 ...

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...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

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

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

14/04/2026

LTN Appoints Mark Romano, Edward Cox to Leadership Positions

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

Grass Valley Adds Telestream Vantage, Pulse and UP to AMPP

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

XenData Announces Backup, Archive and Cloud-Connect for LucidLink

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

Thomas Riedel Acquires ARRI

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

Shotoku Introduces the World to Aura P2 PTZ Prompter Pann...

Shotoku Introduces the World to Aura P2 PTZ Prompter Panner at NAB 2026 New system removes PTZ pan restrictions for teleprompter-based productions Shotoku US...

14/04/2026

Telestream and Grass Valley Connect Live and File-Based W...

Integration of Vantage, Pulse, and Telestream UP with Grass Valley AMPP Ecosystem enables scalable, interoperable workflows spanning live production and file-ba...

14/04/2026

Dalet Appoints Brian Doheny as President and Chief Revenu...

Enterprise growth leader to scale Dalet's next phase of innovation and global expansion New York, NY April 14, 2026 Dalet, a leading technology and ser...

14/04/2026

Berklee Celebrates Prince's Legacy in Two-Night Signature Series Event

Berklee Celebrates Prince's Legacy in Two-Night Signature Series Event Directed by Tia Fuller, the Prince Project (April 16-17) brings together more than ...

14/04/2026

Arooj Aftab Is Anything but Predictable

Arooj Aftab Is Anything but Predictable The singular artist explores the juxtaposition of grief and joy, dark and light, in her distinctive sound. April 14, ...

14/04/2026

Appear Expands X Platform from Core to Edge at NAB Show 2...

Appear launches include XM estate management and new X Platform processing enhancements to add density for next-generation hybrid & IP workflows, X5 is also now...

14/04/2026

Synamedia turns OTT content into TikTok-style feeds with...

Addressing the needs of a new generation's viewing habits, Synamedia launches GO Shorts. The AI-powered module turns existing catalogues into TikTok-style ...

14/04/2026

NAB 2026 - Vubiquity and Eluvio Showcase Streaming Soluti...

Vubiquity, an Amdocs company and global leader in technology-led media services, will be showcasing a new end-to-end streaming solution in collaboration with El...

14/04/2026

LiveU Announces Expanded Collaboration with Sony at NAB S...

LiveU today announced a significant expansion of its collaboration with Sony Corporation, introducing integrated support for Sony's file-based workflow solu...

14/04/2026

BBC World Service TV selects Open Broadcast Systems for I...

Open Broadcast Systems (https://www.obe.tv/) has announced that BBC World Service has selected its decoders for IP Television distribution. The high-quality, lo...

14/04/2026

Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve 21

Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve 21 Brie Clayton April 14, 2026 0 Comments Major update adds new Photo page bringing Hollywood's most a...

14/04/2026

Sinclair's WTOV Taps Brightline for Lighting Upgrade

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

Grass Valley Showcases Alliance Ecosystem at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

FCC Selects New Lead Administrator for U.S. Cyber Trust Mark Program

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

Gray Media Names Jim Hays GM of WTHI

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

NAB Blasts CTA in FCC Sports Probe Comments

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/04/2026

Wowza to Showcase AI-Powered Video Workflows and Emerging...

Wowza will return to NAB Show 2026 with a set of live demonstrations focused on how video infrastructure is evolving for a new generation of AI-powered and oper...

14/04/2026

Stegawave Debuts Real-Time Forensic Watermarking to Tackle Piracy in Live Sports Streaming

Stegawave Debuts Real-Time Forensic Watermarking to Tackle Piracy in Live Sports...

14/04/2026

Living in Boston: A Guide for Incoming Boston Conservatory Students

Living in Boston: A Guide for Incoming Boston Conservatory Students From navigating the T to balancing school with professional gigs, a current student shar...

14/04/2026

Just What Is Genre These Days, Anyway?

Just What Is Genre These Days, Anyway? Understanding the business and art of genre-bending in 2026. April 13, 2026 By Bryan Parys Illustration by Jack Fla...

14/04/2026

Lenora Helm Hammonds Is Turning Passion Into Plan A

Lenora Helm Hammonds Is Turning Passion Into Plan A The dean of the Professional Education Division has seen the industry from all sides. Now shes bringing it...

14/04/2026

How Michelle Zalabak Found Her Dream Career in Music and Finance

How Michelle Zalabak Found Her Dream Career in Music and Finance The Warner Music Group deal analysis manager helps determine what artist catalogs are worth a...

14/04/2026

SES, Japan Airlines to Expand Multi-Orbit Inflight Connectivity to Long-Haul Fleet

Luxembourg, April 14, 2026 - SES, a leading space solutions company, today annou...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAir Composition Builder 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAir Composition Builder 2026 Boilerplate More Details: The Composition Builder 2026 application for macOS enables TV stations and Live Event broadcast...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAr just:live pro 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAr just:live pro 2026 Boilerplate More Details: just:live pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel Live Production Playout solution for video and static or real-ti...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAr just:play pro 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAr just:play pro 2026 Boilerplate More Details: just:play pro 2026 is a Multi-Channel automated 24/7 Master Control playout solution with SD, HD and U...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAr live:cut 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAr live:cut 2026 Boilerplate More Details: live:cut is an option to just:in mac pro 2025 and enables multicamera production workflows for up to 16 cam...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite NDI 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite NDI 2026 Boilerplate More Details: The Just In Mac Lite NDI application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specific...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite 2026 Boilerplate More Details: The Just In Mac Lite application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specifically for...

13/04/2026

ToolsOnAir just:in mac pro 2026 Boilerplate

ToolsOnAir just:in mac pro 2026 Boilerplate More Details: just:in mac pro is a macOS-based client-server multichannel capture solution to record SDI, HDMI, N...

13/04/2026

Jnger Audio Joins EBU ADM Implementers Group as Founding Member

Telos Alliance has announced that J nger Audio has joined the EBU ADM Implementers Group (ADM-IG) as a founding member. The group is focused on advancing ADM an...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Grass Valley to Showcase Alliance Partner Ecosystem

Grass Valley will demonstrate its Alliance Partner ecosystem at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C2408, Central Hall, April 19-22), showing AMPP integrations across live pr...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Media Links to Demonstrate IP Transport Solutions

Media Links will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2033), demonstrating IP transport solutions for live production including hitless protection technology, Xscen...

13/04/2026

NBC Sports Partners with Overtime for OT7 Football League and Navy All-American Bowl

NBC Sports has announced a programming, distribution, and sales partnership with...

13/04/2026

FloSports Promotes Jayar Donlan from COO to President

FloSports has promoted Chief Operating Officer Jayar Donlan to President, effective immediately. In his new role, Donlan will lead the company's commercial,...

13/04/2026

MASV Case Study: PanCam Pictures Uses MASV for Remote Post-Production at Senior Bowl 2026

PanCam Pictures, the documentary production company founded by Paul Camarata, us...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: Mimir to Showcase Cloud Production Platform

Mimir will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (North Hall, Booth N2850), demonstrating its cloud-native media production platform with new capabilities including Mimir Cu...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: BBright Adds RIST Protocol Support to IP Gateway

BBright has announced that its IP Gateway now supports the Reliable Internet Stream Transport (RIST) protocol. The addition will be introduced at NAB Show 2026 ...

13/04/2026

Net Insight Awarded ESA NAVISP Development Project for PNT Technology

Net Insight has been awarded a development project through the European Space Agency's Navigation Innovation and Support Program (NAVISP), with co-funding f...

13/04/2026

NAB 2026: intoPIX to Showcase JPEG XS, IPMX, and SMPTE 2110 Solutions

intoPIX will exhibit at NAB Show 2026, marking the company's 20th anniversary. The company will demonstrate its JPEG XS compression portfolio and IPMX-appro...