Golf: Making the turn – live webcast of Louisiana Classics a first for Golf

Dan McDonald, Daily Advertiser, March 6, 2013

You think doing golf commentary is easy, huh? You imagine that the guys providing the description of the action at tournaments have it pretty cushy?

I used to think that … not so much anymore. After spending 14 hours over two days with a live microphone clipped to my shirt, sitting in whipping wind gusts for most of three tournament rounds, and trying to spout out non-stop nuggets of wisdom and entertainment, I have a healthy respect for those who do that on a regular basis.

Even my partner for the live webcast from UL’s Louisiana Classics Tournament Monday and Tuesday, the always-entertaining Gerald Broussard, was starting to drag by the time Illinois claimed the team title and UL’s Brandt Garon took a spot on the All-Tournament Team at the end of Tuesday’s third and final round.

"Brother, I’m burnt," Broussard said when we finally wrapped up a five-hour non-stop, no-commercial, no-break broadcast that began at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. He was speaking mentally and metaphorically, but his wind-blown hair and glowing red cheeks showed the physical toll. And I was much redder than he, after the winds that whipped Oakbourne for three rounds over two days made my nose feel like it had been in front of a sand-blaster.

But the mental and physical pain was worth it, because the live webcast on the Ragin’ Cajun Network — part of Ragin’ Cajun All Access and www.ragincajuns.com — made the Louisiana Classics unique and cemented its status among the country’s early-spring events.

As far as anyone can tell, the Monday-Tuesday tournament over the impressive and challenging Oakbourne layout was the country’s first-ever regular-season collegiate golf event to air on a live, multi-camera, full-commentary-included basis.

Three staff members from the Golf Coaches Association of America — director of operations Ryan Klatt, director of membership services Katie Louis and director of external affairs Dustin Roberts — traveled from the GCAA’s Norman, Okla., headquarters to see the Louisiana Classics first-hand, and got to see the broadcast setup while enjoying the local hospitality and joie de vivre.

The online broadcast had well over 2,000 viewers during its two-day run.

"I couldn’t be prouder of that," said UL coach Theo Sliman. "It makes our tournament unique. I don’t know how many people were coming up to me and talking about us putting up the broadcast. I know that several of the coaches wanted to know how we did it and what was involved."

What was involved was a lot of legwork by members of the UL staff, notably SID staffer Jeff Schneider and director Slade Blanchard as well as a crew of cameramen and other helpers that kept the live feed going through equipment troubles, site relocations and the occasional off-point ramblings of the broadcast crew.

"We ain’t the Golf Channel," Broussard memorably exclaimed at one point Monday when the temperatures dipped to perilous levels, winds were whipping paper into the microphones and tournament fans were stopping by to joke and converse, not realizing we were on-air.

But we did beat the Golf Channel in one area. Next year, TGC will broadcast the NCAA Division I Championships for the first time … its first extensive coverage of a collegiate event.

Until then, our webcast will stand unique, as will some of Broussard’s commentary. It was likely the first time that the term "frissons" was ever used during a golf broadcast. If you were out there at the Classics, you know what he meant.

"Making the Turn" appears each Wednesday. Clubs, courses and individuals with information about local golf events may email Dan McDonald, editorial director at Golfballs.com, at danmcdonald@cox.net, FAX to (337) 857-8763 or call (337) 857-8754 and leave a message with phone number. Listen to the "Making the Turn" radio show each Wednesday from 8-9 a.m. on ESPN Sports Radio 1420.

MORE CAJUNS: The Louisiana Classics was a solid outing for Ragin’ Cajun golfers Brandt Garon and Ethan Savoy, seniors who finished as UL’s top finishers. Garon earned All-Tournament honors with an individual fourth-place finish after a 73-68-73"“214 score

Other than those finishes, though, the Cajuns had struggles over the rest of the roster. Freshman Thomas Strandemo was the next-best finisher with a tie for 39th (76-71-78"“225) and everyone else finished outside the top 50 on their home course.
"We need to look at our number four and five guys and start improving there," Sliman said. "That’s where we struggle. We had a couple of solids rounds from some guys playing as individuals, and we’re going to need those guys to step up and start getting some solid rounds from them.
"They need to understand that we don’t need them to shoot 68 … we need them to have solid rounds, 73, 74, and that’ll help our team standings tremendously."
The Cajuns finished 10th out of 14 teams, their first time to crack the top 10 in three spring tournaments after doing that three times in four fall events. The only finish outside the top 10 in the spring was in the national-caliber Golf Week Challenge in Burlington, iowa.
They’ll face another strong field next Monday-Tuesday when they take part in the Argent Financial Classic at the prestigious Squire Creek course near Ruston.