How college golf’s presence on television has changed the sport

NICHOLS HILLS, Okla. — The constant movement of golf carts between shots. The humming sound of generators strategically placed at different spots on the course. Camera crews running on the fairways between players preparing to hit their shots.

Those are all common sights and sounds at professional golf events, but in the last decade they’ve become more commonplace in college golf, especially the Division I level.

The D-I college golf national championships were broadcast on Golf Channel for the first time in 2014, with the men having a year in the spotlight before the women got their camera time a year later. Ever since, the sport’s footprint has grown and continued to do so. This fall, more than 180 hours of college golf is being shown on Golf Channel, including live events five straight weeks in October.

“It certainly changed for the good, all positive,” Oklahoma men’s coach Ryan Hybl said. “I mean, we have way more folks that are willing to come out and watch us. I think it’s only a positive. I certainly think that the pressure has been escalated, which is not a bad thing.”

A TV tower is shown in the background of the 2024 NCAA Golf Championships at Omni La Costa’s North Course in Carlsbad, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)

For certain programs, like Oklahoma, playing on TV has become commonplace. The national championship is a place teams look forward to the air time, but at many top tournaments in the fall and spring, cameras are darting around following the future stars of the professional games and giving players their first glimpse at what it’s like to play with a bit of added pressure.

Last week, the Jackson T. Stephens Cup featured, at the time, the top-ranked men’s and women’s programs in the country competing at Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club: the Oklahoma men and Arkansas women. Just this fall, it was the Razorbacks second time being on camera, in addition to their home event, the Blessings Collegiate, earlier this month.

“It gives great exposure to our golf program,” Arkansas women’s coach Shauna Taylor said. “It really gets us, you know, for us, specifically, at blessings collegiate we can showcase our home, and that’s that’s so valuable for us for three days to show Blessings.”

Maria Jose Marin, a standout sophomore for Arkansas, has gotten used to cameras following her in recent months. She captured medalist honors at the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Southern Hills in Tulsa,…