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Has anyone worked at a PGA Tour event as a video or audio technician?

I have a couple questions about working as an audio or video broadcast technician on the PGA Tour events:

1) Are you employed by the PGA or by the televison network?
2) Do they rely mainly on local freelance techs in the city they're visiting, or do the techs travel with the tour?

I emailed Helen Ross, Chief of Correspondents for the PGA Tour, who is always gracious and prompt. Below is her response to your question (in quotes with more from me afterwards). I asked her in terms of camera ops and techs.

"For the most part the TV networks hire their camera operators for entire packages/seasons on a freelance basis. Although the camera operators are freelance, the networks tends to hire the same staff year in and year out for consistency sake, and it speads beyond golf. For example, several guys who work for CBS during the golf season also shoot for NFL games on CBS. It has no bearing where they live or are based out of.

As far as some of the camera assist positions, runners, etc. those are usually hired on a site by site basis or even provided through the tournament volunteer program."

So, there are two places to inquire: the television networks and the tournaments. If a prospective employee has no experience, I would think that a smart starting point would be to initiate communication with the tournament local to you or even your local TV affiliate's GM since it's likely some of the freelancers will be cherry-picked from there. Once you get an event under your belt and developed a small network, you'll have value.

I considered posting web sites for job opps but the list would be ridiculously long what with the numbers of networks, affiliates (I don't know where you are) and tournaments. Plus, I don't know if there's union bias on who gets the gigs.

Hope this helps. And good luck!

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Golf's Major Championships, commonly known as 'the majors', are the most prestigious annual tournaments in the sport. The top players from all over the world flock to the majors, while the greatest players in golf history are often primarily judged on their number of major championship victories.

Origins

The four major tournament slots were originally taken by the Open Championship (or British Open), the British Amateur, the US Open and the US Amateur.

However, over the years the term "Major Championships" has come to encompass the Masters, the US Open, the Open Championship and the US PGA Championship.

While there is some debate over the exact timing of the switch to naming these four particular tournaments as the majors, many point to Arnold Palmer's 1960 season, when after winning the Masters and the US Open, he said that if he could win the Open Championship and PGA Championship, he would have 'a grand slam of his own' to rival Bobby Jones' exploits in 1930.

The British Major

The Open Championship is often referred to as the British Open outside the United Kingdom. Before the 1960s, few American players took part due to the overseas travel times - the Open Championship was not considered a major in the US until Palmer began competing in the UK in that decade.

The other three majors all take place in the US: the Masters is played at Augusta National Golf Club every year, while the other three rotate courses. The Open Championship, however, is always played on a links course.

Career Prospects

Each of the majors has a distinct history, and they are each run by a different golfing organisation, but their status is recognised worldwide. Major winners receive the maximum allocation of 50 points from the Official World Golf Rankings, which are endorsed by all of the main tours.

Major championship prize money is official on the PGA Tour, European Tour and Japan Golf Tour.

While prizes at the majors are not the largest in professional golf, victor at one of these tournaments is a huge boost to a player's career. Leading players are likely to receive large sponsor bonuses and better contracts, while unknowns will immediately be signed up.

Players receive qualification exemptions for their home tours, while the PGA Tour gives a five-year exemption to all major winners.

The majors are played in the following order:

1. Weekend of the second Sunday in April - the Masters: hosted as an invitational by Augusta National Golf Club

2. Weekend of the third Sunday in June -US Open: hosted by the USGA and played at various locations in the US.

3. Weekend of the third Friday in July - The Open Championship: hosted by the R&A and played on various links courses in the UK.

4. August (fourth weekend after the Open Championship) - PGA Championship: hosted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America and played at various locations in the US.

Ed Storm is a freelance sports writer who has been involved in many different levels of sports site development for the past decade.

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