NEP has new PGA golf tournament in its sights

Golf Channel broadcast coverage of the first-ever Pacific Links Hawaii Championship tournament – which was held last month on Oahu, Hawaii – called on the resources and expertise of NEP’s Supershooters and Visions operations.

The project saw NEP assemble a complete remote broadcasting facility, including both primary production and support units, by shipping a Supershooters’ ST19 support truck from San Diego and a flypack from Visions’ London HQ.

The flypack equipment, shipped by NEP Visions to tournament venue Kapolei Golf Course, was installed in two large trailers to provide the main broadcast facility and control room, including audio and transmission capabilities. The NEP Visions solution included a full monitor wall in production, six EVS media servers, a Calrec Artemis audio console, and video shading and support for the 16 cameras NEP deployed on the course. The ST19 support truck supplied additional audio systems and fiber support for the cameras, as well as field microphones and outboarded graphics.

Kevin Rabitt, NEP CEO, described the collaboration between Supershooters and Visions as “a perfect example of how the global NEP organisation takes a ‘one-team’ approach to meeting its clients’ requirements — even if the broadcast is coming from a remote island in the middle of the Pacific. Building a seamless remote production solution by shipping in a flypack and OB truck from opposite sides of the globe is typical of the level of complexity that we manage almost every day — a great demonstration of how NEP is uniquely capable of drawing on global resources to create tailor-made solutions for clients.”

“With the pooled expertise and resources from NEP’s Visions and Supershooters, Golf Channel was able to operate as normal, even though it was broadcasting far away from the US mainland,” said David O’Carroll, technical project manager at NEP Visions. “Visions worked closely with Supershooters to understand the client’s usual mobile configuration and then recreate that configuration exactly with a flypack. With Visions and Supershooters coming together to work as one NEP team, we were able to combine our deep understanding of our clients’ individual needs with the industry’s largest pool of resources to create a seamless and high-quality production halfway around the world.”

The newest event on the PGA’s Champions Tour, the Pacific Links Hawaii Championship covers 54 holes and features a field of 81 Champions Tour players. The tournament was carried in the US by Golf Channel, the Champion Tour’s exclusive cable TV partner.