Alfred Dunhill Links Championship has CTV, ETP on the move to cover three courses in four days
This past weekend European Tour Productions and CTV OB quickly recovered from last week’s “miracle at Medinah” Ryder Cup coverage to deliver the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Held on three courses over the span of five days, the event is a test for the OB and engineering staff as they have to quickly set up and strike for coverage held on three separate courses over four days. The three courses? Kingsbarns, Carnoustie’s Championship Course, and St. Andrews Old Course, all located within a relatively short drive of each other on Scotland’s east coast.
“In essence they played all three courses and then on Sunday was the final round, minus the pro ams,” says Hamish Greig, CTV OB, technical director.
The host studio and commentary position for all the course coverage was located at St. Andrews that is located between Carnoustie to the north and Kingsbarns to the south. CTV’s OB7 unit was also at St. Andrews.
On the first day of the tournament golf was played at both Kingsbarns and Carnoustie. CTV’s OB4 unit was located at Carnoustie complete with 16 cameras and five RF cameras. A smaller OB unit with only three RF cameras and two cabled cameras was on hand at Kings Barns to capture any highlight worthy shots from the first day’s action of the pro am, with the celebrity participation a big part of the event.
“As the celebrities came through we also have four cameras to capture them on the 18th at St. Andrews where Apple Final Cut Pros editing systems are used to create a DVD for the participants,” says Greig. “It’s a full-on broadcast quality production with four Sony HDC-1500 cameras.”
Three camera cranes were also used during coverage alongside a Jimmy Jim and Inertia Unlimited xMo RF camera. One of the challenges was tearing down the cranes and OB4 on Thursday night and driving 40 kilometers to Kingsbarns for Friday’s coverage. Then on Friday night the xMo, Jimmy Jib, and camera crane moved to St. Andrews for the final two rounds of coverage that was done out of OB7 using 22 cabled cameras and five RF cameras.
And as if all that movement isn’t challenge enough (and thankfully the weather cooperated) the team is off to Turkey today to produce the Turkish Airlines World Golf Final, an event that begins on Oct. 9 and ends on Oct. 12, a unique bit of scheduling for golf events typically held over weekends. Meanwhile, the main OB units used at the Dunhill Links Championships begin the long journey to Portugal where they will be used for coverage of the Portugal Masters beginning on Oct. 11.