From Watertown to Augusta: Streaming High School Sports to Championship Golf

Written by: Connor LaLone

I’ve had the pleasure of being part of the NBC Watertown Stream Team for the last 3 or so years. We stream high school sports (football, basketball, volleyball), parades, and other events. Throughout the past few years, both Zachary Zubryzcki and I have had the opportunity to put our SUNY Oswego educations to the test, and have learned numerous things simply out of necessity. At this point, I’d feel confident stating that we are both experienced professionals in this field. Last summer we streamed one of the par three holes for our station’s golf tournament, the Old Glory Classic, which was its own unique challenge.

About a month ago, Zach and myself were asked if we could demonstrate (via video call) how to set up and operate the computer with which we stream events for some of the folks down in Georgia, as our big boss, Louis Wall, was interested in streaming a hole of the Augusta Charity Classic. The two of us joked that they should just send us down there and let us handle it. Turns out that’s exactly what they decided to do.

We discussed flying, but I was wary of having to check thousands of dollars worth of equipment on a plane and hoping it all made its way to our destination. After some deliberation, we decided to drive the NBC Watertown truck down to Georgia and haul our equipment with us. The tournament was on a Monday, so we decided we’d leave early Friday and stop somewhere along the way for the night and finish the journey the next day.

I pulled up Google maps and realized that we’d drive right through Mooresville North Carolina, (a place I had been before) which is when I knew we had to stop at Big Tiny’s.

My previous foray into the American south led me to the barbecue joint, and I had decided that if I was ever in the area again, to make a stop. After 12 hours of driving and a couple of stops along the way, we made it to Mooresville just in time for dinner.

The second go-around did not disappoint: tender brisket, with hushpuppies and Texas Toast, washed down with Cheerwine, a Carolina staple.

I’m not sure if Zach appreciated Tiny Big’s (as he often called it) as much as I did, but I know that it was everything I had remembered and then some. We stopped in Mooresville for the night and made our way into South Carolina and then Georgia the next morning.

Upon arriving in Georgia, we snuck around Augusta, looking for a suitable carwash to remove the pollen from the black pickup, and having been successful, rode into Champions Retreat.

The Champions Retreat is a 27 hole golf course in Evans, just outside of Augusta. The club has three 9-hole courses, with each designed by a legend of the game - Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player.

We were informed that we would be staying in a cottage at the course, of which there are several. The cottages are as stunning as the course itself, with each boasting 8 beds, and large common areas. Zach and I were blown away at the sheer nicety of the accommodations, as well as the charming and friendly nature of the entire staff.

Mr. Wall came to meet us and show us the hole we’d be streaming - the 8th hole of Nicklaus’ (my favorite golfer) Bluff Nine. We knew we’d be able to put together a pretty slick stream for Monday’s tournament, and there wasn’t too much to do other than hurry up and wait.

Louis returned later that evening and took us out, driving around Augusta to see the sights, including Augusta National, host of the Masters, before stopping next door at Augusta Country Club for dinner. The food at the Country Club was outstanding, as well as the dessert. 

Sunday was a fairly quiet day, we had some minor setup for the tournament, then stopped to eat a late lunch at the Ironwood Tavern, but the main event was the ACC Charity Concert in the evening, where Zach and I were VIPs. We had the opportunity to see some very talented musicians, Eric Lee Beddingfield, Dillon Carmichael, and George Birge at the Bell Auditorium downtown. While I’ll be the first to admit country music is not typically my style, I can appreciate good musicianship and all three artists were very talented. I know Zach enjoyed the concert thoroughly, especially when Dillon Carmichael chugged a cold beer on stage while performing his song “Hot Beer”, which we were both looking forward to hearing.

The next morning was the main event, the Charity Classic itself. We awoke to pouring rain, which would have severely impacted our stream had it not subsided about half an hour before the event started.

            This gave us just enough time to set up our three cameras, microphones, computer and start up the generator that powered it all.  We had the pleasure of being joined by Ken Hardy and Randall Boutwell, who provided the commentary (and comic relief) for the event. We set up with three cameras, one behind the golfers as they were teeing off, one focusing on the green and a third, which Zach manned, tracking the flight of the ball and finding it when it landed. It was my responsibility to switch between cameras (called technical direction) as well as monitor and adjust audio levels while ensuring our internet connection was sufficient for streaming. The Exchange Club of Augusta (who puts on the event) had asked us to utilize their Facebook page to host the stream, which we were able to do as well as embed it on the Augusta Charity Classic website: https://augustacharityclassic.com/

Once we were underway, it was smooth sailing. The two of us have streamed enough events to be able to adjust and adapt on the fly when needed, and other than a couple of lulls in action that I used to top off the generator, we really cruised through the tournament.  After the rain burned off, the weather was quite nice, certainly an improvement from the twenty degrees and snow that NY was experiencing at the time. We dealt with a bit of wind, which affected the golfers more than it did us, blowing several shots well left of the green.

            Unfortunately, we did not get to witness anyone win a new Lexus from Jim Hudson by hitting a hole in one, but there were several shots that got us up out of our seats. One of the golfers had hit a hole in one on the hole we were streaming in a previous year’s tournament, and he stuck one close again this year.

            After the tournament, Zach and I packed everything up with the assistance of Mark Kirkland from our sister station in Columbus GA, and hitched a ride back to our new cottage (we moved from the Player to Bobby Jones Monday morning) and decided to relax for a bit before debriefing with Louis Wall. A quick excursion to go find dinner later, we decided to play (if you can call it that) a round of pool before calling it quits and getting ready for the 15 hour drive back home.

On the way home we stopped in Mooresville again for gas, and ran into someone who told us she had family in New York and wanted to take a picture of our truck!

 

 

 

I found that there was a crazy amount of people with connections to New York state, it really is a small world out there and one of the biggest things that stuck out to me during our trip was that despite all our differences, people really are just people. We may have felt out of place at times and I’m sure us “yankees” stuck out like a pair of sore thumbs, but everyone we interacted with was incredibly kind, courteous and friendly. We had a terrific time and couldn’t be more thankful for our opportunity to drive to Georgia and get to see a couple of absolutely stunning golf courses. As someone who loves the sport, it was a pretty surreal feeling to be standing on a tee box designed by one of the very very best golfers in the history of the greatest game ever played.

 

            I know I speak for Zach when saying that the two of us were both incredibly humbled and honored that Louis Wall and the Exchange Club of Augusta were willing to have us join them and be a part of Augusta’s Premier Charity Golf Tournament. We were consistently blown away by everything we experienced, right from the first time we set foot on the course, the accommodations, the food, the golf, and the people. We both had a great time and I personally can’t believe that someone is willing to pay me to do this kind of stuff. Pretty neat.