The final round of the girls and boys high school state golf tournament on Wednesday will feature first-of-its-kind coverage as the Minnesota State High School League's streaming partner, NSPN, captures every golfer play the 18th hole at all three state tournament locations.
Andy Price, executive producer at NSPN, says it was important to develop a way to provide state tournament coverage for golf, the same way NSPN covers state tournaments for other sports throughout the year.
"We determined that we were going to show every golfer, in every class, boys and girls," Price said.
NSPN will place cameras on the 18th hole at Pebble Creek in Becker, Ridges at Sand Creek in Jordan, and Bunker Hills in Coon Rapids.
"We're going to show everybody play the 18th hole," Price said. "We'll have multiple cameras so you can see shots from the fairway and shots around the green. We're also working with the MSHSL's scoring vendor so we're as up-to-date with scoring as possible. We'll have leaderboards to supplement and give context as to what is happening."
According to Price, the state golf tournament isn't necessarily as well-attended as other state tournaments. That means streaming is an important tool for family members, friends, or those who are just interested in the sport of golf.
NSPN was able to do a stream test-run back in early May during the U.S. Open qualifier at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine.
"It was 50 degrees and the wind was blowing 35 miles per hour," Price said. "We had as much of a struggle that the technical aspect ended up really strong, but the struggle was with stuff blowing all over the place. It was a tough day for the golfers and a tough day for us. We were pleased that everything went well that day and it gave us the confidence to say, 'Okay, I think we can do this.'"
Wednesday's second round of the state high school golf tournament gets underway with the girls teeing off at 7:30 a.m. The boys will tee off at noon.
