DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – The Symetra Tour, the official qualifying Tour for the LPGA, will broadcast the final-round of the Symetra Tour Championship on Sunday, October 8 to a worldwide audience on Facebook Live. The broadcast will originate on the LPGA Tour’s Facebook page.
The broadcast will begin at 1:00 p.m. and run through the conclusion of the tournament and the card ceremony, where ten players will become LPGA members.
The Symetra Tour Championship, which will be contested at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, is the final event of the 2017 season. Following the conclusion of play, the top ten on the Volvik Race for the Card money list will receive their LPGA Tour cards for 2018.
This is the second time ever that the Tour has broadcast live golf on Facebook Live. The final-round of the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic to open the season was also broadcast on Facebook Live. Between the two Facebook feeds, there were more than 60,000 views.
“Facebook is a great platform for the Symetra Tour because it allows us to showcase our global talent to people in the United States and around the world,” said Chief Business Officer Mike Nichols. “Our first Facebook Live attempt was a success and a good launching point, but we’ve really invested in this second attempt and believe that people will really enjoy this. Figuring out how to do this more frequently in 2018 is a priority.”
The broadcast will cover holes 14 through 18 on Sunday, October 8 with a full scale production truck and crew on site.
The broadcast will be produced by Ohlmeyer Kusserow Group, which is led by Executive Producer/Managing Editor Chris Ohlmeyer, who has over 25 years experience in the television industry. Ohlmeyer produced all of ESPN’s LPGA coverage from 1998-2009 and also produced the Ricoh Women’s British Open from 2006-2013. Furthermore, he produced the Kraft Nabisco Championship, now the ANA Inspiration, from 2006-2010.
The all-female announce team will be led by LPGA.com Managing Editor Amy Rogers, who hosted the first broadcast. Prior to joining the LPGA, Rogers was a reporter at WESH in Orlando. She also was a host and feature reporter of the Emmy Award winning show “ONE” on WUCF-TV in Orlando. She began her broadcast career as a sports anchor and reporter at WRNN/Fios 1 in New York City. Two-time LPGA winner Gail Graham, who freelances for Golf Channel, will serve as the analyst. Graham served as the on-course reporter at numerous LPGA events in 2017 and also both played and was the on-course reporter at the Senior LPGA Championship. Graham has also spent time around the Symetra Tour while playing in the joint Symetra Tour/Legends Tour events over the years. She also serves as a mentor to Symetra Tour professional Megan Osland.
“I am excited to be part of the broadcast team for the Symetra Tour Championship,” said Graham. “The event is the culmination of an exciting year and with ten LPGA cards on the line, I am sure we will see some great play. The Symetra Tour has produced some of the LPGA’s young stars and as a former LPGA player, I think it is great that the broadcast of this event will give fans the chance to meet the next stars before they reach the LPGA.”
The Symetra Tour will likely add a third member of the broadcast team at a later date.