Over 10 episodes, "The Big Break" whittles a group of 10 scratch golfers down to just one. And that one will, indeed, get a big break - entry into four events on the 2004 Canadian Tour.
"We're really breaking ground," said Tony Tortorici, executive producer for The Golf Channel. "There's never been a series like this for fans of the game. For all the contestants, the potential payoff of playing on a tour that spawned greats like 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir is an opportunity of a lifetime and a chance to realize their dreams."
The 10 contestants were chosen following a series of open auditions at golf facilities around the U.S. Golfers who showed up for those auditions had to be scratch players and had to demonstrate proficiency in hitting various types of shots. They also had to show some personality on camera.
"We were looking for scratch golfers, that was a given qualification," said Jay Kossoff, senior producer for The Golf Channel. "Outside of that, personality and overall life story were the two most important elements we were looking for."
The success of the series likely rests on how good a job The Golf Channel did in choosing those personalities, and how those personalities mix together. And that will certainly be key to attracting reality TV fans who aren't necessarily big fans of golf.
In each episode, the contestants (those who remain) participate in skills challenges - say, hitting a knockdown shot through a pane of glass placed at a distance. The winner of the skills challenge receives a "mulligan," the "Big Break" equivalent of immunity on "Survivor."
The golfers then move on to an elimination challenge in which prizes can be won - and following which, one golfer will be heading home.
"The personality has to be engaging to our viewer, positively or negatively," Kossoff said. "We want our viewers to somehow relate to each contestant and give them a reason to pull for or against each one. We looked for varying personalities in the hopes that each contestant would bring something out of another. We certainly feel that we found 10 very different contestants."
Following a preview screening of Episode 1, it looks like The Golf Channel hit the mark in choosing the participants.
The first episode was quite a bit more interesting than I expected, frankly, primarily because personality was the focus. The golfers flew in from around the U.S. to the Treetops Resort in Michigan. Viewers meet the golfers for the first time, and the golfers meet each other for the first time.
The different personality types are striking, and most of the contestants have engaging personalities.
It's a well-produced and directed show, too. The only drawback to the first episode is the host, Katherine Roberts. She's not on camera very often, but the times when she is are the only times the episode seemed slow or awkward.
She's there for exposition, to explain the challenges to viewers and golfers. But in other parts of the episode, voice-over narration did a fine job of that without getting in the way of the golfers or the flow of the show.
The first show is likely more lighthearted than ensuing episodes will be, as golfers start getting eliminated and tension mounts. How that affects each golfer's performance and personality should be interesting to watch.
