The Diamond Resorts Invitational tees off Friday morning from Orlando, where a mix of celebrities, athletes, LPGA Stars, and Champions Tour stars will mix it up over three days.
Diamond Resorts Invitational 2018: How to watch online, TV schedule, and tee times
One of golf’s bigger celebrity events tees off Friday with a mix of amateurs, LPGA stars, and Champions Tour players. Here’s why and how to ignore work and watch.
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The event started more than five years ago and has undergone some different format changes, with the addition of the Champions Tour players joining the field. There will be two separate purses on the line in concurrent contests and another fat check raised for the Florida Hospital for Children.
It’s a nice midday event in January, when the PGA Tour is not really in full swing yet and a celebrity event like this can get some traction. It’s a solid field with a Champions Tour player in every single group, and it’s played at Tranquilo Golf Club. Here’s why and how to watch over the next three days.
Why watch
1) Florida Hospital for Children. This is self-explanatory and as good as reason as any — this event is used to raise money for a children’s hospital. Patronize it!
2) LPGA stars. There’s a nice little cadre of LPGA stars also on board for this event, including Brooke Henderson, Brittany Lang, Gerina Piller and Brittany Lincicome. Those are some of the top players in the world, and while this might not have the intensity of one of their regular tour stops, it’s always fun and refreshing to watch them play alongside and whip the many men teeing it up in this event. These are the top talents in the field.
3) Champions Tour studs. This event is co-sanctioned with the Champions Tour, and some of its most notable and decorated members are playing in Orlando. There’s a tour pro in every group, and they even got Nick Faldo to actually come out and play in front of the TV cameras. He tees off in the last group of the day alongside John Smoltz and Marcus Allen on Friday. And of course John Daly will get a ton of love and air time, playing with Ray Allen for the first round.
Myself? I’m most interested in watching Tommy Armour III. He’s a fascinating character; a man of mystery who has lived a life, man. He’s seen and done some things and glides about the course with a swagger we all hope to possess at his age. It’s always hard to not watch his every move.
4) Celebs. For sports fans, this is a roster of a celebrities loaded with athletes you’ve probably come across in other sports. It’s primarily full of baseball players given the offseason, but as mentioned, Ray Allen is here and he usually goes low. Marcus Allen will be in one of the featured groups at the end of the tee sheet. And then you’ve got a smattering of comedians, TV personalities, and actors. It changes the dynamic of the event, obviously, and makes the broadcast an entirely different golf experience from what you’re used to getting from Golf Channel’s coverage of a tournament.
How to watch
Golf Channel will have complete coverage throughout the weekend in Orlando. This is a home game for the network, and it has complete access with both the pros and celebs to put together a show.
This will not be your traditional golf broadcast. That should go without saying. There will be far fewer hushed tones from the announcing booth and many celebrity interludes. While the scoreboard matters, it just might not matter as much as a PGA Tour event.
The priority is putting on a good show, a good broadcast, and raising some money for charity. Here’s your media schedule for the week:
Friday’s first-round coverage
Television:
1:30 to 4:30 p.m. — Golf Channel
Online streams:
1:30 to 4:30 p.m. — Golf Channel simulcast stream
Saturday’s second-round coverage
Television:
1:30 to 4:30 p.m. — Golf Channel
Online streams:
1:30 to 4:30 p.m. — Golf Channel simulcast stream
Sunday’s final round coverage
Television:
1 to 4 p.m. — Golf Channel
Online streams:
1 to 4 p.m. — Golf Channel simulcast stream
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Tee times
It’s early January in Orlando, and while the temperatures may be warmer than if your frozen ass lives in the Midwest or Northeast, there isn’t exactly a ton of daylight right now. So the field of pros and amateurs will go off split tees in groups of three. Everyone will be on the course at Four Seasons Tranquilo Golf Club before 11 a.m. That should provide ample time to get the full field through 18 holes before sundown on Sunday night.
Here are your tee times for the final round on Sunday in Orlando:
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