Golf Channel will be launching a new show on Monday morning hosted by a familiar face.
Gary Williams, formerly of Morning Drive fame, debuts his new morning program today, a collaboration between Golf Channel and Williams’ digital media startup 5 Clubs. In an interview with Awful Announcing, Williams details how the collaboration came together, what to expect from the new show, and how it will differentiate itself in an ever-crowded golf media space.
The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
How did the collaboration between Golf Channel and 5 Clubs come together?
“It started with a phone call two weeks after the Masters with Tom Knapp (the EVP of programming at Golf Channel). …He said, ‘Look, let me just say this. And you can stop me and say not interested. But what would you think about 5 Clubs being the morning show on Golf Channel in January of 2025?’ I felt like saying, ‘Why did you think my reaction would be anything other than excitement and enthusiasm?’ Which it obviously was.
“We talked about different models as far as time of day, and whether it was going to be live or not. And that part of it was a very brief conversation because live television, that’s the most fun, that’s where it’s at. And if we were going to do something that was going to be on Golf Channel, especially if it was going to air in the morning, I would want it to be live.”
What’s going to be different about ‘5 Clubs on Golf Channel’?
“The differentiator is what the greater ambition of what we are is. …Naturally, so much of the focus is on the professional sport of golf. And that is the most important foundational piece. But unlike these other sports, this is a participatory sport where people’s interest in the game extend far beyond [the pros].
“They have interest in how design of golf courses, and the administration of the game, and the business of the game, and equipment.
“So the ambition, and the greater kind of ethos of what we want it to be is: this is an industry show. This will not just be a professional golf recap show. And that includes people who cover the game. I want this to be a platform and a community where people feel like, ‘My god, everybody’s on that show.’ Not just everybody who plays the game but everybody who is in the game.”
What’s the editorial arrangement between 5 Clubs and Golf Channel?
“I don’t want them to feel like they’re looking at us like we’re some satellite on an island operating with autonomy, which we are. I am the executive producer of the show, but I want collaboration. I have great respect for the people who have run the programming side plus the player relation side. My communication with them will be constant.
“From an editorial standpoint I will always appeal to them because I think the best opinion is the most informed opinion. And I don’t think I have the answers to everything. I don’t. I know what I know and I know what I don’t. And people like Tom Knapp and Matt Hagerty, not to mention the research department, they know a ton of things that I don’t.
“As we head into a year where there is continuing conversation, which is going to persist, about LIV Golf, and about where there’s going to be some kind of common ground…I want those conversations to be continual. So yes, they will have a hand. But they also are not going to be telling me, ‘Hey you should be doing this tomorrow.’ They know that I am producing this show, but I want there to be a real line of communication that is continual.”
How are you going to address the PGA Tour-LIV Golf divide on your show?
“Look, leverage is a great thing to have in life, particularly professionally. And a lot of these players have been presented with leverage. Leverage to go get paid by LIV, or leverage to get more by staying. But there’s a difference between leverage and greed. And greed is very costly, eventually. And these players are hurling towards a very dangerous place because fans are fed up. This sport is not big enough, it’s not viewed enough by people — not only domestically but around the world — to sustain the level of money being thrown at these guys.
“I get it, it’s like I want to get mine and I’m not going to have as much of a priority for what’s left over ten years from now. But why wouldn’t you? Why wouldn’t you have some awareness of the long-term stability of a tour and a platform that is giving you what all of these various platforms have given them?
“They need to understand, that they’re having an identity crisis. They’re not the National Football League. They are not the NBA. They are golf. It is an affluent lane that they live in, but it is a narrow one. And until they get that into their thick heads, they’re going to continue to go to a place that is going to fracture the sport of professional golf.
“The televised product will continue to be damaged until they are cohabitating the same space more often. And until they figure that out, they may get paid in the short term, but the damage long-term may be irreparable.”
5 Clubs on Golf Channel airs Monday through Wednesday mornings at 8 a.m. ET on Golf Channel. Guests this week include world No. 1 ranked player Nelly Korda and the voice of CBS golf Jim Nantz.