This year will mark the 23rd anniversary of Jim Nantz first using “Hello, friends” as an on-air sign-on. And that led to a fun video from the Golf on CBS X account Saturday around their Farmers Insurance Open coverage from Torrey Pines in San Diego. There, various golfers and also members of the CBS broadcast team took stabs at imitating Nantz’s famed “Hello, friends” intro:
Hello Friends, it’s so good to be back ⛳️ pic.twitter.com/d0DNLRi50G
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) January 25, 2025
This is Nantz’s 40th year calling golf on CBS, adding to his remarkable litany of career accomplishments. He called his 500th NFL game two weeks back, was honored by the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame last May, and called his 32nd and last Final Four in 2023. And “Hello, friends” has certainly become one of the more famous catchphrases out there. As Nantz discussed last year around the 22th anniversary of him first using that intro phrase on air, that’s a tribute to his late father:
This tradition lives on in memory of Nantz’s father ❤️ #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/V8vi5JMNw6
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) May 18, 2024
“I’ve been asked about it a lot; ‘Why do you say it?’ And it’s simply for one reason. It was a connection phrase with my ailing father, who had Alzheimer’s and struggled for 13 years before succumbing in 2008. But in 2002, just days before I headed to Hazeltine (National Golf Club) for the PGA Championship, I sat next to my father and told him that this weekend, I’m gonna say something when I come on the air. I’m gonna look into the camera, Dad, and I’m gonna say, ‘Hello, friends, Jim Nantz here.’
“My dad’s name is Jim Nantz. And I wanted to give him something on the air that let him know that I was channeling him at that moment. I thought I would only do it once, but after that day’s show on the Saturday show at the 2002 PGA, I had a few people say, ‘I heard you say hello, friends; what was that all about?’ And I told them the backstory, and I was told, ‘You should keep doing that; that sounds like you.’
“So, I continued to do it, not knowing that people would pick up on it.”
They certainly have picked up on it. And it’s interesting to see so many in the golf world not only imitate that here, but also discuss the phrase’s ubiquitousness. And this was a nice tribute to Nantz around the start of CBS’ golf season.
