Western Intercollegiate to be broadcast live on Golf Channel

Any time college golf is televised, it’s a big deal. So as the NCAA Championship enters its sixth year on Golf Channel (the NCAA Women’s Championship is entering its fifth year), the network has also announced that it will televise a premier regular-season event.

Golf Channel will partner with Topgolf Entertainment Group and San Jose State to televise the 73rd Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif., beginning this spring. It’s a multi-year partnership that will bring one of the top events of the spring season to golf fans’ living rooms.

Beginning with this year’s event, to be played April 15-17, Golf Channel will air three hours during each round of the 54-hole championship. Each day’s coverage will also be re-aired later in the evening.

The Western has a long, illustrious history in college golf as the longest-running college event west of the Mississippi River. It has been played since 1947 at the Alister Mackenzie-designed Pasatiempo – often coinciding with Masters week, which makes for a surreal scene as college golf’s best crowd around TVs post-round. The past champions list includes Ken Venturi, Johnny Miller, Mark O’Meara, Arron Oberhoelser and Patrick Rodgers, among others.

The winner famously receives a bright blue letterman’s jacket.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time the event has made it on TV. The Western was televised nationally in 1996, when San Jose State’s Oberholser outplayed Stanford’s Joel Kribel and Tiger Woods over the final nine holes.

“For 73 years, we have been blessed to have an amazing venue in Pasatiempo,” longtime San Jose State coach John Kennaday said in a release. “To have the consistency of great, meaningful and historic players come through our tournament, it's an honor and a labor of love for many of us."