Sports Media: Fun-loving Charlie Rymer stays busy as golf analyst
Charlie Rymer was on the road early Tuesday morning from Myrtle Beach and another “Hootie & The Blowfish Monday After the Masters” pro-am to Hilton Head, where that night he would host a pairings party for the RBC Heritage’s Wednesday pro-am.
After that, he said, he was gratefully headed home to Orlando to reacquaint himself with his wife and sons and enjoy a little R&R.
What, no week of work for Golf Channel at the Heritage? Rymer, GC’s resident analyst/funnyman, laughed wearily.
“I’ve been on the road 12 days, which is unusual nowadays,” he said. “I’ll be back in studio (for GC’s “Morning Drive” program) Friday-Monday, then I go to New Orleans Wednesday-Sunday” for the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic.
In other words, Rymer figured he’d earned a few days off – especially since most of his time was spent in the media whirlpool that annually is the Masters.
In fact, if you’re looking for a poster child for how modern media covered golf’s first major championship of the year, the 47-year-old Fort Mill native is your guy. Consider how he spent his time in Augusta:
Rymer arrived Friday before the tournament, and on Sunday covered Augusta National’s two-year-old Drive, Chip & Putt competition for juniors, an event he calls “the most important day for golf every year, because it’s the future of the game, a big investment. It’s a thrill to see the work of (Masters’ chairman) Billy Payne, the PGA of America, the USGA and others come together.”
Monday-Wednesday, Rymer did “hits” for Golf Channel and Morning Drive, working with former Tour player Chris DiMarco out of GC’s set adjacent to the practice area. “We see what the story lines will be every morning,” he said. When play began Thursday, Rymer moved to Westwood One’s radio booth at the 18th hole, teaming with veteran broadcaster Bob Papa, whose resume includes Olympics and play-by-play for the New York Giants.
Now in his 17th year in broadcasting following a brief PGA Tour career notable mostly for having fun, Rymer has seen, and worked through, huge changes in how media cover golf.
“When I first started, there wasn’t a lot of cable (coverage) except at certain events,” he said. “You had golf coverage for 2-3 hours Saturday and Sunday, that was it.
“Then USA Network and ESPN” – Rymer worked for both – “started covering Thursday-Friday for a couple of hours. Now it’s evolved to the content that’s coming not just from majors but also rank-and-file PGA Tour events … it’s unbelievable. For the Masters, Golf Channel had 80 live hours – and didn’t have the live coverage rights.”
ESPN (Thursday-Friday) and CBS (Saturday-Sunday) aired 4-5 hours daily of live play, employing perhaps 500 staff. Golf Channel’s “shoulder” coverage, with 100-plus workers operating from neighboring Augusta Country Club and the network’s Orlando studios, was geared to viewers for whom those 4-5 hours weren’t enough. For the true hard-core, DirecTV offered a “matrix” of options, from dedicated cameras at Amen Corner to start-to-finish coverage of featured player groups.
A personal remembrance: In 1996, after Greg Norman infamously melted down at the Masters, then fulfilled his commitment to play the next week at the Heritage, he and Rymer were paired Saturday. When an abusive fan harangued Norman for his Masters’ loss, caddie Tony Navarro plunged into the gallery to pin the lout to the ground.
On Sunday, again paired with Norman, Rymer apologized to him “on behalf of my home state,” and promised it would not happen again. Norman smiled and asked how Rymer could be so sure.
“Because I’m carrying a gun in my golf bag,” Rymer replied, straight-faced.
His highlight that week, he said, was when he outdrove the famously long Great White Shark by 37 yards at the par-5 second hole, and then walked off the difference to flash the number to a group of buddies in the gallery. “That, and watching expressions on fans’ faces – especially the ladies” – whenever Norman walked by, he said.
Years from now, there will be even more ways for viewers to get their golf “fix.” With luck, there also will be Rymer and others like him around to make sure it’s fun.
This story was originally published April 16, 2015 at 11:59 PM with the headline "Sports Media: Fun-loving Charlie Rymer stays busy as golf analyst."