Sky Sports golf - behind the scenes

Last updated: 23rd February 2010

Ever wondered what it's like working on the Sky Sports golf team? Assistant Producer Steph Evans gives us an inside look.

GOLF365: Hi Steph. Firstly, tell us a bit about your background and how you got the job working on Sky Sports golf?

Steph: I graduated from Loughborough University in 2007 and managed to get work experience at Sky Sports for a couple of weeks on the NFL. This led to a season on the NFL as an editorial assistant. It was a great starting point but I knew that my interest was in golf and towards the end of the season I approached the golf Executive Producer Jason Wessely and he gave me the opportunity to work on golf which turned into a full-time staff position here.

GOLF365: Tell us your role and describe a typical working week.

Steph: My role on the golf is editorial/assistant producing. There is no typical working week on the golf team! With so many tournaments all over the world the working week changes all the time. But generally a week will be split between assistant producers (AP's). With the PGA Tour we have magazine shows which come down on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday like Inside the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Highlights and Champions Tour Highlights. We're in charge of editing these feeds and getting them to air. Then Thursday through to Sunday is split between European and PGA Tour golf, where we edit openers, closers and run studio. We change shifts each week to keep the work varied.

GOLF365: Do you get to travel to some of the events or is your work mostly studio-based?

Steph: We do get to travel throughout the year. An AP is sent out to the majority of European Tour events that Sky Sports produce on site. We usually go form the Monday to Thursday and produce the scene-sets - interviews and features that help give the viewer context about the event and the players in it, which you see in our coverage every week. In terms of Major events, a whole team of AP's go out and we cut openers and closers on site as well as running studio from a live OB truck.

GOLF365: What piece of work have you done that you were most proud of?

Steph: Probably the Day 4 Closer at the Solheim Cup. After the event David Livingstone told me that that as the closer rolled out in the studio on the big screen all the fans at Rich Harvest Farms stopped to watch and were cheering the whole time. It means a lot to actually see people enjoying your work.

GOLF365: Do you ever get to impose your musical tastes on the world by setting your favourite songs over opening trailers/closing credits?

Steph: Yes we have a fairly open avenue to choose our own music. We try our best to choose music that will reflect the mood/setting of the tournament.

GOLF365: Sky Sports now have the rights again for both US and European Tours and in the first month of the year we've had golf in Hawaii, California, South Africa, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Is your body clock all over the place and how do you cope?

Steph: It can be a struggle dragging yourself out of bed at 6am one week and then working overnight the next but we generally have a few days off to recover and adjust the body clock. Plus we all look out for each other, because we know how draining the hours can be. The main thing is we get different shifts all the time so it doesn't get monotonous.

GOLF365: To what extent are you at the mercy of the host broadcaster when coverage is shown?

Steph: Obviously viewers want to watch as much golf as they can. For PGA Tour golf we top and tail the coverage from whoever the host broadcaster is in the US, someone like The Golf Channel, or NBC. In America they take more ad breaks than we do so we're able to do more analysis, we'll go back to the studio and the presenter and guest will look at key moments from the session.

GOLF365: Give us your take on some of the Sky golf presenters

Steph: It's more than my job's worth to say disparaging things about them! Safe to say they're a fun bunch who are passionate about golf and making it look great on TV. We do have the odd knees-up where we see the other side to them!

GOLF365: Do you play golf yourself and do any of the swing experts ever give you advice?

Steph: I do play golf and some of the coaches do give us the occasional lesson, or cast a critical eye on our swings when on the mat. But unfortunately working on golf means you rarely have a lot time to play!! But we get out for a quick 18 holes when we can.

GOLF365: Are you just obsessed by golf or do you like other sports too? Favourite footie team?

Steph: Though I do tend to spend 90% of my time watching and working on golf, the one sport that I fit around it is hockey. Favourite footie team is Liverpool all the way as I am a born and bred scouser.

GOLF365: We set up this interview via Twitter. Has Twitter been helpful to you in a professional sense or is it just a good way of keeping in touch with people?

Steph: When I first joined Twitter it was purely for social networking reasons, but actually it is great to get feedback from people who watch the show, and everything people mention does get fed back to the presenters and producers of the show.

GOLF365: What advice would you give to someone who wanted to follow in your footsteps and get a job on Sky Sports golf?

Steph: It's definitely not an easy industry to get into. The best advice I can offer is persistence and making sure you have a passion for the sport and live television because without these two key factors you won't enjoy it and won't be a viable candidate to work in such a competitive industry.

GOLF365: Thanks Steph.