As the world’s best golfers prepare to compete in the 118th U.S. Open Golf Championship at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., FOX Sports continues to set the pace in production tech evolution. Adding Emmy-nominated FOX FlightTrack for fairway shots, Green Reader, DirecTV “Featured Group” in 4K HDR and a forward-leaning 5G trial in collaboration with Ericsson, Intel and AT&T, coverage begins Thursday, June 14 on FS1 at 9:30 AM ET. Coverage continues throughout the weekend on FOX, FS1, FOX Deportes and the FOX Sports App.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to continue to innovate with our coverage of the U.S. Open to present this championship in the best way possible,” said Zac Fields, FOX Sports SVP Graphic Tech & Innovation. “We are confident the technology complement we are taking to Shinnecock Hills will create an amazing experience for our viewers.”
FOX Sports’ commitment to ball tracing on all 18 holes continues in 2018, as the network equips each tee box with Trackman radar technology. Eight holes are equipped to show viewers a standard ball trace over live video, with enhanced club and ball data. The remaining 10 holes will display Emmy-nominated FOX FlightTrack, a live trace over a graphic representation of the golf hole, offering more perspective to the viewer.
Beyond tee shot tracing, there are three roaming wireless RF cameras equipped with Toptracer technology, providing trace on approach shots. New this year, FOX Sports debuts FlightTrack for fairway shots on two holes – Nos. 5 and 16.
Once at the green, FOX Sports has the ability to show a predicted putt path with the debut of Green Reader. This technology considers multiple variables, as it aims to show how much and in what direction a putt will break on its path to the hole.
In cooperation with DirecTV, FOX Sports is offering a Featured Group in 4K HDR, which includes three 4K HDR wireless cameras and 19 4K HDR wired cameras on the course.
In addition to the Featured Holes and Groups offerings, Featured Tees makes its FOX Sports debut. This new channel moves between tee boxes while focusing more on data and statistics surrounding the player’s shots. Viewers get real-time data for each tee shot, along with leaderboards for the tournament and individual advanced metrics.
FOX Sports, in cooperation with the FOX Innovation Lab and partners Ericsson, Intel and AT&T, will use 5G technology to stream 4K video over 5G for potential broadcast nationwide. The 5G wireless technology will transmit 4K HDR images from two FOX Sports cameras positioned on the challenging par-3 seventh hole through the FOX Sports production truck, making it available to FOX Sports and its viewers through DirecTV. For more information on the use of 5G technology: https://foxs.pt/2IDQAc1.
With the possibility of wind becoming a factor at Shinnecock Hills, FOX Sports is deploying weather instruments strategically around the course, capturing wind direction and wind speed in an effort to display any impact on play.
In preparation for this week’s event, multiple days of aerial production drone flights were completed last week, capturing unique images from each of the 18 holes.