ACC Network’s Wes Durham Relishes Once-a-Year Opportunity to Call PGA Championship
As the year's second major unfolds from Louisville on ESPN and ESPN+ this week, the college sports voice loves "the challenge of covering [golf] and trying to present the sport in its proper context" from his Atlanta-area home studio
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For most of the year, Wes Durham is one of the lead voices for the ACC Network, calling football, baseball, and basketball games. But this week, he’s doing something different.
For the third consecutive year, Durham is calling live golf as one of the play-by-play voices on ESPN+ Featured Group coverage of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club here. ESPN+ has multiple groups per day on all four days of the tournament as part of its comprehensive coverage of the year’s second major.
Calling golf was a bucket list item for Durham, who grew up playing the game and is still an active golfer. When the opportunity arose before the 2022 PGA Championship, he jumped at the chance and worked two days from a studio in Charlotte, N.C.
One of his featured players in the final round just happened to be eventual winner Justin Thomas.
“I had a terrific time,” he said. “It was well coordinated. I wasn’t sure how it was going to be just following three guys for two days and then two guys for two days all the way around. But it was terrific every day.
“I learned the preparation process. You were learning something different every day to prepare for the groups that you were covering.”
As he did last year, Durham is set up to call the golf from a studio in his Atlanta area home.
Thursday at the 2024 #PGAChamp
First Round live
⛳️ 7a-Noon ET, ESPN+ | Noon-8p ET, ESPNFeatured Groups/Holes all day on @ESPNPlus
Alternate telecasts on ESPN2
⛳️ 11a-1p ET with @ESPNBET
⛳️ 1-3p ET with @NoLayingUp pic.twitter.com/WaSQFHfcsw— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) May 15, 2024
“I’m enough old school and a little bit new school when it comes to broadcast prep,” he said. “So even in football and basketball, I like charting things as I go. To me, if I’m not writing something down, I feel like I’m missing it in a weird way.
“So I’ve developed some sheets that I can keep during rounds, whether we have three players or two, and it works out pretty well. And I create prep notes on what they’ve done, either in previous years or in majors.”
For the first two days, he’s working with analyst Colin Swatton and on-course reporter Graham DeLaet.
On the two weekend days, Ewan Porter will be the on-course reporter.
“I have a lot of respect for the production people involved,” he said. “The Featured Group stuff is incredibly fun to do, and I’m just really fortunate to be part of it.
“I love the challenge of covering the sport and trying to present the sport in its proper context,” he said.
“Golf is something I enjoy. If you were to find me on the road on a Friday before a college football game, more than likely, golf is on in my room. I have a love affair with the game.”
