In Play with Jimmy Roberts Returns to Golf Channel

ORLANDO, Fla., (July 23, 2013) – IN PLAY WITH JIMMY ROBERTS returns to Golf Channel on Tuesday, July 30 at 10:30 p.m. ET with a new slate of real-life stories within the game of golf, headlined by an examination of the issues surrounding water usage and conservation in the golf course industry and a video diary following tour professionals on a peace mission that brought them to the front lines of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Host Jimmy Roberts, a 13-time Emmy Award-winner, has drawn critical praise for telling some of sports’ greatest stories during his distinguished career at NBC Sports, ESPN and ABC News and ABC Sports, which includes covering 14 Olympics.  Described as “an enterprising new original series” by Sports Illustrated and a “gorgeously shot magazine show” by CableFAX Daily, IN PLAY WITH JIMMY ROBERTS is a monthly series that chronicles stories ranging from celebrities to everyday people who are all unified by golf.
Scheduled features on the Tuesday, July 30 episode:

• Golf Course Water Usage and Conservation Concerns – One of the bigger concerns in the golf course industry today is water usage. Whether driven by higher costs, the lower availability of municipal water, or environmental conservation, golf course superintendents and architects around the country are stepping up their efforts to manage water.  Former NBC journalist Stone Phillips examines the ways golf course architects are building courses with water usage and conservation heading into the future.

·   Mission to Israel – When touring professionals Hunter Mahan, Michael Thompson, Amy Alcott and Tiger Woods' swing coach Sean Foley were invited on a peace mission to Israel in late November 2012, the intent was to use the game of golf to help bring two different societies together – Palestinian and Israeli youths. Halfway through the mission, however, the group found themselves near the conflict between Hamas and Israel, with airstrikes from Palestinian rockets hitting targets 20 miles away from the goodwill mission.  Golf Channel cameras captured video from the real-world conflict and reactions from the players on the peace mission.  Tim Rosaforte reports. ·   Professional Golf and Wine - In recent years, many professional golfers have taken to winemaking for various reasons.  David Frost because he grew up on a vineyard, Cristie Kerr to raise money for charity and Greg Norman to diversify his business empire.  Jimmy Roberts will explore this fascination, sample the fruits of their labor, and along with the editors from Wine Spectator magazine, evaluate their vintages.  
About Golf Channel As the fastest-growing network on television, Golf Channel is a multimedia, golf entertainment and services company based in Orlando, Fla. The Golf Channel cable network, co-founded by Arnold Palmer in 1995 and part of the NBC Sports Group, is available in more than 120 million homes worldwide through cable, satellite and wireless companies. As part of the NBC Sports Group, professional golf coverage on NBC is branded “Golf Channel on NBC,” further extending the Golf Channel brand to NBC’s broadcast audiences. Exclusive partnerships with the world’s top tours allow Golf Channel to feature more live golf coverage than all other networks combined, added to a programming schedule distinguished by golf’s best news, instruction and original programming. Golf Channel’s digital platform of businesses is led by www.GolfChannel.com, a leading golf destination on the Internet, delivering unmatched coverage of the world of golf, as well as services that help the recreational player with how to play, what to play and where to play golf.