Musco Lighting - Showdown at Sherwood

Showdown at Sherwood
Lighting the first live telecast of golf in prime time

The intrinsic, unspoiled beauty of Sherwood Country Club provided a fitting setting — and plenty of logistical challenges for Musco — for golf’s version of High Noon.

While Tiger Woods’ play on #17 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif. ended the match play golf event on August 2, it may have marked the beginning of an enduring sports rivalry and a possible groundbreaking addition to ABC’s Monday Night Sports lineup.

The live, head-to-head, one-round match-play event pitting Tiger Woods against David Duval — the world’s two highest rated golfers — was the first-ever, live telecast of a golfing event in prime time.

When it was all over, Tiger Woods was not the only winner. The time slot and the two young stars undoubtedly helped broaden golf’s appeal to a much wider audience. Over six million viewers tuned in to watch the event. Charities also benefitted as portions from both players’ winnings were donated.

Challenges at Sherwood
In order to ensure prime-time coverage nationwide and be prepared for a possible playoff after sunset, ABC called on Musco to light the 17th and 18th holes with temporary systems.

Lighting golf courses provides a unique set of challenges. Technicians must place the lights out of the way of the golfers, work around trees and obstacles which could throw shadows, yet achieve the needed lighting without dark spots.

The Showdown at Sherwood event provided these challenges — and then some. The beautiful, natural setting at Sherwood Country Club didn’t offer a level piece of property anywhere. The lighting equipment also needed to have minimal impact on the grounds of the exclusive Southern California community.

On top of all this, they still had to accommodate ABC’s camera locations. Lights needed to be aimed, angled and positioned so the cameras wouldn’t see them on a visual and yet still be able to pick up the ball.

Musco Makes It Happen
The Musco team worked out solutions to all these challenges. The results were impressive. On Sunday night, the clubhouse golf pros played a “dress rehearsal” under the lights. On Monday night, the lights gave added dimension to the final hole played at dusk on the most challenging hole to light — the 17th.

“They had it lit so you could see the contrast and still be able to see it was a deep canyon. And yet there were no heavy shadows. The light got down into everywhere it was supposed to be,” recalls Doug Schmitt, technical director for ABC Sports.

“Everybody at ABC was quite satisfied with what Musco did, and the ratings were good,” Doug continued. “There will be more opportunities for this in the future, and undoubtedly for Musco to meet whatever new challenges present themselves.” •