More Caitlin Clark? Golf Channel obliges with beefed up pro-am coverage for The Annika

For those wondering how wide Caitlin Clark’s impact on the world of women’s sports has reached, look no further than the updated Golf Channel schedule for the LPGA’s upcoming The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican Golf Club in Florida.

Not only is Clark scheduled to play in the pro-am competition on Wednesday, Nov. 13, but she’s also set to be a panelist at the Women’s Leadership Summit on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

“I love golf, so the opportunity to play in the pro-am for a tournament with a legend like Annika Sorenstam’s name on it is so exciting,” Clark said in a release. “Gainbridge is a leader in supporting women’s sports, and that’s clear through their commitment to me, this event, Billie Jean King, and Parity Week. I’m looking forward to seeing all the LPGA players on the driving range, being part of the Women’s Leadership Summit, and, of course, teeing it up in the pro-am with Annika.”

Clark is a fellow Gainbridge ambassador, so it made sense to have her be a part of one of the LPGA’s newest and biggest events.

But her appearance in the pro-am has made this a major TV event as well. Clark will play the front nine with the world’s No. 1 player, Nelly Korda, and then the back nine with the tournament’s namesake, Annika Sorenstam. Andretti Indycar drivers Colton Herta and Marcus Ericsson will walk inside the ropes as guest caddies.

More: The Annika and Pelican Golf Club team up to create ‘Florida Strong’ T-shirts to support hurricane recovery

Because of increased attention due to Clark’s participation, the folks at Golf Channel — a wing of NBC Sports — have beefed up the coverage of the early portions of the week. A release from the tournament explained the enhanced schedule:

Golf Channel will expand its Golf Today studio programming to start at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday and will include highlights, live tournament look-ins and expanded tournament preview coverage of Clark’s Wednesday Pro-Am. Throughout the day, video highlights and reports will be posted on GOLF Channel, NBC Sports, LPGA Tour and The ANNIKA social media channels, including a live stream of Clark’s warm-up range session on Wednesday, an in-round-walk-and-talk with the WNBA star and more.

Clark is also scheduled to be a panelist at the Women’s Leadership Summit on Tuesday (Nov. 12) at Pelican Golf Club, taking place from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. ET. LPGA.com and NBCSports.com are scheduled to live stream the summit in its entirety.

The penultimate event of the 2024 LPGA Tour season and hosted by World Golf and LPGA Hall-of-Famer Annika Sorenstam, The ANNIKA will take place at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Fla., where the field will compete for a share of the $3.25 million purse, one of the largest on the LPGA Tour.

The field is loaded for the event with five players who have held the top spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings all expected to play and all but one of the 24 players in the 2024 Solheim Cup in attendance.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: More Caitlin Clark? Golf Channel obliges with beefed up pro-am coverage for The Annika

Read the full article here