Golf Channel Tees Up Dedicated Online Travel Platform with New TravelGolf Brand


July 6, 2010. Golf Channel will look to further extend the power of its brand in the travel space as it unveils its new online travel platform: TravelGolf. Serving as the ultimate hub for vacationing golfers, TravelGolf provides the most comprehensive and insightful information about the best places around the world to play golf and have access to a host of other services that will help them to enjoy a golfing vacation to the fullest. Golf Channel parent company Comcast Corporation's recent acquisition of WorldGolf.com, home to the largest collection of national, regional and local golf travel domains, will serve as the foundation of Golf Channel's TravelGolf brand. The new TravelGolf umbrella site is scheduled to launch this spring.

To build out TravelGolf, Golf Channel has access to more than 450 golf travel domain names and 75 unique golf and travel brands through its proprietary WorldGolf Network of websites. Combined, those sites already garner more that 3.5 million page views and 1.1 million unique visitors per month.

"Access to these travel domains has provided us with an enormous base to build out our online travel business. The new TravelGolf banner will fulfill our goal of offering a comprehensive, one-stop experience where golfers can find all the information and services that will make it easier for them to create and book their ultimate golf vacation," said Gene Pizzolato, chief operating officer for Golf Channel New Media Ventures. "This new brand will benefit greatly from the resources of the world's number-one golf television network, which is creating various platforms to not only help golfers enjoy and improve their games, but also to help grow the game of golf."

Golf Channel initially is renovating six of its TravelGolf sites that spotlight some of the biggest golf vacation destinations, with HawaiiGolf.com and HiltonHeadGolf.com leading the way and already operational. Each clean, sleekly designed site under the new TravelGolf umbrella will be populated by a robust, easy to navigate content line-up geared toward each destination. This will include golf course reviews, hotel and resort booking opportunities, travel packages and destination features, as well as integration of other Golf Channel properties, such as the ability to book tee times in the spotlighted vacation destination through its GolfNow.com service (featuring more than 1,800 courses), access to GolfChannel.com's online library of more than 2,500 instructional videos, and the ability to browse product reviews and tips from local golf pros, as well as the Golf Channel Am Tour, the largest amateur tour in the country with more than 800 tournaments in 60 local chapters, giving players access to some of the most renowned golf courses.

About TravelGolf

Golf Channel's TravelGolf brand is managed and operated by GolfChannel.com, which ranks as the #1 golf destination on the Internet. TravelGolf ranks as the premier online golf travel network, featuring the largest collection of national, regional and local golf travel domains. TravelGolf is part of Golf Channel's inventive online platform, a combination of sites designed to be the ultimate one-stop personal golf concierge service to help the recreational player enjoy every aspect of golf from getting the most up-to-the-minute golf news from around the world to help with how to play, where to play and what to play. The Golf Channel's digital platform also includes: GolfNow.com, the Internet's most comprehensive online tee time booking service, offering users the ability to book tee-times at more than 1,800 courses nationwide at any time of day; the Golf Channel Am Tour, the largest amateur tour in the country with more than 800 tournaments in 60 local chapters nationwide, providing casual players with a professionally-run golf tournament experience and access to play at some of the greatest and most challenging courses in their hometowns; and access to GolfChannel.com's breaking news and features, a library of more than 2,500 instructional online videos, extensive product reviews, and tips from the most-trusted equipment experts.