As someone who has attended countless professional golf tournaments either as a caddie, a commentator or a journalist I have never really stopped to think of the interest there might be by the general public in just what goes on behind the scenes in tournament golf.

On that particular day at a tennis tournament however it dawned on me that such a subject might make an interesting story for Inside Golf. That day at the tennis event I was fascinated by the routine that players followed prior to and after their matches and the various other goings on in tournament tennis and realised that my interest in a sporting event to which I had little exposure was, likely, the same for others in golf.

There could be no better place to start than at the Media Centre of a golf tournament which over the years has developed into the nerve centre for many events.

Always one of the busiest areas at any golf tournament - or at least any that are big enough for one to be sustained and justified - is the Media Centre. This facility is not only the work centre for the journalists and others who have assembled to cover the event, but it often doubles as the meeting point for a wide range of golf industry people and - in some cases - hangers on. The Media Centre often acts as the networking facility for the wide range of people involved in tournament golf in its various disciplines.

Prior to each tournament, applications forms are sent out to the media seeking expressions of interest in covering the event. Credentials are applied for and in most cases given although they are increasingly scrutinised in order that only bona fide media are provided facilities. That is the way it should be also although tournament organisers are very much aware of finding that balance between having credentialed people cover the event and the need to get maximum exposure for the event in a wide range of media. In most cases they get it right.

As I begin this month’s piece I am sitting in such a facility for the Michael Hill New Zealand Open at the stunning Hills Golf Club near Arrowtown in the South Island of New Zealand and about a twenty minute drive from New Zealand’s tourist capital of Queenstown. It is just past one o’clock on day one and the marquee set up to cater for the large media contingent this week, has most writers and broadcasters settling back into writing and filing stories after the morning field have finished their rounds.

This is the normal routine. For many during the first two rounds of an event, stories are filed on a half daily basis. Even those writing for the morning papers the following day get their morning stories out of the way as soon as possible in order that they may be ready for another onslaught later in the day.

In addition journalists will seek out feature and oneoff stories with players or personalities. An event such as the New Zealand Open, especially with its joint sanctioning between the Australasian and Nationwide Tours provides the perfect opportunity to highlight players, both obscure and well known, on their way up and way down in tournament golf.

The advent of the internet provides the opportunity and demand for stories to be written on a more regular basis to satisfy the needs of the increasingly internet savvy golf fan who now requires a speed of information not previously catered for or expected.

Those who played well in the morning field have been asked in to face the media. Questions have been asked and in most cases answered. As is often the case with early tournament leaders, research material has been unearthed to investigate and discover more about the likes of Josh Teater and Todd Demsey and the less obvious Seung-su Han who had all experienced what might have been their moment of glory for the week with a good start to the event.

Americans Teater and Demsey led in the early stages of round one of the event and while some of the full time journalists may have been aware of their background, their profile generally is such that ‘more information please’ was the call by most. Joe Chemycz, the media official from the Nationwide Tour is able to help in that regard for those who don’t quite know where to look although the advent of google and other golf information sites provide increasingly ready research facilities.

Working journalists are often well catered for at events in terms of food and drink and while the New Zealand Open is not necessarily amongst the best in that regard pies and sandwiches made their welcome arrival. In the cool early teen temperatures of March in Central Otago the pies are quickly snavelled up and appetites satisfied before it is back to work.

With the morning stories out of the way those brave enough to venture out into the cold weather do so. There is golf to watch and while not all golf journalists are necessarily seen on a golf course during a tournament there is much to be gained by walking the course and getting a feel of what is going on and how the course is playing. Many a story is generated by something that happens on a golf course which, if not experienced firsthand may not have seen the light of day.

With the scoring and other information now readily on offer, it is possible to sit in a media centre all week and cover an event but there is much to be gained by firstly witnessing at close quarters the golf and conditions and to be seen to doing so. There tends to be a far greater respect by players and the industry generally for those who make the effort to head out onto the course and to generate stories themselves rather than wait to have the stories come to them.

As the opening day of the New Zealand Open draws to a close it is clear that those out in the morning field had the best of the conditions and it appears that nobody in the afternoon field could beat or even catch the morning leaders. Or at least that is the way the script should have read.

This is when the golf journalist, attempting to meet a deadline or with dinner plans that evening, can get a little frustrated and at times faces a dilemma. Dare he take the punt on nobody pulling off a big finish to the day and file his story early or should he wait until all play is complete. Murphy’s Law often kicks in this situation. If you think nobody late in the day will impact the stories formulated an hour or so earlier they probably will and if you wait until the last player in then nothing tends to change.

On that Thursday I had the New Zealand Golf Awards dinner to attend and chose to take the punt. After all, nobody was within cooee of the morning leaders when I left the course and they appeared likely to head the event into the second day without challenge. Enter one Alex Prugh who birdied four of his last six holes to join the leaders. I was able to file an updated story for iseekgolf.com and for Brisbane Radio 4BC, two of my regular clients, from my hotel room before heading out for dinner but it was again a classic case of if something can go wrong it likely will.

I mentioned scoring earlier in this article and the advent of an outstanding scoring system at all events makes the life of the journalist and others covering the event significantly easier. Along the back of most media centres is a line up of volunteers all working the radios which are receiving regular updates from the walking scorers on the course. This information is quickly loaded into the system and shown on numerous monitors around the media centre, is also used live on websites and is essential for those covering the event on television.

As the New Zealand Open drew to its conclusion, the winner, Alex Prugh, who had unsettled us earlier in the week with his big and late finish on Thursday, made his way into the interview room. In the euphoria of victory this is a special time for a player. He is at his most relaxed and for Prugh this was the greatest moment in his golfing career. One of the media centre managers, Bob Schumacher, gets proceedings underway with a couple of quick questions and then it is over to the floor to have their say.

As the interview draws to a close the assembled media burst into spontaneous applause. It is an acknowledgement of what Prugh has achieved but it is also recognition of the manner in which he conducted himself to the media throughout the week. The 2009 Michael Hill New Zealand Open had been good for Prugh but so too had Prugh done his bit - both on and off the golf course - for the tournament.