The Big Break

1 episode · 2003

The Big Break I first aired, as said in the introduction, on October 6, 2003. The contest was filmed over ten days at the Treetops Resort in Gaylord, Michigan. The winner would receive exemptions into four selected events on the Canadian Tour in 2004. The ten hopefuls for the first season were Randy Block of San Antonio; Garrett Garland of Northridge, California; Charles Calhoun of Marietta, Ohio; Justin Peters of Plantation, Florida; Steve Duemig of Clearwater, Florida; Anthony Sorentino of Rochester Hills, Michigan; Mark Farnham of Port Jefferson, New York; Craig Pawling of Sunrise, Florida; Jeff Brown of Hampton, Georgia; and Jon Roddy of Orlando, Florida. The show was hosted by Phil Mickelson's former swing coach, Rick Smith, and Katherine Roberts, who was dismissed as eye candy. In the end, Peters defeated Sorentino 3 & 1 in the matchplay final. Peters, though, failed to make the cut in any of the four Canadian Tour events he played in. The first season's webpage is still viewable here.

1 episode · 2004

The Big Break II first aired on September 27, 2004. The majority of the series was filmed at the Stallion Mountain Country Club in Las Vegas, though the matchplay final was held at Vegas' Bali Hai Golf Club. The winner of this edition picked up exemptions into four selected Nationwide Tour events in 2005, a $10,000 cash prize, and a new Ford Five Hundred. The second season's ten hopefuls were Don Donatello of Lake Mary, Florida; Jay McNair of Brandon, Florida; Kip Henley III of Crossville, Tennessee; Bart Lower of Ann Arbor, Michigan; David Gunas, Jr. of Amston, Connecticut; Sean Daly of San Luis Obispo, California; John Turk of Melbourne, Florida; Mike Foster, Jr. of Savannah, Georgia; Shelby Chrest of Olds, Alberta; and Scott Yancy III of Glen Carbon, Illinois. Smith returned to host, this time, joined by Lesley Swanson. Henley and Donatello were the final two, and their match needed two extra playoff holes, with Henley eventually winning. Lower also received a prize. A viewer poll determined that of the eight previously eliminated contestants, Lower deserved another chance at his "big break," and with 37% of the vote, more than anyone else, Lower was invited to take part in The Big Break IV, which he accepted. Henley notes in this diary entry that he has gained further awards since his victory. On April 27, 2005, Henley qualified for the PGA Tour's FedEx St. Jude Classic, and qualified for it again in 2011 by winning a local PGA qualifier.

1 episode · 2005

The Big Break III: Ladies Only is the third installment of The Golf Channel's reality series, The Big Break. This installment first aired on February 8, 2005. The show was filmed in October 2004 at the Kingsmill Resort and Spa just outside Williamsburg, Virginia. The winner of this edition would receive exemptions into two LPGA events and a celebrity tournament in 2005, not all of which aired on The Golf Channel. Also, a leading golf retailer, Golf Galaxy, was offering $5,000 so that the winning player could purchase whatever they need for the LPGA events, such as new clubs or other accessories. The first of those three tournaments was the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, held at the golf resort where the show was filmed. The Michelob ULTRA Open is commonly referred to as the LPGA's "fifth major," much like The Players Championship is for the PGA Tour. The ten hopefuls for the third season were Tasha Browner of Tarzana, California; Danielle Amiee of Newport Beach, California; Pamela Crikelair of Westchester County, New York; Valeria Ochoa, originally from Medellín, Colombia, but who has since moved to Miramar, Florida; Debbie Dahmer of Escondido, California; Jan Dowling originally from Bradford, Ontario, but who has since moved to Dallas; Cindy Miller of Silver Creek, New York; Sarah Sasse of Lincoln, Nebraska; Liz Uthoff of St. Louis; and Felicia Brown of Redondo Beach, California. Vince Cellini and Stephanie Sparks, who once played in the LPGA herself, albeit briefly, became the show's new hosts. The matchplay final was stellar. Crikelair and Amiee faced off, with Crikelair going 2 up after just three holes. Amiee came all the way back, and, at 1 up on the par 3 17th, sank a birdie to go 2 up, and clinch the The Big Break III title 2 & 1. In addition to her exemptions and $5,000 gift card from Golf Galaxy, Amiee also won a new Chrysler Crossfire, which she gave to a friend who had helped her financially. Amiee also donated her Golf Galaxy certificate to a charity for underprivileged children.

1 episode · 2005

The Big Break IV: USA vs. Europe was filmed in June 2005, and premiered on September 13 of the same year. The twelve hopefuls were taken to Scotland's Carnoustie, and the Old Course in St Andrews to compete for exemptions into two European Tour events, an endorsement deal with Bridgestone Golf, a two-year lease on a Ford Explorer, and a $5,000 gift card from Dick's Sporting Goods. The Golf Channel made this a competition between players from the United States and Europe, much like the Ryder Cup. Vince Cellini and Stephanie Sparks returned as hosts. The six hopefuls representing Team USA were Lower; Randall Hunt from Los Angeles, who currently lives in Arlington, Texas; Tommy Gainey, known as "Two Gloves," who hails from Bishopville, South Carolina; T.J. Valentine from Plymouth, Massachusetts; David Carnell, a Miami resident who is originally from Park Forest, Illinois; and Paul Holtby from Simi Valley, California. Team Europe's six hopefuls were former British Amateur winner Warren Bladon of Leamington Spa, England; Guy Woodman from Old Windsor, England; Edoardo Gardino, a Crans-Montana, Switzerland resident who is originally from Azti, Italy; Marty Wilde Jr. from Tewin, England; Richard Gillot from Paris; and Thomas Blankvoort from Wassenaar, Netherlands.

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The Big Break V: Hawaii was the fifth edition of The Golf Channel's reality television competition program, The Big Break. The show's premise is to award aspiring golf professionals exemptions into event on major tours, eliminating one contestant each week through a series of challenges until only one player is left. The Big Break V: Hawaii was filmed at the Turtle Bay Resort of Oahu's North Shore in Hawaii from October 16 to October 30, 2005. The shooting location was apparently quite close to where ABC's hit series, Lost, also shot on Oahu, is filmed. The show premiered on The Golf Channel on February 7, 2006. This was the second edition of the show in which all of the contestants were female, the first being the popular The Big Break III: Ladies Only, which aired from February 8 to April 26, 2005. The Big Break V: Hawaii was also the first edition of the show to begin with 11 contestants rather than the usual 10, as one of the contestants would be eliminated on the first episode, the first time anyone would ever be eliminated on the season premiere. Vince Cellini and Stephanie Sparks returned to co-host their third edition of the show. The Big Break: All Access, the show's behind-the-scenes spinoff, returned for its second season. The Big Break IV: USA vs. Europe contestant Marty Wilde, Jr. hosted All Access. All Access premiered the night after the first episode.

1 episode · 2006

The Big Break VI: Trump National was the sixth edition of The Golf Channel's popular reality television series, The Big Break. The show awards exemptions into selected events on major professional golf tours. This is the first time the show was held at a course in California: Donald Trump's Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles. Trump made a cameo appearance in the season premiere, in addition to appearing periodically throughout the show. This is also the first mixed-gender edition of the show. Nine men and nine women competed for exemptions onto the Champions Tour and LPGA Tour, respectively. The two Champions Tour events the men competed to qualify for were the Turtle Bay Championship and the Bank of America Championship, while the two LPGA events the women competed for entry into were the SBS Open at Turtle Bay and the Longs Drugs Challenge. The show was taped in June and July 2006, and premiered on September 26, 2006 with the matchplay final broadcast on December 19, 2006.

1 episode · 2007

The Big Break VII: Reunion at Reunion featured sixteen competitors from previous seasons of The Big Break returning to compete for PGA, Champions and LPGA Tour exemptions at the Reunion Resort & Club in Orlando, Florida. The series premiered on The Golf Channel on February 25, 2007. Gainey, who originally competed on The Big Break IV: USA vs. Europe. Competitors included: ⁕Mark "Moose" Farnham, The Big Break I ⁕Don Donatello, The Big Break II ⁕Mike Foster, Jr., The Big Break II ⁕David Gunas, Jr., The Big Break II ⁕Pamela Garrity, The Big Break III: Ladies Only ⁕Cindy Miller, The Big Break III ⁕Valeria Ochoa, The Big Break III ⁕Tommy "Two Gloves" Gainey, The Big Break IV: USA vs. Europe ⁕Edoardo Gardino, The Big Break IV ⁕Nikki DiSanto, The Big Break V: Hawaii ⁕Kim Lewellen, The Big Break V ⁕Ashley Gomes, The Big Break VI: Trump National ⁕Laura London, The Big Break VI ⁕Kelly Murray, The Big Break VI ⁕Gary Ostrega, The Big Break VI ⁕Briana Vega, The Big Break VI women's champion Laura London indicated in her interview that The Big Break VII was actually cast well before the completion of filming of The Big Break VI and before London herself had been eliminated.

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For the first time on any edition of The Big Break, the eighth season offered "at least one exemption on the PGA Tour" as its top prize. Premiering October 2, 2007, this season returned to the original format of 12 men competing for the title: Rick Schwartz and Stephanie Sparks were the hosts.

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The ninth season premiered on April 15, 2008. It featured an all-female cast and was again filmed in Hawaii, this time at Ka'anapali Resort in Maui. New hosts were Stina Sternberg and Andrew Magee. The winner received an exemption into the 2008 Navistar LPGA Classic, entry fees to all 2009 Futures Tour tournaments waived, an Adams Golf endorsement deal, and a BMW Z4 Coupe.

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The 10th season premiered on October 7, 2008. Eight two-person teams composed of a male and female competed at Boyne Highlands Resort. Stina Sternberg and Billy Ray Brown were the hosts. In this season the finale was broken into 3 parts: 6 holes of best ball, 6 holes of alternate shot, and 6 holes of aggregate score.

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The 11th season aired in Summer 2009. Six women and six men competed for a grand prize of $100,000 in cash. Contestants included a former Marine Captain who had served in Afghanistan in 2003, and a model.

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This twelfth season, Big Break Disney Golf premiered on October 13, 2009. Challenges took place at courses and off-course locations in and around Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Vince Cellini and Stephanie Sparks returned as hosts.

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This season, which debuted on September 28, 2010, saw some significant format changes. For one thing, it became a pure team competition. The object of this season was to be the first team to remove all members of the other team in a double elimination format. A contestant losing the individual challenge at the end of the show was "benched" for the next program. A second loss by a "benched" contestant constitutes elimination. Individual prizes - cash, shopping sprees and tour exemptions - are awarded by way of a points system. The contestant on the winning team with the most points will be declared the "most valuable player" and will receive the prizes. The teams, both composed of past Big Break contestants, are divided into men (blue shirts) and women (red shirts). If a male player is MVP, he will win an exemption to the PGA Tour Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, Nevada. If the MVP is female, she will win an exemption to the LPGA Tour Kia Classic in Industry, California. Blair O'Neal was the winner. The show is taped at the Teeth of the Dog course at the Casa de Campo Resort. The course was designed by Pete Dye.

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Big Break Ireland was the 16th edition of the Golf Channel reality show, The Big Break. It was contested in the K Club in Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland. It premiered on September 20, 2011. The eventual winner of the show was Mark Murphy, who won $50,000 and two exemptions to European Tour tour events, the Trophée Hassan II and the Irish Open.

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Big Break Atlantis was the 17th edition of the Golf Channel's reality show, The Big Break. It was contested at the Paradise Island Golf Course on Paradise Island, The Bahamas. It premiered on May 14, 2012.

5 episodes · 2012

The 18th season of Big Break featured 12 men and premiered October 2, 2012

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The 19th season featured 6 men and 6 women. The contestants were divided into 3 teams of 4.

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