Moran aims to keep audience on same wavelength

Radio coverage"Our aim," says Gary Moran, the executive producer of RTÉ Radio Sports' dawn to dusk coverage of the Ryder Cup, "is not to bore the pants off non-golfers or causal golfers." He has set a high mark for his team of commentators, bolstered by the addition of tour professionals who may aspire to actually one day playing in the match.

With over 30 hours of radio coverage, the suspicion is that all those involved will be hoarse come the time on Sunday evening that the Ryder Cup is decided, assuming the weather gods don't extend play into another day.

Apart from going out on medium wave 567 and long wave 252, on-course spectators will also be able to access the coverage and keep themselves informed of happenings on and around the Palmer Course. To do so, however, they must fork out €10 for special Ryder Cup radio headsets which are on sale on site. Spectators are not allowed to bring in their own Walkmans.

For RTÉ Radio Sport, this is the biggest undertaking ever in terms of the technology and numbers of personnel involved. A purpose-built radio studio has been built in the TV compound near the Smurfit Course, on the opposite side of the River Liffey to the Ryder Cup course.

Two 130-feet high radio hoists, one at the studio and one at the far side of the Palmer Course, will pick up the signals from the on-course commentators who are equipped with a belt pack complete with aerials and head phones.

"The idea of two hoists in different parts of the course is to ensure quality coverage at all times," explains Moran. "If the signal strength goes down for any reason, perhaps because one of our commentary team is behind a tree, at least one of the hoists will be able to pick him up."

In endeavouring to bring comprehensive coverage from "before the first drive until after the last putt", as Moran puts it, eight commentators and eight professionals will provide live coverage.

Led by Greg Allen, the station's golf correspondent who will anchor, the team also includes Daragh Maloney, Des Cahill, Tim McCarthy, Matt Doyle, Dougie Donnelly, Rupert Bell and Con Murphy. Tour professionals Gary Murphy, Damien McGrane, Peter Lawrie and Stephen Browne, as well as Denis O'Sullivan, Francis Howley, Wayne Riley and Raymie Burns are also part of the radio team.

"Our primary objective is to inform people what is happening in the golf," says Moran, "but not a distant secondary objective would be to hold their attention and keep them entertained. We don't want to be boring because no matter how interesting the golf is, if you don't aim to entertain as well you will only drive people away. We hope that people who might be listening in their cars or listening here would actually keep listening.

"I know there are people who drive home and, even if they have a television inside, if they are hooked on the radio coverage, they will sit on the driveway for the next 10 minutes and they can't leave it then because there is a vital shot coming. If the coverage is bad they will leave. We hope we are going to deliver something that will keep people hooked."

The addition of the current tour players is a bonus.

As Allen acknowledges, "at some stage in their careers guys likes McGrane, Lawrie, Murphy may have a good season and have aspirations to play in the Ryder Cup.

"I thought it was really interesting that they wanted to be here, inside the ropes. It shows how much it means to them to do something like this and to be a part of it.

"None of them hesitated when asked. They all had to consult their schedules, said 'yes', and we didn't have to go near a second list of anybody."