Opinion & Analysis

Back9Network eliminating 35 full-time positions

Published

11 years ago

Jan 26, 2015

The Hartford Business Journal is reporting that the Back9Network is eliminating 35 full-time positions.

The network says it will still have in excess of 50 full-time employees in Hartford in addition to contributors. The requirements of a nearly $5 million manufacturing assistance act loan awarded to the network back in Aug. 2012 required that Back9 retain 10 jobs and create another 40 by the end of 2014.

Back9 has received $5 million in state loans from the Department of Economic and Community Development plus a $100,000 grant.

The layoffs follow a report last week from GolfNewsNet that the network missed a Jan. 9^th payroll for non-hourly employees, on Jan. 9. The employees were reportedly paid a week later.

Editor’s Note: GolfWRX Contributor John Lahtinen was a contractor for the Back9Network, working as a website contributor and editor from October 2012 to April 2013.

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John Lahtinen

John Lahtinen is a Connecticut-based writer with nearly 20 years of experience involving news, media, communications, higher education, PR and marketing. He has been playing golf forever and is still finding unique ways to ruin a good round. Adding to his confusion, he plays both right- and left-handed.

11 Comments

randy

Jan 30, 2015 at 8:41 am

Hard to watch something that isn’t HD.

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Bb

Jan 28, 2015 at 9:37 am

A crap channel anyway

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Jonny B

Jan 27, 2015 at 3:35 pm

What is Back9 Network? And how did they get $5 million in taxpayer dollars?

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jj

Jan 27, 2015 at 12:40 am

who cares and the a holes like smelly tilman, brainless chablee and the rest of the washed up was wasbeens on golf channel ALL need to be replaced! Oh yea, backside network who?

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Collins B

Jan 26, 2015 at 5:59 pm

I know they are going for a different approach than the Golf Channel. But ever since Holly left the product at Golf Channel, particularly Morning Drive, has dropped off. If they could have produced a good 1 hr show they could have taken market share.

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Tom

Jan 26, 2015 at 5:17 pm

So many negative people here. Is this what you all do write negative comments behind screen names SMH

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Jafar

Jan 26, 2015 at 3:13 pm

$5 Million to start a company that wasn’t really needed in the first place, that could only hire probably 100 people anyway?

What a waste of Taxpayer money. They could have spread that $5 Million across 50 companies.

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FTWPhil

Jan 26, 2015 at 2:59 pm

Painful to watch. You would think that a TV show/channel would be better than an email, but I will stick to the emails.

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MBA-J

Jan 26, 2015 at 2:03 pm

Still waiting to see them on Verizon FiOS… Aren’t they DirecTV only?

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S

Jan 26, 2015 at 1:55 pm

Stupid channel should just close its doors and go away. Nobody’s watching.

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RobN

Jan 26, 2015 at 11:53 am

If their TV programming didn’t look like something that was produced by Wayne and Garth in the basement, they might be doing a little better.

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Opinion & Analysis

AVL: My U.S. Amateur local qualifying experience

Published

6 days ago

Jun 5, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.

I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.

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Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.

With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.

Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!

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1 week ago

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The annual What’s In The Bag build is underway, and on this episode of Club Junkie, Brian breaks down the clubs currently leading the race for a spot in his 2026 gamer setup. From drivers and fairway woods to irons, wedges, and shafts, he ranks the equipment that’s performing best and explains what’s separating the front runners from the rest of the field.

Brian also heads into the workshop to discuss several putter projects currently on the bench. From head options and shaft choices to build ideas and testing plans, he shares what he’s working on and which putters could become serious contenders for the bag this season.

If you’re a gear junkie who loves equipment testing, club building, and the never-ending pursuit of the perfect setup, this episode is for you.

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Tour Edge Exotics mini driver review + TaylorMade Spider ZT Max first look – Club Junkie

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2 weeks ago

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Brian Knudson

On this episode of Club Junkie, I put the new Tour Edge Exotics Mini Driver to the test and break down the performance, forgiveness, distance, and where it fits compared to a traditional driver or strong fairway wood. If you have been curious about adding a mini driver to the bag, this one is worth a look.

I also dive into the new TaylorMade Spider ZT Max putter that was recently spotted and discuss the growing zero torque putter trend. Plus, there is a closer look at the new Project X Titan Yellow shaft showing up on the PGA Tour and what makes it different from other profiles currently out there.