news-record.com

GREENSBORO -- It's hard to say what Todd Lewis likes more: playing golf or covering it.

No matter, he does both with flair. Lewis, an anchor and reporter for "Golf Central," the daily newscast for The Golf Channel network, is in town this week for the Wyndham Championship. And for Lewis, it's not only work this week, it's a homecoming.

Lewis grew up in Reidsville and graduated from UNCG in 1989. He's covered every imaginable tournament for The Golf Channel, but the Wyndham holds a special place for him. It's a chance to show off home.

Indeed, instead of asking golfers questions this week, it's the golfers querying Lewis. Where's the best restaurant? How do I get to NewBridge Bank Park? Who's got the best barbecue?

"I feel like I'm the host for all the guys here when we go out," Lewis said. "It's always nice to come home, because I've got so many good memories of Greensboro."

The Golf Channel is a golfer's paradise: 24 hours of golf and nothing but golf -- be it the first two rounds of a PGA Tour event, the European PGA Tour or its wildly popular "Big Break" series, a reality program whose premise is to award an aspiring professional golfer exemptions into selected events on certain tours.

Lewis remembers his big break. A communications major, he was fresh out of college tending bar at the Olive Garden restaurant on High Point Road when WXII offered him a job as a sports reporter. From there, Lewis bounced around the country: Wilmington; Spokane, Wash.; Raleigh; and finally Orlando, one of the nation's largest television markets and home to Comcast's Golf Channel. He joined the Golf Channel in 2007.

Three weeks a month, Lewis serves as studio anchor for "Golf Central." The other week he's out on tour, interviewing golfers at that week's tournament.

As you might expect, golfers take The Golf Channel seriously. The network sends six to eight people to each PGA Tour event -- even more for majors.

"I think the golfers appreciate our commitment to what they do," Lewis said. "That's why they watch us so much."

As much as tour players are hooked on The Golf Channel, there's an even more dedicated group of followers, according to Lewis.

"The wives watch it even more," he said. "They're concerned about what's being said about their guy."

Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or robert.bell@news-record.com