This Gang Has Game

This is what it takes to capture-or is it create?-reality: eight cameras, four dozen Golf Channel staffers, 30 walkie-talkies, 24 golf carts, one rules official, one makeup artist, one lawyer, one medic and, not least, two golfers. That was the awesome assemblage of gear and manpower that rumbled down the fairway during the taping of the finale of the Big Break V: Hawaii, the latest installment in the popular reality show that has become an increasingly important part of the Golf Channel lineup. For 17 days last October the Big Break V (Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET) took over the Turtle Bay resort on the North Shore of Oahu, as 800 hours of footage were shot of the 11-woman cast. All of this tape was winnowed down to 14 episodes, the first of which premiered on Feb. 7.

The Big Break is golf's version of Survivor, and already three contestants have been eliminated. Over the next nine weeks one winner will emerge, thanks to her golf skills and mastery of interpersonal dynamics. SI was given exclusive access to the making of the show on the condition that we not reveal the results. This backstage pass was a portal into an artificial world in which pasty thighs are covered with tanning spray, the sequestered contestants are forced to lie to their families during monitored phone calls home, and the inevitable catfights are orchestrated by the unseen machinations of the show's producers. But what was real about this so-called reality was the surprisingly compelling golf and the palpable desire among a diverse group of women looking for the break that may launch a career.

The Big Break�was born less of inspiration than desperation. From Thursday through Sunday the Golf Channel lineup is chock-full of tournament coverage, highlights and analysis from all of golf's major professional tours. Finding programming for Monday through Wednesday has always been the challenge. The first Big Break debuted on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2003, to an uncertain future. The Big Break was ultimately won by a 26-year-old named Justin Peters, who turned out to be a nice little story-a career mini-tour grinder and single dad who had taken out a bank loan (at 12.9% interest) to chase the dream (see sidebar).

The second Big Break helped establish in the public's mind what have become the show's signature skills challenges: breaking panes of glass with pitch shots and hitting flop shots over a wall. (In most rounds, through a series of knockout competitions, one player is eliminated.) Big Break II drew better ratings than the first season's, but, like Peters, winner Kip Henley III lacked that certain star quality necessary to cross over to a wider audience.

It wasn't until season three, telecast in the spring of 2005, that Big Break began to gain traction. Given the low ratings for women's golf, it was a risky move to go with an all-female cast, but Big Break III: Ladies Only wound up being a must-see soap opera in spikes. The eventual winner, 28-year-old Danielle Amiee, was a perfect antihero-an emotive blonde with a racy wardrobe and an uncanny ability to irk her fellow competitors with colorful trash-talk. The Golf Channel does not release ratings numbers but asserts that Big Break III ratings were up 140% over previous early-week programming. The Golf Channel milked an extra night of content out of Big Break III by rolling out Big Break: All Access, a breezy, behind-the-scenes show that pushed the franchise further from a sterile golf competition toward the realm of popcorn TV. (The current All Access airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m.)

Big Break IV: USA vs. Europe recently concluded, its slightly awkward team format redeemed by the glorious Scottish venues, which included the Old Course at St. Andrews and Carnoustie. Even without a compelling hero or villain, the ratings climbed for a third season in a row.

The franchise is now so well-established that the Golf Channel received several thousand written applications for Big Break V. This group was cut to about 500, and a half-dozen auditions were then set up across the country, at which the applicants were put through skills challenges and a series of oral interviews. Once the pool was reduced to 50, Golf Channel execs selected the final cast, looking for the right mix of backgrounds and personalities.

"The skill level is tremendous," says executive producer Jay Kossoff, noting that Big Break V's cast includes a handful of college All-Americas, a former U.S. Women's Amateur champion and a onetime member of the Swedish national team. "This is by far the best group of golfers we've had. These women can flat-out play."

One of the marketing slogans being used to promote Big Break V is "Golf has never been hotter." How important was physical appearance in the selection process? "It was part of it," says Kossoff. "Golf skill was the primary consideration, but being attractive certainly didn't hurt your chances of being selected. Hey, this is show business."

The reigning Miss Minnesota had been selected for the Hawaii lineup but, sadly, she had to drop out to concentrate on the Miss America pageant. Among the cast members sure to be popular with the Golf Channel's overwhelmingly male audience is 27-year-old Nikki DiSanto, a va-va-voom M.A.W. (model-actress-whatever) from Los Angeles whose lack of meaningful playing experience was obvious when she was ousted in episode three; Kristina Tucker, 25, a leggy Swede with an adorable smile; and Kim Lewellen, a 34-year-old mother of two with the kind of six-pack abs usually seen only on late-night infomercials or the cover of Shape.