This Emmy-winning TV tech will delight U.S. Women’s Open fans

You do not have to be a hardcore follower of women’s golf to know that this is an important weekend for the sport.

The U.S. Women’s Open is to women’s golf what the Oscars are to awards season — or perhaps, more accurately, what the Masters is to the men’s game: the biggest week of the year in terms of buzz and eyeballs.

Some of the reasons for U.S. Women’s Open’s spotlight are literal. The championship will have a larger audience than any other because it will be presented to a larger audience than any other. The U.S. Women’s Open will air on network TV for more hours over the coming four days than any other women’s golf event, as USGA commissioner Mike Whan pointed out on Tuesday.

“There’s just virtually nothing else like it in the women’s game,” Whan said in his annual state-of-the-state from Erin Hills. “There’s more network hours on this championship than anything else that they’ll play in as a championship this year.”

NBC will carry eight hours of tournament coverage from the weekend, bringing a premium feel to the telecast of what is, in all other ways, a premium event. Even better news for fans watching at home? NBC won’t be skimping on one of the most important (and well-received) goodies of its typical golf TV production.

For the first time in the history of women’s golf, the U.S. Women’s Open will carry the PGA Tour, NBC and CBS’s Emmy-winning innovation, the Drone Tracer.

The Drone Tracer first made its debut on CBS during the 2024 season and, at the time of its launch, was believed to be golf’s first-ever “moving” tracer. The tech allows a drone operator on the ground to move the camera in the air while a tracer forms on the screen, providing a smooth, simultaneous movement that gives viewers a deeper grasp of the angle and difficulty of the shot. (You can watch a video of the tech in action below.)

The technology has blossomed into one of the most relied-upon components of live golf TV in the year since its debut on CBS. (LIV also experimented with drone tracers in 2023 and early 2024, though their drones remained stationary in the air.)

Now, the aerial tech will be making its way to the women’s golf scene for the first time — and not a moment too soon. Erin Hills is a golf colossus in its size and scale, making it the perfect golf course to debut a tracer that helps to bring both of those elements into sharper focus.

Golf fans will be able to watch the tracer in action during the Peacock’s coverage from the USWO, which will air on USA Network from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and on NBC from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday and from 1-6 p.m. on Sunday.