What is PGA Tour golf without the Golf Channel?

Greetings from the Polar Vortex in northern Minnesota.  I guess that's what they're calling this freakish cold spell we're in.  And it's not just Minnesota (although we like to take credit for it!)...the entire Midwest and even East Coast are under quilts with mittens on.   So what can make us feel a little better?  Well, for one thing watching golf in Hawaii.

If you know me, you know that I'm usually a little behind the times when it comes to having "the latest and greatest" of anything...I just got my first Smart Phone on Black Friday (Samsung Galazy S4), I'm still playing 2006 Big Bertha Irons, and just this week my very first flat screen TV has been mounted in my living room.  Unfortunately, what I don't have are any good cable or satellite channels!  I've been holding off committing to a cable provider due to a potentially new offering in my community, but they are (not surprisingly) way behind schedule.  So for all of the 13 years I've lived in my own home I've never had the Golf Channel.

It's almost funny to see the reactions of people when I tell them I don't watch golf 24/7.  Most people say, of all the people they know I'd be the most likely person to have my TV set to golf at all time.  I guess between work and other commitments over the years, I'm just not home that often.    But this weekend, being so cold my thermometer ran away, I would have loved to spend the day snuggled up on the couch watching golf in Hawaii - and I think all I got was about 2 hours on NBC before they cut to Olympic Speed Skating trials.  Then I remembered January is one of the worst times for golf on network TV.  Between football, hockey, and basketball, golf just can't get an elbow in there.

Not that there are exactly stellar fields in these early season events (wait, are they early now that we have this wrap around season??), but it would still be nice to have a little more than 2 hours of golf course views in Hawaii.  So that leaves me with a tough decision...do I bite the bullet and invest in getting the Golf Channel?

As I looked at the TV schedule for 2014, the Golf Channel airs at least part of just about every event.  Interestingly, the one they don't have is the Masters (ESPN/CBS)...of course they are planted there all week so you'll get before and after coverage.  And if you want to get online streaming of early rounds on www.pgatour.com most of the time you have to be a Golf Channel subscriber (unless they are doing Live@). 

So there's no denying that there could be more golf in my future if I forked over some cash to get access, but then "finance Cathy"  wonders if I'll really get a return on my investment?   If could ONLY get the golf channel, I would in a heartbeat, but it's definitely not cheap to get the package that includes GC.   At $80+ a month, that could be some new irons (and we know I could use some of those!)  So I'm still torn and not sure what my plan is yet.  But what I do know is that I'll be excited when CBS will have weekend coverage of golf starting January 16 (4 weeks in a row!)

I guess maybe having limited access makes me appreciate when I do get to watch that much more.  Plus, it's quite entertaining to follow golf via Twitter.  So if you have the Golf Channel, please watch some Sony Open for me!! (and root for Matt!)