FORT CARSON, Colo. -- Sgts. Derek Williams and Kaleb Nichols are about to become household names -- at least among the golfing crowd.
The pair of friends and golfing buddies teamed up to compete in Golf Channel's newest reality TV show recently, but since the eight-episode series won't air until mid-June, Williams and Nichols can't talk about the results, or anything else that might give away the outcome.
The golf-centric cable network has been hosting a reality television series known as "Big Break" for years now. The show pits golfers against each other in competitions that revolve around the game of golf. Over the years, Golf Channel reality show organizers have changed locations and formats, but with this new series they've changed things up considerably, adding more than a few significant wrinkles to the "Big Break" format.
Based on the few hints Golf Channel has decided to release, the new series "Altered Course," injects elements of speed golf into a new format which also features crazy-hole designs, among other extreme alterations.
Again, it's difficult for the sergeants to talk about, or even describe, because they've already competed, and since filming wrapped up in February, they're referring to something that's already happened, yet they are prohibited from revealing outcomes, even to Family members.
"I had the time of life," said Williams, clinic NCO in charge, Medical Department Activity. "But, one great thing about holding back is that it enables us to watch the show along with our friends and Family, when they'll find out everything we experienced months ago."
An avid golfer with a top-level handicap, Williams applied to compete in "Big Break" competitions several times, but he was never lucky enough to earn an audition. So, when he submitted another application with Golf Channel last summer for its newest reality competition, he was pleasantly surprised when he received a call back late in 2014.
"They told me the name of the event, but otherwise, they were tight-lipped about its details," Williams said.
He was told he needed a partner for this competition, so he enlisted Nichols, a veteran golfer who admitted to nearly declining the offer, finally agreeing to the Golf Channel audition in San Diego only after Williams bought his airline ticket.
"They filmed our swings and interviewed us for a few hours," Williams said. "Even then, they divulged very little about the actual competition. We figured it had something to do with endurance and athleticism because they kept inquiring about our fitness level."
Asked to describe his workout regimen, Williams replied simply, "U.S. Army."
"Our audition strategy was to just go in, have fun and be ourselves," Williams said. "And, I think we surprised them with the perspective we brought."
After weeks of intense anticipation, Williams received the call that they had been selected to compete the first week in January. The pair boarded a flight for Jamaica, where the series was filmed over a two-week span in mid-February.
They were kept in the dark even after arriving in Jamaica. Finally, on the first day of shooting, they learned some details about the competition, but only what they needed to know on that first day.
"That made it difficult to prepare your mind for the day ahead," said Nichols, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. "But, that added to the drama and intensity because there was a lot of speculation the night before a filming day. It was a fantastic experience."
Filming one episode took pretty much an entire day and Williams said Golf Channel spared no expense when it came to production.
"There were cameras everywhere," he said. "They even had one mounted on a drone."
Williams looks forward to watching the series.
"It's going to be fun to watch the series on TV because viewers don't see the massive film crew, whereas when you're there, the crew is definitely hard to miss."
The sergeants believe they adjusted well as the competition moved along and Nichols said they made a conscious decision to not think about viewers.
"Much like the audition process, we knew we just needed to be ourselves and TV viewers were going to see what they see," he said.
The Golf Channel website reports that the Altered Course series will begin airing June 15.
Social Sharing