Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/130253
iG1304--proof 5/8/13 4:34 PM Page 1 IN PROFILE For The Big Break, You Need A Great Game... And A Better Story There are two things you really should have packed into your golf bag if you're going to take a shot at appearing on Golf Channel's realitybased TV show, Big Break. That's the word coming from an Albertan who made it to the final audition stage but was knocked out of play, he figures, by one of the two main things the network seeks in contestants/players for the show. Jeff Murdoch from Stony Plain who had a number of wins as a club professional on Alberta's PGA circuit, plus making appearances at the Canadian PGA tournament stop in his home province - but who has since been reinstated as an amateur - said he had the game to make the cut. What he didn't necessarily have was the story. His trek toward the TV show started on the Golf Channel website, where anyone can apply to be part of the show by answering a lengthy questionnaire. 20 Unlike many that apply, he received a response from the network. "They emailed me and gave me a few questions I could write an essay on and the question I chose was Who Is Your Hero? I chose the firefighters of 9/11 being a firefighter myself, and submitted it." From that, Murdoch was invited, at his own cost, to head to Arizona to go through the selection grind. He did that and while there wasn't much golf played, he went through a repertoire of shots and numerous interviews about himself and the game of golf. "The camera was rolling with a producer behind it asking questions," he recalled. "I think they were all individual questions, related to you. Mine were about the 9/11 firefighters, what types of adversity have you faced on the golf course. It was quite long; mine was about 45 minutes. "I could sense they already know you're a good golfer. They're trying to find characters, unique individuals. They don't want 12 of the same. I was told to expect that (by former two-time contestant Christina Lecuyer, also an Albertan, who he'd contacted prior to heading south)." Each hopeful was then sent to the range for a session of shotmaking needing to hit specific shots as requested by another producer, with three different camera angles catching each swing. "The whole time you're explaining what's going through your head when you're hitting those shots like the fade with the driver. It was like, 'Well, I move my ball up, I open the clubface, I try to take the club a little bit to the outside and just hold off my finish.' I was confident because the camera couldn't see where the ball was going, so I just concentrated on MURDOCH APPEARED TO HAVE THE GAME BUT NOT THE RIGHT STORY FOR THE REALITY GOLF SHOW making good swings," over another 45 minutes or so. There were about 100 golfers in all looking to be among the final dozen to make the show but Murdoch said he never felt rushed through anything. Then, the final big test for making the grade came. "Everyone has a card to play and they did an interview to find out a little bit about you and everyone has a story. There was a guy wearing track pants who didn't look like much who was a former pro baseball player drafted into the major leagues. That was his story. Then there was Isaac (Sanchez, who made the show and ended up third). He overcame a disability (a brain tumor in high school that resulted in gigantism). He wasn't supposed to live and that was his story." Murdoch used his present career as his story noting, "My story was I'm a fireman and I needed my big break because I have important responsibilities at home (as a single father of two) and I can't donate all my time to practice. "I tried the fireman card and that there's more important things in life than chasing a little white ball, but that I can do that just as good as anyone else. That was the card I played." As it turned out, Murdoch's golf was likely good enough but his story wasn't quite compelling enough to drive him onto last season's show, shot in Greenbrier, N.C. Interestingly enough, another Canadian, James Lepp did make it through to the show and ended up placing second. His card, Murdoch noted, was that he was a former great amateur golfer turned entrepreneur and he morphed that story into almost winning an exemption into a PGA event. For Murdoch though, not making the cut did have an upside. "I got a nice email from the producer saying I hadn't made the cast but they'd like to put me on a list of alternates (for Greenbrier). Obviously I never heard anything after that and then about a month after I got another e-mail saying they were considering doing a military/police/fireman episode and would it be alright if they kept my name on file. My answer to that was 'Absolutely.'" Were he to be given another shot at making the show, Murdoch said he would approach the audition game differently. "I'm emotional and if something bothers me, I'll say it. If someone bothers me on the golf course, I'll tell 'em and I don't really think I showed that side of me enough. Everyone there is a good golfer. They knew everyone could play before they invited you down there. They were just trying to find 12 characters for their show and James Lepp was a perfect example. He quit professional golf to start a shoe company and that's a hell of a story. Did I play my story enough? I don't know but I obviously did well enough to make it to a list of alternates." The thing is, he said in conclusion, while one's game is important it's not the be all and end all. "You can win without being the best golfer there. How many Big Break winners have actually turned it into success? Maybe seizing the opportunity, making the right shots at the right time is the thing," as well as having a good story to tell. The next casting call for the new edition of the Big Break has already been made and is full, so if you're interested in making it onto TV, start working on your game and your story, while you wait for the popular reality show to again start seeking new recruits. Gord Montgomery is the sports editor of two Edmonton area newspapers and a member of the Golf Journalists Association of Canada. He has written for iG for the past 5 years. He can be reached at noraltagolf@gmail.com. He's also on Twitter at @iGgolfwriter.