John brings up an interesting question...
How plausible is to be a great golf broadcaster? I liked Peter Aliss, but was he great? I don't know, but i really loved listening to his broadcasts. But outside of him, I can't think of even one other broadcaster I am eager to listen to, even I prefer some over others. And my golf watching days started in the 90s, so don't really know the guys before then.
I'd like to think alot of it is the nature of how golf is played vs other sports, I certainly enjoy Jim Nance a lot more in his NCAA basketball broadcasts.
It's Nantz. Jim Nance, the old Boston Patriot, died June 17, 1992.
Sorry you missed the 70s and 80s, a golden era for golf television commentary in the U.S.
On ABC, there was Jim McKay, Dave Marr and Peter Alliss, with Jack Whitaker joining in 1982, when he moved over from CBS. Before ABC went to an announcer rotation by segment rather than stationing commentators behind greens, it also used Keith Jackson, Frank Gifford and Bud Palmer, with Bill Flemming on interviews and Bob Rosburg on the course, eventually joined by Judy Rankin and a host of others. ABC also invented the on-course wireless camera (at Medinah for the 1975 U.S. Open), which changed telecasts forever.
On CBS, there was Vin Scully, Ken Venturi, Ben Wright, Pat Summerall and Frank Glieber, the core of a team that eventually included Gary McCord. Clive Clark joined at the Masters, replacing Henry Longhurst at the 16th hole. Longhurst was the voice of BBC golf from the 1960s on and also worked the U.S. Open and PGA for ABC before his death. (Nantz replaced Clark on the 16th at Augusta in 1986, a well-timed debut.)
You couldn't go wrong with either group. NBC, without a major and sometimes without a clue then, had decent analysts in Bruce Devlin and later Lee Trevino, but never had a play-by-play commentator the equal of McKay, Scully or Summerall.