Scottsdale, AZ (April 15, 2014)—The long-running Phoenix Open—currently known as the Waste Management Phoenix Open—has been held at the TPC Scottsdale golf course for almost 30 years. The course was custom designed for the tournament, and one of the highlights is the 16th hole of its Stadium Course, complete with amphitheater-style seats for the often noisy crowds.
David Eriksson, CEO of Phoenix-based Church Technologies, has lent his audio skills to the event for close to a decade, and explained, “It’s always been a bit of a crazy event, and by the time the players get through to hole 16, they’re nearing the end of their game, and things are loosening up—but it’s still a regulation game, and the PGA has some pretty stringent regulations regarding noise. The challenge is to find just the right balance of being heard over the crowd without overpowering the game.”
Eriksson found the solution a few months before this year’s Open. “We did an event last December, and I got to hear the new PreSonus StudioLive AI loudspeakers,” he recalls. “I just loved the way they sounded, and I thought it would be great to try them out at the Open.”
Four systems were brought in to cover the 16th hole, each comprising three StudioLive 328AI Active Integration loudspeakers and a StudioLive 18sAI subwoofer. “We had one system in the Chairman’s Club, another in the bar area, and two more on the crowd,” says Eriksson. “The sound was just wonderful; the system had such amazing clarity.”
For next year’s Open, Eriksson plans on bringing in a StudioLive AI-series digital console, too. “I’m really excited about being able to control the mix from an iPad,” he enthuses. “I can be down in the tee box and hear what the players are hearing. That’s an amazing advantage.”
“This is one of the biggest events in professional golf, and getting the sound right is a big part of it,” Eriksson concludes. “PreSonus has pretty much everything we need, from the console to the speakers, and it’s all fully integrated to work together. It’s a great fit.”
PreSonus Audio Electronics
www.presonus.com
