The camera loved Arnold Palmer, but even he might have found it hard to believe that his golf career and television would one day meet in Golf Channel, the network he co-founded with entrepreneur Joe Gibbs.

Gibbs approached Palmer with the idea for a 24-hour TV channel completely devoted to golf, and Palmer, ever a keen businessman, liked it. Sports Illustrated and Tennis magazine mocked the idea, and even a few PGA TOUR players had their doubts, but on January 17, 1995, Palmer flipped a ceremonial switch and Golf Channel went live, delivering round-the-clock golf to 10,000 cable subscribers. Today it can be seen in more than 120 million homes across 83 countries, broadcast in 12 languages. In its early days on the air there were still doubters, but as Palmer told Golf Channel staff, “If I hadn’t tried to hit it through the trees sometimes in my life, none of us would be here.” That quote is now on the wall of Golf Channel headquarters, a fitting reminder of the man who always charged ahead and who changed the game for all of us.

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