The Golf Channel's Jennifer Mills interviews Hal Sutton after his win. Photo credit: John Bunyea

The Good Life at The Golf Channel

Wake Forest Alum Jennifer Mills Loves Life at The Golf Channel

While many of The Golf Channel’s staff might consider the trip to Forest Oaks for the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic one of the less glamorous PGA Tour assignments, it’s perfect for Jennifer Mills: her brother lives in Greensboro, plus she graduated from Wake Forest in 1984. Covering the GGCC is a visit home to the Triad for Mills, who attended Easter Sunday services with her brother and his family.

Mills is one of The Golf Channel’s stars. She joined the station when it opened in 1995, playing then to a little over 300,000 homes. The channel now boasts access to over 30 million cable TV subscribers.

"It was tough getting to people’s TV sets," says Mills. "We had to build our brand and franchise cable provider by cable provider, negotiating a deal in each market."

The patience has paid off for Mills and the initial investors, one of whom was Arnold Palmer.

"I have the best job in the world," beams Mills. "We have doctors and lawyers and other very successful professionals contacting us all the time wanting to give up their careers and work for The Golf Channel."

Mills spends about 30 percent of her time on the road covering events like the GGCC. She spends the rest of her time in The Golf Channel’s studios anchoring The Golf Channel’s daily news show: Golf Central. Mills also hosts Viewer’s Forum, recently moved to the Wednesday prime-time slot.

Golf Central recently won the prestigious Cable Ace award for Best Sports News Program.

And speaking of prizes, is it true that Mills was Homecoming Queen at Wake Forest in the early 1990s?

"You’re kind to say that, but it was in the early 1980s," says Mills. "In fact, it was in 1984 and even then I had a job as a sports photographer with a TV station. I was in my jeans lugging a camera around the game then changed into Homecoming Queen-type attire for half time and when the game resumed, I was back in jeans covering the game!"

It wasn’t Mills’ first Homecoming Queen title. Mills spent her formative years in Greenville, S. C., where she excelled at high school, presiding over the National Honor Society, lettering in three sports, earning all-state status in basketball and even interning for a TV station.

"That’s when I got the TV bug," says Mills.

After high school, Mills was "one foot away" from attending West Point, but chose a partial scholarship offer to play basketball for the Demon Deacons instead. While she never actually played for the Deacs, she spent her four years wisely, working for Winston-Salem TV station WXII and matriculating with a communications degree.

From Winston-Salem, Mills moved back to Greenville where she hosted P.M. Magazine helping the local P.M. franchise to the nation’s highest rating.

Through that show, Mills traveled extensively.

"The only continent I haven’t visited is Antarctica," she says. The P.M. gig lasted almost three years after which she spent some time in Nashville with a CBS affiliate and freelanced for a number of networks including ESPN, where she was a basketball analyst. She also hosted a show on the Travel Channel: Exploring America.

And then, in late 1994, came the call from The Golf Channel—Mills moved to Orlando. She’s enjoyed an "inside the ropes view of the network’s rise. Thirty percent of The Golf Channel’s coverage is tournament coverage, 25 percent is news, 20 percent instruction and the remainder a mix of Shell Wonderful World of Golf reruns and infomercials, which Mills says can be pretty good.

"Have you seen the Jean Van de Velde one at Carnoustie," says Mills when asked about The Golf Channel’s "other" programming. "It’s some of the funniest TV I’ve seen. It’s great."

Mills knows who pays the bills at the now-profitable Golf Channel. She’s not about to bite the hand that has sent her to cover the Ryder Cup, The Masters, any number of golf tournaments plus the Open at St. Andrews. It’s the ultimate great gig, the job just about anyone even remotely interested in golf would want. Nice work if you can get it. It’s a tough job but somebody’s got to do it, etc., etc..

But Mills isn’t a talking head (though a stunningly handsome one). She’s very much into the game, its history, its characters, its traditions. On Golf Central and Viewer’s Forum she exudes charm while clearly exhibiting a knowledge for the game and its big moments. At least 75 percent of Mills’ day at The Golf Channel is spent writing and researching material for upcoming shows, an art and skill she honed at university.

Mills is proud of her days at Wake Forest. She’s a little embarrassed about being Homecoming Queen, but there’s a sense that she must have enjoyed the hoopla.

She counts Old Town and Forsyth Country Club as her two favorite Triad courses; outside Winston-Salem, her two faves are Atlanta’s East Lake and Northern Ireland’s Royal County Down. Yes, that’s Jennifer Mills you see smacking the ball into an Irish gale on The Golf Channel’s infomercials for Irish Golf Holidays.

"My swing has improved a lot since then," says Mills. "It’s less flat."

Mills has successfully transferred her athletic talents to the golf course. She plays out of Orange County National to a 12 and has broken 80 twice. Her favorite rounds are spent in the company of her five-year-old son, who is usually more interested in chasing turtles and other wildlife around the course. Mills married her university beau, Dean, and they also have a three-year-old daughter.

"My family is my pride and joy," says Mills. Gardening is also a passion, but right now, golf and The Golf Channel is more of a priority than her Scarlet Begonias, American Beauties and Easter Lilies.

"I love being around golf and I love the professional game. Unlike other professional sports, you have to play to get paid every week. You have to perform," says Mills. "Plus, I love being outside. You just have to love a job that sends you to Pebble Beach and St. Andrews…"

And Forest Oaks?

"And Forest Oaks," says Mills, genuinely enthusiastic to spend some time in the Triad with family and the tour.

"This area is a special place for me. It’s where I started my career and it’s where I went to college."

Yes, there’s glamour at the workaday GGCC—supplied by superstar Jennifer Mills.

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Scott Martin lives in Charlotte where he just started a custom publishing company. He is the author of The Insiders’ Guide to Golf in the Carolinas. He’s married with a two-year-old son, a fat rat terrier, a retired greyhound and a titanium driver.