Even if you are golf junkie

Even if you are golf junkie enough to want to pay $4.95-6.95 per month for this premium service, you can't. Not if you live in golf-intensive South Florida. Not even if you live in golf-intensive Orlando, where the Golf Channel and its 160 employees are based.

Not one cable system in South Florida or Orlando will offer the network when it debuts on Tuesday. According to Gene Pizzolato, senior vice president for sales and marketing, distribution is hampered by channel limits on many cable systems.

"Channel capacity is an issue," Pizzolato said. "We've gotten a lot of positive response and feedback from cable companies, but until systems are upgraded and expanded, we might have to wait to get on."

Many cable companies still have older systems that limit the number of offerings. Pizzolato said some are reluctant to pull an existing channel for a new one.

"We have the funding for staying power," Pizzolato said. "This isn't a sprint. It's doesn't matter how many people we're able to reach on Jan. 17. What I care about is where we're at in 36 months."

Asked how many households the network can reach when it debuts, Pizzolato offers a vague "several million."Cable systems in San Diego, Phoenix and parts of New Jersey will offer it. It is also available on satellite dishes and DirecTV.

"By the end of the year, we'd like to be available to 12 million homes and have 600,000 subscribers," Pizzolato said. "By the end of 1995, we expect to have a very strong presence in Florida."

Pizzolato said talks are ongoing with several local systems, and that the Golf Channel could be available in parts of Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and Delray Beach by March.

The irony is $60 million of the network's $80 million seed money comes from six of the 11 largest cable companies in the country, including Continental Cablevision, Comcast, and Cablevision Industries. Once channel capacity increases and systems are upgraded, the network will be offered on many more systems, Pizzolato said.

In the meantime, here's what you'll be missing. Opening night will feature Golf Talk Live, a Larry-King type call-in show, with guest Arnold Palmer (a Golf Channel investor). The network plans to cover 72 tournaments from the PGA, LPGA, Nike, European PGA and Australian PGA Tours. It will also offer 2-3 hours of instruction a day, broken up into 30-minute shows.