2026 South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame inductee used numbers to tell bigger stories 

By Stan Olenik Editor-Publisher. The Golf Club

The U.S. Open delivered an exciting finish Sunday as Wyndham Clark held on to win his second national championship. 

While there were no Palmetto State players in the hunt, there was a South Carolina connection to the championship at Shinnecock Hills, but it was in the broadcast booth, not on the course. 

Since retiring after 40 years at Clemson, Tim Bourret has been part of the NBC Sports golf broadcast team. 

As Mike Tirico guided viewers through the final round, Bourret was at his side doing what he has done throughout a Hall of Fame career — finding the facts, figures and surprising stories that help make all of us enjoy sports more. 

Last May, Bourret was inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame, joining two other giants in the sports information profession, Tom Price from South Carolina and Bob Bradley from Clemson. 

Like Bourret, they were in the Hall of Fame not because they hit home runs or scored touchdowns, but because they spent their careers helping the rest of us understand and appreciate those who did, just as Bourret did this week at the U.S. Open. 

You don’t often think of someone pouring over records, researching statistics and confirming historical details as a rock star, but in the world of sports information Bourret was “The Boss.” 

As a youngster growing up in Connecticut, Tim’s father taught him how to keep a scorecard while listening to New York Yankees games on the radio. It started him on a path that eventually led to a Hall of Fame career. 

Bourret’s professional journey began as a student assistant and graduate assistant under legendary Notre Dame Sports Information Director Roger Valdiserri. Then, in 1978, a Connecticut Yankee arrived in Frank Howard’s Death Valley. 

Many assumed Bourret’s stay at Clemson would be temporary, a chance to build a resume before returning to Notre Dame or moving on to a Big Ten school. 

Instead, he stayed. 

When Bourret arrived at Clemson, getting information to reporters and columnists was how news reached the fans. 

Over the next 40 years Bourret became both a witness to and a participant in the greatest transformation sports communications has ever experienced. 

In the late 70s Clemson athletics were interpreted through the work of columnists such as Herman Helms in Columbia, Dan Foster in Greenville, Les Timms in Spartanburg, Bob Quincey in Charlotte and dozens of others around the ACC. 

But over the years, ESPN, the internet and cell phones removed almost all the middlemen. 

Fans no longer had to wait for the morning paper or the evening sportscast to learn what was happening with Clemson athletics. Information became available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 

That changed Bourret’s job. 

What once centered on game notes, media guides and press credentials evolved into a role that required answers at any hour of the day. 

And Bourret used those opportunities to highlight one of those little-known and often seemingly useless fact that often became stories that added depth to an athlete’s accomplishments.

Often a simple stat or what might seem to be a useless fact transformed a play, a game or a season into something memorable.

His maddeningly accurate memory often exceeded that of the people who actually lived the events he chronicled. 

Just ask former Clemson golf coach Larry Penley. 

Near the end of Penley’s run toward becoming the winningest golf coach in ACC history, he believed he had already set a record. Bourret politely informed him that his memory was a little off. 

The numbers always came first for Bourret, accuracy was demanded.

Bourret’s leadership during the evolution of sports information has been recognized in two significant ways. 

His peers in the College Sports Information Directors of America honored him with one of the organization’s highest awards and inducted him into the COSIDA Hall of Fame. 

His influence can also be measured by the number of young professionals he helped develop. 

At the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony, nearly two dozen former student assistants returned to help celebrate Bourret’s latest honor. Today those former students hold sports communications positions throughout the country. 

And they represent only a fraction of those touched by Bourret’s mentorship. 

Even now in retirement Bourret is the final authority to end any sports fact disagreement at Clemson, but finding new facts and stories around his job on the NBC golf broadcasts has shown a new audience his knack for finding the little-known fact that might surprise some. 

One of the best examples came during last year’s U.S. Open. 

As J.J. Spaun stood over a putt measuring more than 66 feet, Bourret’s curiosity sent him searching through championship statistics. He discovered the longest putt made during the tournament to that point measured 60 feet. 

When Spaun holed the putt to help win the Open NBC already had the information ready.
Just another one of those seemingly useless facts that somehow turned out to matter. 

Whether it was a Clemson football game, or now a golf major championship, for more than four decades, Tim Bourret has made a career out of using facts that mattered to tell stories worth telling.

And those who know him best are never surprised when he does. 

BOURRET BRIEFS

Five Things You Might Not Know About the Hall of Famer

FIRST TRIP TO DEATH VALLEY

Tim Bourret’s first experience with Clemson football came before he ever worked for the Tigers. In 1977, Bourret was a student assistant in Notre Dame’s Sports Information Department when the fifth-ranked Irish visited Clemson for the first time. A sellout crowd watched 12th-ranked Clemson build a lead before a fourth-quarter rally led by Joe Montana gave Notre Dame the victory. One year later, Bourrett arrived at Clemson to begin a 40-year career.

THE NBC CONNECTION

Bourret’s “retirement job” with NBC Sports can be traced back to his days at Notre Dame. While in graduate school, he worked with fellow student Anne Fink. The two stayed in touch over the years, and some years later Fink married longtime NBC Golf producer Tommy Roy.

When the couple’s children were looking at colleges, Bourret welcomed them to Clemson and helped show them around campus and they enrollled. Later, as Bourret prepared to retire from Clemson, Roy offered him an opportunity to join NBC’s golf coverage team. Bourret accepted and has been helping produce golf telecasts ever since.

A RARE CLEMSON HONOR

In addition to the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame, Bourret is a member of the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame. The honor is traditionally reserved for Clemson graduates, but university officials made a rare exception in recognition of Bourret’s contributions to Tiger athletics.

MEETING A CHILDHOOD HERO

As a youngster growing up in Connecticut one of his favorite players was Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson, the Sumter native who later became one of the guiding figures of the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame.

In 2018, Bourret received the Hall’s Bobby Richardson Sportsmanship Award and was presented the honor by the man he had admired as a boy. Bourret later described the experience as one of the most meaningful moments of his career.

AUTHOR, TOO

Bourret’s work extended well beyond media guides and game notes. He authored or contributed to several books during his career, including projects involving both Clemson and Notre Dame athletics. Among them was work connected to Notre Dame’s historic victory over UCLA, which ended the Bruins’ 88-game winning streak, along with collections of stories and memories from inside the locker rooms at both schools.

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