The 2026 New Mexico Open is set to take place at Turtleback Mountain Golf & Resort in Elephant Butte from September 14 to 16, 2026. It is about to bring something new not just to the tournament but to golf, taking an unusual approach to its live broadcast.
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The 54-hole state open championship, organized by the Sun Country Section of the PGA of America, will feature veteran broadcasters Notah Begay III and Ryan Burr on the call. But artificial intelligence will join these veterans.
That addition is Duff Foreman, which is described as an autonomous, conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) personality created by Gopher Hole Productions.
“The New Mexico Open next week will be live streamed on YouTube with Notah Begay III, Ryan Burr, and Duff Foreman™️ on the call. Duff is the ‘first AI golf commentator’ who will interact ‘in real time with Begay & Burr while providing banter, golf rules, course insights, and swing analysis,'” Brendan Porath reported in an X post.
Artificial intelligence has entered almost every industry, and the sports world is no exception. The FIFA World Cup 2026 also used the technology by creating Football AI Pro in association with Lenovo to give all teams access to AI-based analytics.
Similarly, Duff Foreman’s X account, which was created in March 2026 and describes itself as “Golf’s first live AI Commentator. Highland-born. Physics-forged. Buckle up,” has fourteen followers. This also suggests that fans are not yet excited about AI commentary.
However, bringing Duff to mainstream media through the tournament might change that. Moreover, its live interactions with Begay III and Burr could also bring some excitement.
The tournament will stream all three rounds across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and local broadcasters KRQE Now and KTSM+, with organizers positioning Duff as a potentially groundbreaking addition to live golf coverage. The 2026 event has secured the highest sponsorship support in its 72-year history, with the backing funding a record $137,000 purse, broader coverage, and the introduction of the AI commentator.
However, fans don’t seem to be ready for it yet.
Fans criticize AI commentary at the New Mexico Open 2026
Doubts around Duff Foreman raised a bigger question: does AI commentary actually add anything that a typical golf viewer would need? Ryan French of Monday Q Info captured the sarcastic mood with a mock exchange. “‘Let’s do AI commentator’ ‘Ok, but how can we make this worse?’ ‘How about we name him Duff Foreman?’ ‘Perfect.'” French wrote.
The joke was aimed at the name and the idea themselves, but it also taps into a wider frustration with AI showing up in sports content. Audiences have shown their dissatisfaction with AI-generated material before.
FOX Sports faced scrutiny for an AI-heavy 2026 World Cup promotional video that many viewers wrote off as “AI slop.” AI-generated promotional material around the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics drew the same kind of backlash.
That backdrop also explains why the announcement was met with skepticism. As a result, many fans said no one asked for this addition in golf commentary. “No one is asking for this. Literally no one,” one fan wrote, while another said, “In my best Brendan impersonation: ‘Who is asking for this? Seriously. Nobody asked for this!'”
The tournament is projecting nearly 100 million media impressions, and Duff is part of why people are talking about it. Still, to viewers, an AI personality doesn’t fix a broadcast problem so much as give them one more thing to argue about.
One fan put the objection more directly, saying, “Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.” These criticisms aren’t simply about whether Duff can technically analyze a swing or explain a rule. They question whether an AI voice belongs in a live golf broadcast in the first place.
Live sports commentary leans heavily on timing, emotion, context, and personality, things that even a human commentator occasionally gets wrong. As one fan put it, “We already get enough generic commentary from the humans on the broadcast.”
AI processes information fairly quickly. However, the same enthusiasm that is brought by a human commentator cannot be mimicked. Fans are quick to notice when humor feels scripted or when the excitement doesn’t match the moment. If Duff’s promised conversation and analysis sound repetitive or formulaic, the AI could reinforce the very problem it is supposed to fix.
For now, the tournament will provide the first real test. Viewer response suggests the technology will have to offer something genuinely useful to be seen as more than a publicity stunt.