Golf lovers who want to get closer to the action, have their wish granted. Comcast viewers can watch this years Masters Golf Tournament in 3D when it airs next month. The cable giant together with the Augusta National Golf Club, announced Monday the worlds first 3D live sporting broadcast.

News from Comcast’s official blog said that there will be two hours of live 3D action from the Masters for Comcast viewers who have a 3D compatible TV or pc. The 3D action will be available for free to all Comcast subscribers on a dedicated 3D channel broadcasting between April 7th-11th, and via the net at www.masters.com.

The event marks a series of industry firsts – the first live next-generation 3D broadcast of a major sporting event on TV, and the first live simulcast of a next-gen 3D event online, and the industry’s first live multi-camera next-gen 3D production.

Comcast said on their blog:-

“We’ll be providing consumers with access to a never-before seen perspective of the Masters Tournament through a dedicated 3D channel that will show about two hours of live footage per day. This channel will show customers a unique viewing experience from the traditional Masters coverage with different camera angles tailored to the Tournament coverage for this rare 3D experience.”

“Our engineers in Comcast Labs have been testing transmission of footage from Augusta National over the past few weeks and I can tell you that it’s nothing short of spectacular. You can see how 3D can dramatically enhance the viewing experience, giving a unique, immersive perspective of the golf environment. The challenges to the players represented by the varied contours of the course come alive and I particularly liked one shot where the sand flew from the bunker.”

Masters Tournament chairman Billy Payne said in a release that the 3-D coverage would focus primarily on the second nine holes of the Augusta course.

3D is currently all the rage in cinemas thanks to the success of 3D movies such as “Avatar” and “Alice in Wonderland”. This is reflected in a big drive to push and manufacture 3D televisions by big manufacturers such as Sony, Panasonic and Samsung.

Cable channel Discovery are also planning to launch a dedicated 3D network with Imax Corp and Sony in the United States by 2011. And Sky broadcasting are pushing their new lineup of 3D channels. The ESPN sports network are going 3D with a new 3D channel in June. And finally the World Cup soccer match between hosts South Africa and Mexico in Johannesburg is coming in 3D.

Before you all get too excited though, 3D television sets are retailing at around $2500 and movie director James Cameron has suggested users might want to wait before buying a 3D set until the content becomes more plentiful.

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