As I scrolled around on my phone over the past few days, two distinct topics kept creeping their way into my social media algorithms: appreciation for the Players Championship and outrage at the recent string of incidents on Boeing airplanes. While I certainly don’t consider myself an expert on airplane quality control, even after skimming a couple articles, the consensus around Boeing’s manufacturing woes seems to be that cost-cutting measures made in the name of prioritizing profits invariably manifested themselves as critical safety risks. The company became more focused on making money than on building high-quality airplanes, and eventually the chickens came home to roost.

I think it’s fair to say that right now, more so than in other moments in recent history, it’s very easy to find demoralizing things to read or watch. Seeing a video of a door plug falling off during a commercial flight or reading about the other recent emergency landings can be scary or depressing or angering in a vacuum, but they’re especially concerning when taken in the overall context of what those failures reveal about the state of society. Is there a general lack of morale amongst people right now? Does anyone take pride in their work? Or are we just letting quality suffer across all domains for the sake of cutting costs? I don’t know about you, but those are recurring thoughts that have been bouncing around my head. And specifically within the golf world, it’s been fair to ask those same questions of NBC’s approach to covering the sport. Over the past couple years, has there been a shred of evidence that NBC is invested in delivering a remotely decent entertainment product?

This past September, tens of thousands of golf fans set their alarms to wake up early for the Ryder Cup in Rome. They were met with a telecast that showed very few shots and a deluge of commercials. They were met with a telecast that told them to go back to bed. Costs are being cut no matter what it does to the user experience. The television product spoke for itself, telling everyone that NBC didn’t take pride in what they were putting out there.

At the Players Championship, NBC (and their Golf Channel subsidiary) finally showed some pride. From start to finish, the telecast was clean, showed a ton of golf shots, and entertained viewers with creative segments and limited commercials. On Thursday and Friday, Golf Channel brought Roger Maltbie and Gary Koch back to lend their insights from the ground and from the booth, a return that was met with plenty of praise. On Friday afternoon, Smylie Kaufman and Kevin Kisner stationed themselves on the 17th hole to host Happy Hour, showed a plethora of shots on the 17th and featuring drop-ins from other tour players like Brian Harman and Keith Mitchell. Throughout the week, Johnson Wagner went viral a few times while amusingly recreating a few notable moments from the tournament.

The main broadcast was a delightful watch. High production values and a limited commercial load allowed the talents of the NBC cast to shine. Furthermore, the broadcast allowed the actual golf competition to shine brightest, without constant interruptions or missed shots. All in all, the presentation reminded me of why I love competitive golf, and why I invest so much time and energy into the sport. I’d imagine many other golf fans came away from the weekend feeling the same way. It was also a refreshing reminder that there are smart, hard-working, talented people out there who, when given the opportunity and resources, want to build and create things of value.

The things we value are the things for which we make time. This past week, golf fans who made time for the Players Championship were rewarded with an NBC broadcast that required time and energy and skill to produce. More often the exception than the rule, golf fans’ time was treated with respect this time around. Though I’d argue this weekend’s “limited commercial” telecast should be the norm, I recognize that it takes a significant effort to fill more air space, to put together insightful graphics, and to provide sharp analysis on what’s happening on the golf course. NBC made that effort this week, and it showed.

This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter as part of Fried Egg Golf’s Players Championship coverage, sponsored by Tourism Ireland. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.