Dan Hicks, NBC’s voice of golf and Olympic swimming, dies at age of 64 after acute illness

Sportscaster Dan Hicks, who was the voice of golf, Olympic swimming and Notre Dame football during a 35-year career at NBC Sports, has died, his family and NBC announced Thursday. He was 64.

Hicks died late Wednesday in Connecticut. He died of an acute illness, according to his wife, ESPN broadcaster Hannah Storm.

“Our family is heartbroken by the sudden and unexpected passing of Dan,” Storm said in a statement. “He was a devoted husband of over 30 years, loving father to our three daughters, and cherished friend to so many. His loss is immeasurable.

“Dan was truly one of a kind and, quite simply, the person everyone wanted to be around. When he walked into a room, he brought the energy, the laughter and the people together. He was endlessly kind, thoughtful and funny, and he made everyone feel like they mattered.”

Hicks was best known as the lead announcer for golf, as well as swimming and skiing at the Olympics and Notre Dame football. He joined NBC in 1992 following three years at CNN.

“I’m incredibly lucky to stay at one place this long. It takes a lot of things going your way as far as NBC continuing to have the properties that I’ve been a part of through the years,” he said during an Associated Press interview in September. “So lots of variables, lots of things that can happen in your career. But I think I appreciate it more and more the longer it’s been.”

Golf was Hicks’s favorite sport. He was on the call for 27 tournament victories by Tiger Woods, including three at the US Open. Hicks also called the Ryder Cup, British Open and PGA Tour events, including the Players Championship.

“Dan’s voice filled our living rooms with his steady narration of countless golf broadcasts, calling some of the game’s biggest moments,” the PGA Tour said in a statement. “The sound of his voice is woven into our memories of the game, and the warmth he brought to the broadcast was matched only by the kindness he showed those around him.”

Hicks also called swimming at the Olympics eight times with Rowdy Gaines. The duo chronicled Michael Phelps’s eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games and Katie Ledecky’s 14 medals across four Olympics. Hicks worked a total of 16 Olympics, with his first being the 1992 Barcelona Games as a host for the Olympic triplecast.

This was Hicks’s seventh season calling Notre Dame games. He did so from 2013 to 2016 before returning in 2024. He was scheduled to be on the call for the Fighting Irish’s game on Saturday against Boston College. Hicks also called regional NFL games on NBC from 1992 to 1997, five French Opens and some NBA coverage from 1992 to 2000.