Olympic great Phelps next up on 'Haney Project'

• By Golf Channel Digital
• Aug 11, 2012 4:37 PM ET

ORLANDO, Fla. – The most decorated Olympian in history has plans for the next stage of his career: to play the world’s greatest golf courses and improve his game under the eye of Hank Haney.

“The Haney Project” returns in February 2013 with Phelps, a 22-time Olympic medalist in swimming. The announcement was made Saturday by Phelps and Golf Channel president Mike McCarley. Production for the fifth season begins in September.

"I have traveled the world through swimming, but really haven’t had an opportunity to experience the world through my travels," Phelps said. "As I enter this next chapter of my life, I think I will be able to shift my competitiveness to anything I put my mind to and golf is one of the things I want to focus on.

“If I have a goal of dropping a certain amount of shots, or working on my short game or putting, those things are going to keep me motivated and fire me up and keep me excited. I want to play all the world's great golf courses, but I'd like to play them well. I'm excited about this project with Golf Channel and I’m looking forward to working with Hank and see what we can do together on the golf course."

Phelps received a pegboard featuring the world’s greatest golf courses as a Christmas gift last year and will follow other celebrity students who have starred on “The Haney Project”, including Charles Barkley, Ray Romano and Adam Levine.

Each episode will follow Phelps on his quest to play better golf, whether it’s one-on-one instruction on the golf course with Haney or developing lessons he will be able to practice on his own. The series also will showcase Phelps in his own environment with cameos by famous friends and other experts who check in on him during his journey, including his mother, Debbie Phelps, and his longtime swim coach Bob Bowman.