Tree of Life

04 Jan

Golf Podcast: Next On The Tee (1/2)

published in category: Next on the Tee on Thursday, January 4th, 2024 – 10:13 am

t was a huge thrill getting to spend some time with one of the all-time great players, Jay Haas. Jay was the medalist at the 1975 National Championship and he helped Wake Forest win back-to-back National Championships in 1974 and ’75. He won 27 times between the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. He was also recognized with the Payne Stewart Award and the Bob Jones Award for his sportsmanship, character, and charity. Jay is the nephew of 1968 Masters Champion Bob Goalby, and his sons Bill and Jay Jr., plus nephew Dillard Pruitt also played out on the PGA Tour.

We start out talking about how his Uncle got him started in the game. We hear how Arnold Palmer and Lanny Watkins influenced his decision to play his college golf at Wake Forest. Jay gives us behind-the-scenes stories about teaming with Curtis Strange, Bob Byman, and David Thore and how they dominated college tournaments while they were there.

We then get into his relationship with two great friends of this show, Tom Purtzer and Rob Strano. We hear about how he battled Ben Crenshaw in the 1995 Masters plus what it was like being on the course during Jack Nicklaus’ charge at the ’86 Masters. We then go through his majors breakthrough at the 2006 Senior PGA Championship, winning it again in 2008, and coming from 5 strokes back to defeat Tom Watson in the 2009 Senior Players Championship.

Posted in Next on the Tee

 

26 Dec

Pittsburgh Pop (12/26)–Tim Benz and Rob Owen

published in category: Sports Talk Radio on Tuesday, December 26th, 2023 – 3:39 pm

In our final “Pittsburgh Pop” podcast, Rob Owen and Tim Benz review “Maestro,” they discuss WTAE’s “Holiday Flashback” local special at 7 p.m. Saturday night, and they get into some release information for “American Rust.”

Posted in Sports Talk Radio

 

20 Dec

Golf Podcast: Next On The Tee (12/20)

published in category: Next on the Tee on Wednesday, December 20th, 2023 – 11:33 pm

We close out season #10 in style as I am joined by a trio of outstanding people, Mitch Laurance, Ross Greenburg, and David Peoples.

Mitch Laurance is the host of the Talking Golf Getaways podcast and a long-time Actor. Mitch is also a great golf Historian and almost exclusively plays hickory clubs and a golf ball from the 1920s. Rolling the golf back doesn’t matter much to him. But, we hear how the loss of trust between the PGA Tour and the fans has impacted his desire to watch golf on TV. We also hear about his experience being in Rome for the Ryder Cup earlier this year and why it seems to mean so much more to the European fans than it does for us.

Ross Greenburg is the former President of HBO Sports and is now head of Ross Greenburg Productions. He’s produced great films like 61 with Billy Crystal, Miracle about the 1980 US Hockey team, a series of documentary films for the USGA including the battle between Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus at the 1962 US Open at Oakmont, the 1999 US Open won by Payne Stewart, and the 1991 Ryder Cup, the War at the Shore. Ross takes us inside the making of each of those films plus being there for the Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas fight.

David Peoples played his college golf at the Unversity of Florida alongside our good friend Mark Calcavecchia plus Rick Pearson and Larry Rentz. We get some funny stories of how those guys punished their clubs when they didn’t act right. We also hear about David’s wins at the 1990 Kapalua Invitational, the ’91 Southern Open, and the ’92 Anheuser Busch Classic over some legendary fields.

Posted in Next on the Tee

 

13 Dec

Golf Podcast: Next On The Tee (12/13)

published in category: Next on the Tee on Wednesday, December 13th, 2023 – 4:34 pm

This week I’m joined by 3 of the best Instructors and PGA Professionals in our game Tom Patri, Tom Wildenhaus, and Nancy Quarcelino plus aspiring Tour Pro and Trackman Golf Rep Andrew Strother.

TP and I try to make sense of what’s going on in the game with Jon Rahm signing with LIV when the proposed partnership deadline is still weeks away. Has Patrick Cantlay gone all Alexander Haig on the PGA Policy Board? Why has yet another tournament sponsor pulled out? Could we be headed for tournament specific golf balls at USGA & R&A hosted tournaments if the PGA Tour and PGA of America hold fast to not adopting the rolled-back ball. If so, who’s going to produce that ball? As usual we try to solve the world’s problems in segment one.

Tom Wildenhaus is a 2 time South Florida PGA Professional of the Year. He has also spent over 2 decades at one of the top courses in Florida, Olde Florida Golf Club. We discuss the high expectations of one of their founding members, Mike Ditka. We also hear about the wonderful things the section has done for people away from the game of golf and some of the tremendous junior talent that has come up through the section as well.

Nancy Quarcelino is not only annually named one of the Top 50 LPGA Teachers by Golf Digest, she has now reached Elite status. We talk about that recognition. I also get her thoughts on the new influx of money into the LPGA Tour, a return to mixed team events like the Grant Thornton tournament, the recent loss of her friend and University of Kentucky women’s golf coach Betty Lou Evans, working with our mutual friend Dr. Alison Curdt, and how incredibly talented Minjee Lee is.

Andrew Strother is one of the great people you get to meet in our game. After playing high school golf in rural Kentucky he went on to the University of Kentucky and graduated with a triple major in finance, marketing, and communications. He didn’t play college golf but did help establish club golf at UK. In his late 20s, he decided to give professional golf a try after competing in long-drive contests. Andrew talks about his grind to get through Q-School to play on the Mexican Tour, his Top 30 finish in the Colorado Open, and caddying at the Barbasol Championship earlier this year.

Posted in Next on the Tee

 

11 Dec

Pittsburgh Pop (12/11/)–Tim Benz and Rob Owen

published in category: Sports Talk Radio on Monday, December 11th, 2023 – 10:51 am

In this week’s ‘Pittsburgh Pop,’ Tim Benz and Rob Owen discuss the Golden Globe nominations, holiday movies, and some new shows that are set to debut.

Posted in Sports Talk Radio

 

06 Dec

Golf Podcast: Next On The Tee (12/5)

published in category: Next on the Tee on Wednesday, December 6th, 2023 – 6:59 pm

This week I’m joined by Champions Tour Pro and member of the University of Texas Hall of Honor Bob Estes, Pittsburgh native and now Director of Golf at the Golf Club of Houston Adam Lockwood, Top Instructor and Host of The Golf Kingdom TV Show Rob Strano, and Champions Tour Pro and 1987 US Amateur Champion Billy Mayfair.

This week I got all four guys to weigh in on the rollback of the golf ball. It is certainly the hot topic around the game and will have reverberations for years to come. In addition to that:

Bob Estes talks about his Texas Longhorns run at the National Championship in college football. We also talk about this season on the Champions Tour, the great history of men’s golf at Texas, and the complicated formula for players to qualify to play on the Champions Tour.

Adam Lockwood is from just outside of my hometown of Pittsburgh. He had a very successful high school golf career at Apollo-Ridge which launched him to attend PennWest California and enter their Professional Golf Management program. We get into that, the internships he did around the New York City area, and now being the Director of Golf at the Golf Club of Houston, the former site of the Houston Open.

Rob Strano is one of the Top Instructors in our game plus the Host of The Golf Kingdom TV Show which you can check out on Amazon Fire, Roku TV, Blab TV, and Rob’s YouTube Channel. He shares his thoughts on the rumors of the day including an interesting idea for what could happen if Jon Rahm defects to LIV and Rory moves to England. We also get a playing from his Time To Build segment and a pointer on Don’t Be That Guy.

Billy Mayfair and his wife Tami are two outstanding people. I got to spend some time with them on the practice tee prior to the Mitsubishi Electric Classic in Atlanta. Billy went out and had his best tournament of the year that week, which I’m totally taking credit for. Along with that, Billy shares memories from his win at the 1987 US Amateur Championship, the pressure of being an Arizona State grad standing on the 16th tee at the Waste Management Open knowing the fans can’t wait to boo or cheer you. We also learn one of the best parts of playing in the Greater Milwaukee Open which had nothing to do with the golf and what it feels like to have how much money you earned publicized every week.

Posted in Next on the Tee

 

04 Dec

Pittsburgh Pop (12/4)–Tim Benz and Rob Owen

published in category: Sports Talk Radio on Monday, December 4th, 2023 – 10:52 am

In this week’s “Pittsburgh Pop,” Tim Benz and Rob Owen talk about the defunct Pittsburgh Sammy Davis project, local TV ratings, streaming bundles, and “Masters of the Air.”

Posted in Sports Talk Radio

 

29 Nov

Golf Podcast: Next On The Tee (11/29)

published in category: Next on the Tee on Wednesday, November 29th, 2023 – 12:49 pm

On this episode, I’m joined by Top Instructor Tom Patri, Pittsburgh Sports Talk Radio Host Paul Alexander, Wisconsin Golf Hall of Famer Gary D’Amoto, and US Kids Top 50 Master Professional Chris Knobloch.

Tom Patri and I talk golf conspiracy theories like Jon Rahm leaving for LIV, why Rory resigned from the PGA Tour Policy Board and looking at moving back to England, why NBC Sports let Paul Azinger and 15-year Producer Brandt Packer go, and what happens if the LIV/PGA Tour merger doesn’t go through.

Paul Alexander can be heard on 93.7 The Fan up in Pittsburgh. He is an expert on not only Pittsburgh sports, but also Western PA golf. I get his thoughts on the Steelers now that Matt Canada is gone plus if the Penguins can make to the post season. Paul recently emceed the Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony and we hear about that night and in particular Mke McGee, Annika Sorenstam’s husband, inducting his father Jerry McGee. Jerry was a 4-time winner on Tour and a part of the victorious 1977 Ryder Cup team. Paul also shares a great story of how he went from caddying for Arnold Palmer at a Pro-Am to teaming with Hale Irwin to beat Arnie and his partner.

Gary D’Amoto is an Officer for the Golf Writer’s Association of America and is also a member of the Wisconsin Golf Hall of Fame. He’s written several books one of which is autobiographical titled, A Perfect Childhood, Growing up in the 1960s with Baseball, the Beatles, and Beaver Cleaver. He shares his stories about what it was like growing up in the 60s, stories many of us can related to. We also talk Wisconsin golf, the 2017 US Open at Erin Hills, and the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. Gary has covered every Masters since 1993 and we hear about his chance meeting with a young Tiger Woods in 1996 and what it was like watching Jack Nicklaus make a run at a 7th Green Jacket at age 58 in 1998.

Chris Knobloch is a US Kids Top 50 Master Professional. He takes us inside his junior golf school and how he gets kids excited to play golf at a young age. We also get some advice for us as parents on how to allow our kids to enjoy the game without the pressure of our expectations for them.

Posted in Next on the Tee

 



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