20 Nov
published in category: Sports Talk Radio on Monday, November 20th, 2023 – 11:29 am
“Rustin”premieres. Urkel is back. We look at “Ghosts UK” A special deal for MAX. Fake sideline reports. And we have the Thanksgiving NFL lineup.
15 Nov
published in category: Next on the Tee on Wednesday, November 15th, 2023 – 1:49 pm
On this episode two of the Top Instructors in our game, Tom Patri and John Hughes, join me along with Champions Tour Pro Rob Labritz and PGA Tour SuperStore Chief Merchandising Officer Randy Peitsch.
TP and I also reflect back on two great feel-good stories from the Bermuda Championship in the performances of Tyson Alexander and Camilo Villegas’s inspirational victory.
Champions Tour Pro Rob Labritz and I go back to his journey through Champions Tour Q-School in 2021. He was the medalist which earned him his Tour card. You’ll hear about his grind to get there. We also talk about perhaps the best bogey save I’ve ever seen which earned Rob the final spot in last week’s Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Randy Peitsch is the Chief Merchandising Officer for the PGA Tour SuperStore. Randy shares several great gift ideas for the golf enthusiast in our lives, even if that person is us. We hear what his Top 3 gift ideas are plus some great new tech items that have recently hit the shelves. Next, we get into the new TGL League. Arthur Blank not only owns the Atlanta Falcons, he also owns the PGA Tour SuperStore and the new Atlanta franchise in the TGL. We talk about the team, the players, and how the SuperStore is going to be involved with the League.
We round out the show with more from John Hughes. John is a PGA Master Professional so I tap into that to get us tips for how to make more putts when we’re faced with fast downhill lies. He gives us some mental tips when we’re faced with pitching over a pond, and how to get more distance off the tee. John also hosted a couple of golf schools up at McLemore this year. He got a firsthand look at the second course that Bill Bergin and Rees Jones are Co-Designing up there called The Keep. Rees shared with us a few months ago that it’s so good it could host a major tournament one day. John walked the course and shared his perspective on what we’ll see when that course opens in the Spring.
13 Nov
published in category: Sports Talk Radio on Monday, November 13th, 2023 – 7:49 am
This week’s Pittsburgh Pop with Rob Owen and Tim Benz: Resolving the SAG-AFTRA strike, someone is leaving WTAE, new programming on SportsNet Pittsburgh, and another chapter to the “Band of Brothers” series.
08 Nov
published in category: Next on the Tee on Wednesday, November 8th, 2023 – 5:16 pm
This week I am joined by 2 legends of the game, John Cook and John Mahaffey, plus one of the great players in Western Pennsylvania history Bob Friend Jr., and Top 100 Instructor and Pittsburgh native Eric Johnson.
John Cook and I go back to his epic victory at the 1983 Canadian Open when he defeated Johnny Miller on the 6th playoff hole. We hear how, in his 2nd season on Tour, he held up to the pressure of trying to win arguably the 5th biggest event on Tour at the time, over a legend like Miller. We also get into the great things his father Jim did to advance PGA Tour purses plus John’s course design work.
John Mahaffey won the 1978 PGA Championship at Oakmont. We go back to that tournament and hear what it was like for him to get that win after having lost 2 previous US Opens. John would double down on that PGA victory by winning the very next week at the American Optical Classic over the only Optometrist on Tour, Dr. Gil Morgan. John also shares his memories of being a part of the victorious 1979 Ryder Cup team and why it’s the most scared he’s ever been.
Bob Friend Jr. was a grinder on Tour for over 20 years. He’s also one of the best players in Western Pennsylvania golf history. He won the 1984 & ’85 Western Pennsylvania Amateur Championships. He backed that up by winning the ’85 Pennsylvania State Amateur Championship. We hear about all 3 of those victories plus insights into some of the other great area courses he enjoys including his own club, Oakmont Country Club.
Eric Johnson has been named a Top 100 Instructor for over a decade now. He spent 17 years at Oakmont CC, several of which were as the Director of Instruction. He’s now at Yellowstone Golf Club in Big Sky, Montana. We hear about Yellowstone and some other great Montana courses that should be on our list to play. Eric recently took a trip to Southern California where he played Monterey Peninsula CC, Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, and Spanish Bay. If that wasn’t great enough, he followed that up with a visit to Pine Valley. We hear about all of that plus we get a tip for how to play better as the temperatures go down and the turf gets harder.
06 Nov
published in category: Sports Talk Radio on Monday, November 6th, 2023 – 11:03 am
In this week’s Pittsburgh Pop, Tim Benz and Rob Owen have the latest on the SAG-AFTRA labor situation. There is some news from WQED, and there’s an update about the prospect of a National Broadcasting Museum in Pittsburgh.
04 Nov
published in category: Next on the Tee on Saturday, November 4th, 2023 – 12:00 pm
Rick Reilly joins me in this special segment of Next on the Tee. Rick shares his thoughts on:
02 Nov
published in category: Next on the Tee on Thursday, November 2nd, 2023 – 5:06 pm
On this week’s show, I’m joined by the great Tom Patri, 9-time winner between the PGA & Champions Tours Tom Purtzer, the Pittsburgh Field Club’s Head Golf Professional Chris Sheehan, and the Curator of History at Oakmont and Allegheny Country Club, David Moore.
TP and I go back to his 1981 D2 National Championship while he was at Florida Southern. We hear about the penalty levied on him and his team in 1980 that cost them the National Championship and how they used that to fuel them to win it the next year. Tom shares some advice for kids and their parents looking to play college golf and he talks about the great player that Andy Bean was. We lost Andy a couple of days ago.
Tom Purtzer won 9 times between the PGA & Champions Tours. One of the many amazing things about his accomplishments is that he won tournaments over the course of 3 different decades, winning in 1977, ’84, ’88, and ’91. We get into one of his professional wins not on the PGA Tour, a 10-stroke victory at the 1979 Japan vs. USA Golf Matches. He also takes us inside his conversation with Ben Hogan at the Champions Dinner prior to the Colonial National Invitational.
Chris Sheehan is the Head Professional at the Pittsburgh Field Club. Chris has worked at some of the most prestigious courses in our country like Oak Hill, Inverness, and Lebanon Country Club. Along his golf journey, he got to work with Bill and Craig Harmon. Chris and I get into the rich history of PFC. The club is 142 years old and beginning preparation for their 150th anniversary in 2032. We hear about Alexander Findlay’s original course design plus the Hall of Fame Designers who have tinkered with the course over the years like A.W. Tillinghast, Donald Ross, Robert Trent Jones, and Tripp Davis. We also hear the tale of the 18th hole which was transformed from a 275-yard Par 4 into a Par 3 after a few members died climbing up the steep elevation change from the tee to the green.
David Moore is the Curator of Collections at Oakmont and Allegheny Country Clubs. David tells some fantastic Arnold Palmer stories that give great insight into who Mr. Palmer was. We go way back and hear the history behind the first 25 years at Oakmont. He also shares his insights on the origin of the Stimpmeter, the Golf Heritage Society’s National Convention, the work he did at Montclair Golf Club in New Jersey, and an inexpensive DIY project to display your autographed golf balls.
31 Oct
published in category: Next on the Tee on Tuesday, October 31st, 2023 – 9:55 am
Peter Gray and Gary Lisbon have put together a fantastic book titled, Golfing the British Isles, The Weekend Warrior’s Companion. In it, we learn about the rich history of many of the legendary courses along the British Isles like, The Old Course, Royal Portrush, Turnberry, Carnoustie, Prestwick, and Old Head to name just a few. The photos taken by Gary Lisbon are breathtaking, ones you’d love to have framed in your den or office. The whole book from cover to cover is spectacular. Have a listen as Peter Gray takes us on a journey to some of the greatest courses in our game.