Golf Yeah

"History is the real differentiator from club to club. It can increase club pride, enhance the brand, and attract new members."   Gia Watkins Country Club Archivist and Marketing Professional Easton, Connecticut   On the golf-related side, Gia Watkins is a former member of the University of Florida Golf Team, who has played in two US Junior Girls Championships and won several prestigious...

"When you can take a player from a 27 to an 11 handicap, it's something to be really proud of." [caption id="attachment_3195" align="alignleft" width="300"] Chris claims there are advantages to teaching golf in Las Vegas, not including the weather.[/caption]   Christopher Howard Worldwide Teaching Golf Professional Las Vegas Golf Club     Contrary to the popular advertising slogan,...

"The average tour professional does not know the rules of golf very well."   Bryan Jones PGA Golf Professional and PGA Rules Official Black Oak Golf Club,  Flanders, New Jersey   Bryan Jones personifies the highest ideals of the PGA. In addition to his role as a head golf professional, he devotes a significant amount of time teaching the rules of the game to others, and volunteering his...

"The reward of writing a book is not seeing your book in a book store. The reward is in the process."   Jeff Wallach Novelist, Journalist, Entrepreneur...and Patron Saint of Zen Golfers Worldwide Portland, Oregon   Jeff Wallach is an award-winning journalist and the author of four books of non-fiction, two novels, and nearly 1,000 articles, essays, and reviews for dozens of national publ...

"I want to create the largest golf philanthropic platform in history...whatever that means."   Eric Sedransk Founder, Member for a Day Hilton Head, South Carolina   Eric Sedransk serves as the Founder and Charity Golf Officer of Member for a Day, an organization that helps nonprofits to raise funds by auctioning off "once-in-a-lifetime golf experiences." So here's this young guy, Eric Se...

"If you have a little bit of imagination, a knowledge of golf and how people play, course design is not rocket science. Pine Valley was designed by an amateur."   David Glenz Black Oak Golf Club Long Valley, New Jersey   David Glenz has done just about everything over the past 50 years, when it comes to golf-related careers and business ventures. As a member of the University of Oregon g...

“Men who are in the golf business need to step up and recognize that women golfers are here." Donna Hoffman Founder & President, Women on Course Oakton, Virginia   Back in 2012, Augusta National Golf Club -- long revered in the golfing world as the Sistine Chapel of the sport -- announced with great pride (a “joyous occasion,” according to former Augusta Chairman Billy Payne) that the Clu...

“Those wedge shots hit out on the toe or high in the face that don't go anywhere? They're not your fault."   Terry Koehler Chairman / Director of Innovation, Edison Golf Port O'Connor, Texas   Terry Koehler is known as “The Wedge Guy” for good reason. In fact, Pope Francis – who plays 4 rounds a week on the Vatican’s private golf course – recently named Terry as the “Patron Saint of Wedg...

“As a 10 year-old, I discovered that I liked making my own money, and being in charge of my own destiny."   Jane Spicer Entrepreneur / CEO of a Global Golf Equipment Company Phoenix, Arizona   Jane Spicer is the person behind a classic American success story. Over the past 40 years, she’s built one of the golf industry’s most successful global companies. Jane started out, at 10 years old...

“IT HAD A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SOUND, AND WENT STRAIGHT AS A BULLET. I THOUGHT SOMEONE ELSE ON THE RANGE HAD HIT THAT GOLF BALL." [caption id="attachment_2984" align="alignleft" width="300"] David with golfing legend Lee Trevino.[/caption] David Lee Golf Instructor / Father of Gravity Golf Greenville, South Carolina In any type of profession, there are individuals who are not always in the spotlig...

“I carry the cross of the Carr name. When I show up on the golf course, I need to deflate everyone's expectations. Iv'e actually had people ask me if I'm adopted.” Marty Carr, Founder and CEO Carr Golf Group Dublin, Ireland For someone who was raised in the shadow of a man who’s recognized as Ireland’s greatest amateur golfer of all time, and who was the youngest child in a family with 6 kids, Mar...

“Spend ten times the amount of time you think you should spend on hiring the right people for your business. Not twice the amount. Not three times the amount. Ten times the amount." Tom Cox Founder and CEO - Golfballs.com, Inc. Lafayette, Louisiana We’ve had a number of golf entrepreneurs on the Golf Yeah podcast, but it’s safe to say that none are as hard-wired or successful as Tom Cox. Tom is th...

“Some of my ventures have worked out and some have not, but they have all been great learning experiences. In fact, my first start-up company was created out of desperation.”     Jason Pearsall Entrepreneur & Golf Course Owner / Operator Detroit, Michigan It might be an understatement to say that Jason Pearsall is hard-wired as a golf entrepreneur. Since graduating from c...

“When a customer comes into Pete’s Golf, we ask ourselves, “How can we help them to play golf, and to enjoy the game better?” That’s how we’ve built our reputation over the past 40 years.”   Woody Lashen, Owner Pete’s Golf Mineola, New York In the tradition of golfing legend Old Tom Morris, Woody Lashen is a master clubfitter. And decades before the nationa...

“The power of the game is that it joins people together. It doesn’t matter how rich, how old, how strong, or your nationality. I teach the kids in my academy that golf can do wonders, if you just let it take you there.”   Tony Brooks, PGA Legacy Master Professional Owner Lion Junior Golf Academy Diamond Bar, California If I had only one word to describe Tony Brooks…it...

               “…I came to America to grow up with a game in which I had complete confidence.  Golf has never failed me.”  – Donald J. Ross   Bradford A. Becken, Jr. President The Donald Ross Society Durham, North Carolina Brad Becken is one of a relatively small group of dedicated amateur golfers who share a common purpose: which is to safeguard the life’s work of a m...

“I walked into the library of this pre-school, and found life. I saw joy, and children learning and playing, and I knew that I wanted to be around that…It was a defining moment for me.”   Kate Tempesta Founder, Owner and President of Fun Urban Golf Academy New York City and Montauk, Long Island As you can see, part of Kate Tempesta’s  title at the Urban Golf Academy in...

“Never buy golf memorabilia as an investment; buy it because you love the item. But if you get your hands on the right item at the right price, you might accidentally make money on it.”   Ryan Carey Owner, Green Jacket Auctions Boston, Massachusetts Ryan Carey is exactly the type of person that the Golf Yeah podcast was created to showcase. A lawyer by training, and a practicing a...

“I tried to be the eyes and ears of the reader and to convey that in my story the next day. I think that’s lost today…the printed word has been devalued.”   Hank Gola Veteran Sportswriter & Author Parsippany, New Jersey   Hank Gola has spent more than four decades as a journalist, covering professional football and golf for the  New York Daily News  and the Ne...

“The Shivas Irons Society means different things to people. It’s a conversation among people who love the game, whose lives are enriched by being part of that conversation.”   Ben Kline Executive Director The Shivas Irons Society Carmel, California   You won’t find many people with a resume like Ben Kline. You can listen to him tell you his own story, but here are just...

“A lot of people tell me that I have the “dream job.” My response to them is that you chose what you want to do in life…and I chose to do this.”   Evan Schiller Evan Schiller Photography Weston, Connecticut If there is such a thing as an “accidental career,” or a career path that’s discovered, rather than initially pursued…then that may describe the s...

“I wish I had known about the Evans Scholars Foundation. I grew up playing on a public course, and didn’t even know what a caddie was.”   John Kaczkowski President & Chief Executive Officer Western Golf Association / Evans Scholars Foundation Golf, Illinois The Western Golf Association may not be well known to the average golfer – particularly if you live on the East or...

“I sit in the locker room…and am amazed at how everyone who’s a member of my club is an authority on turfgrass management.” Dr. William A. Meyer C. Reed Funk Distinguished Professor of Grass Genetics Rutgers University School of Environmental and Biological Sciences New Brunswick, New Jersey The average golfer gives plenty of thought to the type of clubs he carries and the...

“We are all golfers first. Adaptive golfers just happen to have unique, special needs. Gianna Rojas Adaptive Golf Advocate Oak Ridge, New Jersey Born without fingers on her left hand, Gianna Rojas is known world-wide as the “One-Handed Lady Golfer,” and she has dedicated much of her recent life to bringing attention to golfing success stories that involve people with physical, cognitive, sen...

“There were mysteries to the golf swing I didn’t understand, but I had an obsession to get better. I had to give up a lot, but it was worth the effort.” Eric Cogorno Online Golf Instructor Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Eric Cogorno is a student of his craft, which is the highest compliment that can be paid to someone, regardless of their profession. In Eric’s case, his profession happens to...