The Fire Pit Podcast

Following Phil Mickelson's announcement, the FPC team assembles to discuss the state of the game and the strengthening field for the first LIV Golf event in London. Matt Ginella, Alan Shipnuck, Michael Bamberger, Ryan French and Mac Barnhardt share their thoughts in what feels like a significant moment for the game of golf.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the final Fire Drill of a jam-packed week, Geoff Ogilvy joins Michael Bamberger and Alan Shipnuck to relive, and add context to, Justin Thomas's thrilling win. The setup at Southern Hills and Will Z's putting stroke are also dissected. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The PGA Championship is our annual opportunity to celebrate club pros. In this Fire Drill podcast, Michael Bamberger and Alan Shipnuck are joined by Rick Rielly, the head pro at Wilshire CC, to celebrate the legacy of Rick's father Pat, a PGA of America lifer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Fire Drill podcast, Geoff Ogilvy joins Michael Bamberger and Alan Shipnuck as they discuss how Southern Hills is playing, sing the praises of slower greens and riff on JT, Bernd, Tiger, Rory and other protagonists. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the latest Fire Drill podcast, Michael Bamberger and Alan Shipnuck recap the first round of the PGA Championship, which was dominated by Rory McIlroy’s fine play and Tiger Woods’s struggles. They also discuss Bamberger’s story about his news-making phone call with Donald Trump, who is still stewing that this PGA was taken away from him after the January 6th riots. See omnystud...

Few reporters have been closer to Tiger Woods than John Hawkins. In the latest Fire Drill podcast, Hawk joins Michael Bamberger and Alan Shipnuck on the eve of the PGA Championship to riff on how Woods has (and hasn’t) evolved through the years.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Fire Drill podcast, Ryan French and Laz Versalles join Michael Bamberger and Alan Shipnuck for a non-traditional PGA Championship preview. Ryan gives the backstory on some of the longshot club pros in the field while Laz delves into the legacy of the Tulsa Race Massacre through the eyes of Bill Spiller, Jr., whose father, a Tulsa native, shamed the PGA of America into abolishing its Caucas...

In the latest Fire Drill podcast, Ogilvy, Bamberger and Alan Shipnuck go deep on the charm and challenge of Southern Hills and relive its previous major championships, highlighted by Tiger Woods’s inspired play at the ’07 PGA. Typically discursive, the conversation also touches on Perry Maxwell, Gil Hanse, Scottie Scheffler, Retief Goosen and, from Ogilvy, exactly how different a major...

This is a chaotic moment in professional golf. For this Fire Drill podcast, Alan Shipnuck and Michael Bamberger brought in the Jerry Maguire of PGA Tour agents, Mac Barnhardt, to help make sense of the shifting landscape. Mac brought decades' worth of insight. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This PGA was supposed to be Donald Trump’s crowning moment in golf; everything changed on January 6th. Now Trump is in league with the Saudis, whose toxicity sent Phil Mickelson into exile. In his first big piece for FPC, Michael Bamberger untangles the tentacles. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Bamberger is the greatest golf writer alive, author of various classic books and winner of innumerable awards, including this year’s lifetime achievement citation to be presented by Jack Nicklaus at the Memorial. The intellectual curiosity that informs his writing has led Bamberger to leave corporate media for a scrappy upstart. With typical modesty, Michael did not want a splashy an...

In the latest episode of the Fire Pit podcast, Matt Ginella is joined by Colt Knedler and Patrick Koenig as they recap their recent Journey to Kauai. Throughout the conversation, seven guests from the show pop in and out of a Zoom call offering their reflections on the story of where they call home and they reiterate how and why the “act like a guest” mentality isn’t just critica...

Geoff Ogilvy, Alan Shipnuck, Ryan French, Laz Versalles and Matt Ginella put a bow on the 86th Masters. From Scheffler’s dominance to Tiger’s grit, Rory’s Sunday 64, crowds, course changes and our Aussie friends provide a whole new description for Cam Smith.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matt Ginella and Alan Shipnuck reflect on an action-packed Friday at Augusta National, featuring a Tiger rally and more Scheffler mastery. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Andy Ogletree won the 2019 U.S. Amateur, his future seemed unlimited. But injuries and the impact of Covid on the pro golf schedule have left him on the outside looking in. Ogletree joins the Fire Drill podcast to relive his Amateur triumph and the tee time at the Masters with Tiger Woods that came with it. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this instant-reaction Fire Drill podcast, Geoff Ogilvy and Alan Shipnuck break down the first round of the Masters, going deep on Tiger, Cam Smith and the scene today at a raucous Augusta National. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our Masters week coverage continues as Geoff Ogilvy rejoins the Fire Drill podcast to talk Tiger, conquering pre-tournament jitters and whom he thinks will prevail. Co-hosts Alan Shipnuck and Matt Ginella share tales of jousting with the green jackets and reflect on how  much the Masters media landscape has changed.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For a new Fire Drill pod from Augusta, we brought together the OG Geoff Ogilvy to offer advice to Masters rookie Laird Shepherd, reigning British Amateur champ. Alan Shipnuck and Matt Ginella asked the questions and offered insight from their 40+ Masters. This is a fun chat that takes listeners behind the scenes at the tournament and offers a lot of nuanced discussion about the course and mental s...

The Fire Pit podcast has a new spinoff, the Fire Drill, which will bring to life the major championships and breaking news. For the debut of the Fire Drill, Geoff Ogilvy joins Matt Ginella and Alan Shipnuck to discuss his love affair with Augusta National, break down the course hole-by-hole, recreate his thrilling near-miss at the 2011 Masters and reveal many other little nuggets from inside the r...

"As of this moment, the Saudi Golf League is dead; and Phil helped write the obituary." Matt Ginella and Alan Shipnuck huddle up for this "Fire Drill" to break down the call with Phil last fall, Alan's report and the aftermath that has the entire golf world spinning.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For all the people from Chicago, who, upon hearing the name Canal Shores are inspired to say, “I grew up playing there,” the 103-year-old iconic fixture and fun zone that’s wedged between Evanston and Wilmette, and 10 miles north of Wrigley Field, is finally getting some much-needed resources and support.  After years of a passionate band of locals making every attempt to restore the bones, implor...

Tim Rosaforte spent his life telling stories about golf’s greatest players. Now it’s time to tell Rosey’s story. A towering figure in the golf media, Rosaforte died on Jan. 11, 2022 at the age of 66, from complications related to early onset Alzheimer’s. From Sports Illustrated to Golf Digest and Golf World and then to Golf Channel, Matt Ginella always seemed to be somewhere right behind Rosaforte...

It’s the fourth Annual Wishbone Brawl at Goat Hill Park in Oceanside, Calif. It’s Saturday, November 20, and it’s a perfect afternoon for tournament golf at a 4,500-yard par-65 municipal where everyone in the community is committed to the vibe of “World Class for the Working Class.”   Class is at the core of the Wishbone Brawl, which was an idea Dean Wilson pitched to John Ashworth five years ago....

Everything about RainDance National , a new golf course in Northern Colorado, is BIG, except for the guy who helped design it and the odds that it won’t hit.   It’s big news that there’s a new golf course being built. According to the National Golf Foundation, there were only 18 new ones in 2019, and some of those were only nine holes. The number on the RainDance National scorecard, from the back...

Needless to say, Goat Hill Park in Oceanside, Calif., is a special place. Pull up, grab your clubs, throw a leash on your dog, walk to the recently renovated range and you never know who you might see. There’s Dean Wilson, Mike Weir, Bill Murray, Charley Hoffman, Geoff Ogilvy, Kelly Slater, Xander Schauffele, Byron Scott or Bubba Watson?!  But on this day, the day that inspired a podcast and a fea...