FORE the Good of the Game

With an astounding record of lifetime contributions to the game of golf off the course, Mary Bea Porter-King begins her life story by recounting her early life on the course. Taught at a young age by Betty Hicks, who introduced Mary Bea to many of the game's greats, her game developed quite quickly. She golfed with Eddie Merrin's UCLA golf team while still in her teens, and had access to...

Join us as Steve Jones takes us on a journey he refers to as his second career, having recovered from serious injury to capture the 1996 U.S. Open. He fondly recalls the recording Ben Hogan sent him after that win congratulating him on taming "The Monster". Voted PGA TOUR Comeback Player of the Year that year, Steve still had several victories in him before other maladies became too much...

In this third episode with Steve Jones we listen in as he recounts the serious dirt-bike accident that took him away from golf for nearly three years at age 32. With aggressive rehab, Steve continued to re-injure his hand which caused him to improvise the way he laid his hands on the golf club. Showing faint glimmers of hope on the Tour in 1995 and early 1996, Steve decided to try to qualify for t...

In part two of our four-part visit with Major Champion Steve Jones we hear him reflect on the adjustments to being on the road on the Tour in strange cities playing courses he had yet to learn. After reflecting on being the Q School medalist in 1986 with some fine players, Steve talks about winning his first meaningful check, teaming with Australian Jane Crafter to win the JC Penney Classic and th...

Join us for this first of our four-part interview with 1996 U.S. Open Champion Steve Jones. After settling in to live in Yuma, Colorado at age 11 with his five brothers Steve was quickly introduced to golf by his father. The entire family enjoyed their $100 a year membership at Indian Hills Golf Club and this bunker-less nine-hole layout is where a future champion's game was born. A multi-spo...

26-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Judy Rankin looks back on her near-misses in the major championships including runner-up finishes at the 1976 and 1977 LPGA Championships, the 1972 Women's U. S. Open and the 1972 Titleholders Championship. Judy fondly recalls her times as a victorious Solheim Cup Captain in 1996 and 1998 and recounts her pioneering work as a woman broadcaster covering men&apo...

World Golf Hall of Fame member Judy Rankin looks back on her life on tour (starting at age 17) and her 28 professional wins beginning with her first at the 1968 Corpus Christi Civitan Open. Judy had two tremendous years in succession in 1977 and 1978  when she was the LPGA Player of the Year, the leading money winner and the Vare Trophy winner, amassing 11 victories and a team win with JoAnne Carn...

Judy Rankin, World Golf Hall of Fame member and renowned golf broadcaster, takes us back to her childhood in St. Louis, Missouri as an only child who learned the game at a very early age from her father. Judy had tremendous success as a junior player, winning the National Pee Wee Championship four times and the Missouri State Amateur twice, all before the age of 16. She played in the Women's...

Dottie Pepper continues her story by reflecting on her final major championship win at the 1999 Nabisco Dinah Shore where she set a record for most strokes under par in a major at -19. Dottie finished 2nd at the "Dinah" three times to go along with her two wins there. She remembers her other close calls in the majors and fondly recalls her six appearances as a player in the Solheim Cup w...

2-time major winner and popular golf broadcaster, Dottie Pepper, takes us back to learning the game under the watchful eye of her father Don and early mentor George J. Pulver, Sr. who Dottie honored with her recent book A Letter to a Future Champion - My Time with Mr. Pulver.  She had early successes, some while playing on her high school boys golf team; winning the NY Women's State Amateur a...

2004 Open Championship winner Todd Hamilton takes us through that riveting final round at Troon and the ensuing four-hole playoff with Ernie Els where he captured the title as the "Winner of the Gold Medal and Champion Golfer of the Year." The emotion of that win is still raw as Todd recounts this twenty years later. Listen in as he remembers the Sunday night celebration and his gratitud...

Major champion Todd Hamilton remembers how a new driver turned his fortunes around in 2003 when he won four times on the Japan Golf Tour and finally succeeded in getting through PGA TOUR qualifying school. An early 2004 win at the Honda Classic was only a harbinger of things to come as he headed to Royal Troon for the 2004 Open Championship. As the final player to check-in for the event after a fl...

Major championship winner Todd Hamilton begins his professional career playing in Asia. Listen in as he recalls the challenges of finding his winning form while changing countries and currencies on a weekly basis. Playing predominantly on the Japan Tour, Todd became the 2nd leading, non-Japanese career money winner amassing 11 wins on that Tour as he positioned himself for bigger things in 2004. J...

2004 Open Championship winner Todd Hamilton begins his life story by recounting the days of his youth spent in a small Midwestern town on the banks of the Mississippi River. Todd was introduced to golf at an early age by his grocer father. Mostly self-taught at his local nine-hole course, he had no boys golf team to compete on in high school yet won two individual state championships. This self-dr...

We conclude our 3-part interview with 5-time LPGA victor and 2000 Heather Farr Player Award winner Brandie Burton as she recounts the toll the game took on her body and her decision to wind down her competitive career in 2009. We look back on her play in the major championships and the joy she found in team competition as a 5-time participant in the Solheim Cup. She was privileged to play for Capt...

We begin this second installment of our interview with Brandie Burton with her recounting life on the road as an LPGA newbie. Brandie earned Rookie of the Year honors in 1991 and was the youngest player ever to surpass $1M in career earnings. It didn't take her long to secure her first win at the 1992 PING/Welch's Championship and her first major win came the next year as a 21-year-old a...

We begin our three-part interview with 2-time major champion Brandie Burton with a look back at the days of her youth, growing up in a working-class family in Southern California. With supportive parents and two older brothers to compete with, Brandie became a competitive swimmer before burning out at age 13. On her 9th birthday, her gift of choice was a day with her Dad learning to play golf whic...

Winner of three Women's British Opens, Sherri Steinhauer, reflects back on the one that counted as a major, in 2006 at Royal Lytham. She fondly remembers her teacher, the late Manuel de la Torre, long-time professional at Milwaukee CC and recounts her other Tour wins and the physical and mental challenges that present themselves when playing golf at the highest level. Sherri was a 4-time memb...

Two-time major championship winner Sherri Steinhauer begins her story learning golf with her parents and four older brothers at Nakoma Golf Club in Wisconsin. After winning the WI State Junior Championship 3-straight years, Sherri was off to play for Coach Pat Weis and the Texas Longhorns. She was low amateur at the 1983 Women's U.S. Open, had five college wins and was All-American in 1985 bu...

Tommy Aaron recounts his career highlight, winning the 1973 Masters Tournament. Tommy also relates the full story of the scorecard debacle at the Masters in 1968 that kept Roberto De Vincenzo from a playoff with eventual winner Bob Goalby. He takes us inside the room at the iconic Masters champions dinner, reflects on the famous "Concession" at the 1969 Ryder Cup at Birkdale and life aft...

Winner of the 1973 Masters Tournament, Tommy Aaron, begins his story by recounting his younger days growing up in a town with no golf course and attending a high school with no golf team yet still persevering to win the Georgia State Class A High School Golf Championship. After much collegiate and amateur success, including a runner-up finish to Charlie Coe at the 1958 U.S. Amateur and playing on...

In the second part of our engaging conversation with Nanci Bowen, we delve deeper into her life and career beyond the greens. This episode offers an intimate look at Bowen's multifaceted journey post-professional golf and her contributions that extend far beyond her championship titles. We begin with her recollections of her major championship win at the 1995 Dinah Shore as she shares a funny...

Join us in this engaging first episode of a two-part series where we delve into the inspiring journey of Nanci Bowen, a professional golfer who has carved a remarkable path in the world of golf. Nanci, known for her tenacity and skill on the course, shares her experiences from the early days of her career, her challenges, and the pivotal moments that shaped her into becoming a major champion. Our...

We begin with the 2-time Masters Champion in the 18th fairway of the final round of his emotional Masters win in 1995. He tells of his enduring love of his long-time caddie, Carl Jackson and how Carl’s perceptive eye spotted a swing flaw that turned Ben’s game around that week. Ben recounts his favorite U.S. Open and Open Championship experiences and venues. We cover the 1999 Ryder Cup “Battle at...

We continue our discussion with World Golf Hall of Fame member Ben Crenshaw for a recap of his professional stats, including his surprising (0-8) record in playoffs, winning his first professional event and reliving a few of his favorite tour victories and venues. We marvel at the tradition of great golfing Texans; Demaret, Burke, Hogan, Nelson, Penick, Trevino, Crenshaw, Kite, Sutton, etc. Hear a...