Golf Smarter

Tony Jaklin was the most successful British player of his generation, winning two Majors, and four time European Team Ryder Cup Captain. But now in his 70s he’s trying something new. Along with Shelby Yastrow, Tony has co-authored “Bad Lies: A Story of Libel, Slander, & Professional Golf”. We talk to Tony about his career and this really compelling book. Shelby, a retired attorney joins us to comp...

Don Byers was playing golf with his buddies when one of them was so impressed by his play that asked Don to join the college golf team where he coached. Even though Don's eligible to play college sports, he’s kinda busy with work and his grandchildren!! But now he’s also a college student (ugh) and playing for the Bellevue Bruins (wow). This is one of the stories Fred can’t pass up because it’s ju...

Mike Jick is a PGA Teaching Professional who started his career in golf as a LPGA Tour Caddie and also got some time on the bag on the Tour. In this episode Mike shares stories from inside the ropes of his lessons, embarrassments, and what he learned that has made him a better golfer. This week on the Golf Smarter Academy, David is having issues with casting his clubs and asks our Academy Professo...

632: Dave Pelz, returns for part 2 of our conversation about the fun and tremendous benefits of having a backyard practice area. Before the episode we open with an impressive recap of Dave’s MASTERS predictions. In the full interview, Dave shares his favorite games, tips, and drills to practice that will improve your putting, chipping and pitching skills and lead to lower scores. Even if you don’t...

631: Phil Mickleson’s coach, Dave Pelz, may be the most recognized short game instructor in golf today. Part of his mastery comes from being a physicist who loves golf, the other is that he possesses one of the most spectacular practice areas in his backyard that you’ll ever see.  In Part 1 of our conversation with Dave, we discuss how having a backyard practice area has improved both his game and...

630: Jeff Ritter, a regular contributor to the Golf Channel and Golf Digest is also a Golf Smarter favorite, as this is his 13th appearance on our podcast. Jeff is known for his unique approach to teaching the game. His passion for inspiration, body health and mental flexibility has set him apart as a purveyor of not only playing well but living well. Jeff announced his Make The Turn (MTT) initiat...

629: Jay Delsing was part of the legendary UCLA golf team in the early eighties that included Corey Pavin (1982 Player of the Year), Steve Pate (1983 Player of the Year), Duffy Waldorf, Tom Pernice, John Perles, and Roger Gunn. He then spent the next 20 years as a Touring Pro. Some of his fabulous advice and insights inspired today’s show title. Now, still associated with golf, he’s a sideline rep...

628: Roger Gunn is a Golf Magazine Top 100 Alumni  who has experienced a variety of pro tours, but then discovered that teaching suited his personality, game, and lifestyle more than being on the road all the time. Currently Roger’s the Director of Instruction at Tierra Rejada Golf club in Moorpark, CA. The subject of this conversation was inspired by a video Roger did called Diagnosing Your Mista...

627: We’ve all heard it. More golfers are quitting the game each year than those who are starting to play because it takes too long, it’s too expensive, and it’s too hard. Golf entrepreneur Harvey Silverman has created a solution called Quick Golf.  Quick Golf is designed for golf courses to offer a pay per hole program. Joining us in the conversation is Shellie Sinitiere, Asst Golf Pro at Pinewoo...

626: Now that the Winter Olympics in South Korea are over, we say hello to Kathy Cho, from a large South Korean family who, after High School moved to Mexico, and then to Southern California to study English and discover golf. Being tenacious, she worked on her game and became a Class A Teaching Pro focused on families and children getting started in the game. In this conversation we also discuss...

625: Most amateur golfers consider the time getting loose before a round as practice, but that's actually warming up and it may not be the best time to experiment or tinker with your swing. This week our guest is John Battaglia, a PGA Professional teaching at the PGA West Golf Academy in La Quinta, CA. His early training at Jim McLean’s academy has not only made him a better teacher, but a better...

624: There’s no greater authority on fitting, creating, and golf club technology than Tom Wishon. This week Tom provides his State of the Industry on golf clubs and goes into detail on why the Sterling Irons single length clubs can help middle to high handicap golfers, and how he improved on an old, bad idea. You’ll also find out why Tom now has single length irons in his bag. If you’re interested...

623: Bryson DeChambeau is the only Tour pro who uses irons that are all one length (nearly identical to a 7-iron). Consider yourself using the same posture, and the same swing every time, which could lead to more consistent contact. This week our guest is Jaacob Bowden who has teamed up with legendary club maker (and frequent Golf Smarter guest) Tom Wishon to create a new generation of single leng...

622: The Yips Whisperer. The Yoda of Yips. Jim Waldron returns for his 22nd appearance on Golf Smarter and still delivers fresh, insightful, and useful information to improve our game. Jim is a nationally acclaimed golf teaching professional and mental game coach best known for his pioneering research on the mind/body connection approach to learning and teaching golf. His holistic approach to golf...

621: PGA Tour players Stewart Cink, James Hahn, and Tony Finau talk about their approach to the mental game through awareness. They also share how their own faith and life experiences are intertwined with their performance. Our guest Cary Valentine; Certified Relationships & Mental Game Coach living in Hawaii conducted these interviews at the 2018 Sony Open at the Waialae Golf Course. Cary got ins...

620: Dave Johnson, Director of Instruction at Rooster Run Golf Course in Petaluma, CA is an articulate golf instructor who knows why so many of us top or chunk the ball. We understand the importance of taking the divot in front of the ball, but not exactly sure how to do it regularly. In this episode we talk about finding the bottom of the arc of your golf swing and Dave explains that it’s a proce...

619: Martin Chuck returns to showcase why he’s one of the most popular YouTube golf instructors today. His recent success with Revolution Golf exemplifies his understanding of how the golf swing works and what simple adjustments we can make to achieve better and more consistent success in our game.  Have you ever seen the informercial for the Tour Striker club? That’s just one of Martin’s impressi...

618; Our resident comedian/radio personality/TV host Matty Blake returns for our (kinda) annual MattyB PGA Tour Awards. Both Fred and MattyB take playing golf seriously, but not so much the Tour, and once again we look back at last year’s season to skewer the best and worst moments of the PGA Tour for 2017. Irreverent, irresponsible, and a little off base, we also honor the great moments that may...

Only a handful of current Golf Smarter listeners have heard this Members Only conversation published Oct 26, 2010. Original show notes: “Tony Manzoni returns by popular demand to provide details on his "Single Pivot Swing" which he believes was Ben Hogan's secret that was never revealed. A PGA instructor since 1965, Tony has spent years studying Hogan's swing and breaks down the details in this in...

616: There’s a guideline in the PGA Teaching Handbook that says “Putt when you can. Chip if you can’t putt. And Pitch only when you have to”. Pretty powerful statement that we don’t hear often enough. This week Ken Doherty, PGA and Director of Golf for Marin Country Club, returns to discuss ways to stay fresh during the cold off-season, the value of a playing lesson vs just working with a teacher...

615: This conversation with Garry Hopkins, PGA completes the consecutive episodes with our 3 Amigos of Garry, Tony Manzoni and Davey Evans. Garry is another incredible teacher from the Palm Springs, CA area that has become a year round golf Mecca with hundreds of beautiful courses. We conduct our conversation at the finishing hole of Indian Springs Golf Course in La Quinta. This is the course that...

613: Davey Evans knows more about golf instruction than most of us will ever learn because he’s been a successful and effective coach longer than many of us have been alive!! Davey is joining Tony Manzoni to provide 90 minute clinics at Indian Springs GC in La Quinta, CA for just $75! Only nine students per session so you’ll get personalized care from each coach for 30 minutes each. You read it ri...

613: A Golf Smarter favorite, Tony Manzoni returns to announce the launch of his new golf school in La Quinta, CA. Tony’s teamed up with two other Palm Springs area legendary coaches, Garry Hopkins and Davey Evans to provide a 90 minute clinic for only $75! Only nine students per session so you’ll get personalized care from each coach for 30 minutes each. You read it right, only $75 for 90 minutes...

612: Don Peterson, swingfactory.com, has figured out how to communicate a great golf swing with easily relatable metaphors, like holding a punch bowl or swatting a bee with your tummy. His two books, “Miyagi Golf: Wax-On Wax-Off for Golf” helps you become a better self-trainer, and “The Baseball Golf Swing Method” will help you build your swing from scratch or re-build a faulty swing. Congratulati...

611: Dean Reinmuth DeanOfGolf.com returns to analyze video of Fred’s swing with the Swing Coach. This is part 2 of our conversation started in our last episode. You will hear us referring to the video, but obviously it’s not on the audio portion of this podcast episode, but you can see the entire episode and watch what Dean’s referring to on GolfSmarter.com or our YouTube.com/golfsmartertv channel...