Golf Smarter

537: ConorJackson played Major League Baseball for seven seasons withArizona, Oakland, and Boston. But he didn’t take up golf untilafter he retired from the Big Leagues. He was lured in by charitytournaments, discovered how challenging it was and, like many ofus, fell in love. Even with a career .271 batting average, golfhasn’t come easy for him. Here's a videoexcerpt of today's episode when I ask...

536: We all have our pet peeves that irritate us when playing golf with others. Like talking on the phone. Forgetting (or making up) your score. Not having cash with you to pay your debts or the cart girl. Saying “I never play like this”, and more. Writer and High School English teacher/Golf Coach Rory Hughes recently published an article on this topic called “10 Things I Hate About You” and this...

535: The 2016 Masters was an amazing showcase of professional golf at the highest level. But upon closer inspection, it also showed that there are moments of the PGA Tour that look an awful lot like weekend golf by mid and high handicappers. Dropping the ball in the water two shots in a row, 3 and 4 putting from inside 10 feet, trying to make difficult shots in windy conditions, all these and more...

534 Premium: While all of the transactional elements of business happen either before or after a round, how you conduct yourself on the course could make or break your future business relationships. Jennifer Munro goes through the do's and don'ts of doing business while playing golf. In more than 10 years of the Golf Smarter podcast, this is our first mulligan. Because of a cancelation, we dug int...

533 Premium: Alister MacKenzie, one of the greatest golf course architects in history designed only one seaside public course, Sharp Park in San Francisco. Opened in 1932, the course’s closure is being threatened by the City of San Francisco. Attorney, author, photographer, and painter Bo Links joins us to discuss the legend of Sharp Park, Alister MacKenzie, and a group’s effort to save Sharp Park...

532: Dave Johnson is the longtime Director of Instruction at Rooster Run Golf Course in Petaluma, CA. In this interesting conversation, Dave talks about how we can turn 3 shots into 2 around the green knocking 5-10 strokes off each round! By chipping using a putting stroke with your irons, the RULE of 12 will help you gauge how far the ball will roll once it lands on a level dry putting surface. D...

531 Premium: Dean Knuth is known as the Pope of Slope because during his years at the USGA he created the Rating/Slope system to provide golfers with more information about the difficulty of a course, other than yardage. With all his years working there, he was always an advocate for the amateur golfer. That’s why he’s currently designing and manufacturing a line of Drivers, Fairway Woods, and Hyb...

Creating a new golf product is easy. Making it a success isn't. To get your great idea to the public you must convince the press you've developed something useful and worthwhile. Our guest this week is Mike Jamison who started out as a sports writer and ended up opening up a Golf PR Agency. Mike is also the brains behind an organization called ING (International Network for Golf) that for more tha...

529: Harvey Penick was a legendary golf instructor who was instrumental to the success of both Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw. Even though he passed away in the 90s, his Little Red Book is considered one of the more important golf instruction books ever published. The Harvey Penick Golf Academy has returned in his home town of Austin, TX and our guest this week is Director of the Academy Jim Hopkins. J...

529 Premium: Harvey Penick was a legendary golf instructor who was instrumental to the success of both Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw. Even though he passed away in the 90s, his Little Red Book is considered one of the more important golf instruction books ever published. The Harvey Penick Golf Academy has returned in his home town of Austin, TX and our guest this week is Director of the Academy Jim Ho...

528: Our guest this week is Kelly O'Donnell, Director of Golf for the Wolfdancer Golf Club in Austin, TX. In this episode we discuss the all new Harvey Penick Golf Academy at the Wolfdancer Golf Club in Austin, TX and what made Harvey Penick one of the great golf instructors of all time. We also get into golf in Austin, his personal golf history including a great story about watching his first pro...

527: Topgolf is the hottest concept in golf that caters to young and old, scratch golfers & first timers, and if it's not already there, it's coming to your area soon. Our conversation this week is the Director of Operations for Topgolf Austin, TX, Hunter Farris. My annual golf buddy trip is going to Austin this year, so I'll be showcasing this entertainment venue, a course or two, and some great...

526 Premium: Once again, Golf Smarter is first to bring you the latest innovation and clubs from Ben Hogan Golf. Our old friend Terry Koehler, CEO of Ben Hogan Golf returns to report on the PGA Merchandise Show and how the new PTx Irons and VCTR Hybrids were received in Orlando. Make sure to watch the video of the live Blabcast so that you can see these clubs for yourself. He also let's us in on a...

525: Cheryl Fink of Bionic Gloves has been attending the PGA Merchandise show for many years and now that she's returned from Orlando, it seemed like a good time to get her back on the podcast to get her observations on the State of the Industry.  Cheryl also shares her observations on which new products caught her attention, what a week is like at the show, and who to watch on this year's PGA Tou...

524: Ken Doherty, PGA, returns to discuss a recent article he wrote for the Marin Country Club Newsletter, “A Quiet Mind for Golf (I hope I don’t miss this shot)”. A quiet mind is important for increased performance in so many different sports, but for the amateur golfer, it could be the difference between a great round and disaster.  Want to watch this entire interview? It was recorded on Blab.im...

524 Premium: Ken Doherty, PGA, returns to discuss a recent article he wrote for the Marin Country Club Newsletter, “A Quiet Mind for Golf (I hope I don’t miss this shot)”. A quiet mind is important for increased performance in so many different sports, but for the amateur golfer, it could be the difference between a great round and disaster.  Want to watch this entire interview? It was recorded on...

523 Premium: Rory Hughes is a high-school teacher and golf coach in Metro Detroit. He’s also a contributor to Golf Chicago Magazine with an interesting theory as to why the number of golfers continues to decline. His article “The Internet is Killing Golf” is the topic of our Blab video conversation that also includes the Golf Magazine article (Feb2016) “59 Reason Why NOW is the Best Time to be a G...

522 Premium: Because golf is steeped in tradition, most golfers wear a glove, but aren’t sure why. Keeping your hands dry is a good reason, but did you know that the correct glove can prevent fatigue and alleviate pain? Most golf gloves are equally equipped to do nothing more than just keep your marker attached. Bionic Golf Gloves are designed by a leading orthopedic hand specialist to give you mo...

521: We kick off our 11th year with our very first guest. Dr. Joseph Parent, author of the most popular golf mental game book every written, "Zen Golf" makes his tenth appearance on Golf Smarter talking about working with LPGA Tour Pro Cristie Kerr, helping get golfers out of their own way, and his new book "The Best Diet Book Ever". Want to watch this entire interview? It was recorded on Blab.im...

521 Premium: We kick off our 11th year with our very first guest. Dr. Joseph Parent, author of the most popular golf mental game book every written, "Zen Golf" makes his tenth appearance on Golf Smarter talking about working with LPGA Tour Pro Cristie Kerr, helping get golfers out of their own way, and his new book "The Best Diet Book Ever". Want to watch this entire interview? It was recorded on...

520: This is our 6th annual skewering of the PGA Tour & Players as the MattyB Awards takes center stage with comedian/actor/TV Personality Matty Blake. As he’s done in the past, these awards have a tendency to upset some PGA Tour fans, so this year we make it a drinking game! Each time Matty says something offensive, we take a swig (Matty:beer / Fred:vodka) so the show gets a little…OK, a lot out...

 520: This is our 6th annual skewering of the PGA Tour & Players as the MattyB Awards takes center stage with comedian/actor/TV Personality Matty Blake. As he’s done in the past, these awards have a tendency to upset some PGA Tour fans, so this year we make it a drinking game! Each time Matty says something offensive, we take a swig (Matty:beer / Fred:vodka) so the show gets a little…OK, a lot out...

519: Starting on January 1, 2016 anchored putters will be banned from tournament use at all levels. It was no surprise to club designers that the USGA and R&A banned those long putters. It’s what they didn’t do that has club makers, retailers, and golfers confused and angry. Tom Wishon (wishongolf.com) the unofficial spokesperson of Custom Club Making Industry, and frequent Golf Smarter contributo...

519: Starting on January 1, 2016 anchored putters will be banned from tournament use at all levels. It was no surprise to club designers that the USGA and R&A banned those long putters. It’s what they didn’t do that has club makers, retailers, and golfers confused and angry. Tom Wishon (wishongolf.com) the unofficial spokesperson of Custom Club Making Industry, and frequent Golf Smarter contributo...

518 Premium: This week Jim Waldron of the Balance Point Golf Schools returns for a full hour to discuss his new video series and The Arm Swing Illusion. Jim breaks down in detail why so many of us are concerned that our consistency issues are not what we think. Episode 520 means it's our 10th Anniversary and we want to share it with you! Join us for our live Blab.im session with comedian Matty Bla...