The Back of the Range

Kicking off U.S. Open week with a very special episode!  My guest is Dan Hicks from NBC Sports.  He will be back calling the action at Winged Foot for NBC alongside Paul Azinger at Winged Foot, his home course!  Dan shared some great stories and his thoughts on who might be able to survive Winged Foot and walk away with the championship. LINKS Dan Hicks - NBC Golf New Towels are IN...

My guest on this episode is Buddy Alexander.   Alexander won the 1986 U.S. Amateur Championship and served as the men’s golf coach at the University of Florida for 27 seasons. He won the 1991 Florida State Amateur and has competed in over 40 United State Golf Association championships.  Tons of great stories about the Walker Cup, the Masters, and his "commandments" that he instilled in h...

My guest on this episode is Brandon Wu!  Brandon just punched his ticket to the 2020 U.S. Open by winning the Korn Ferry Tour Championship.  We caught up and talked about life as a professional and how he keeps busy off the golf course.  Always a fascinating and thoughtful guest to have at The Back of the Range! LINKS Brandon Wu - Korn Ferry Tour Project Smile - A group of Stanford...

My guest on this epsiode is Parker Coody, part of that young nucleus on the Texas Longhorns golf team that includes his twin brother Pierceson, Travis Vick, Will Thomson, and Cole Hammer.  The final tournament of the collegiate season, before it was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, was the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas.  USC won the team title, but Parker Coody came...

My guest on this episode is the 2020 U.S. Amateur Finalist, Ollie Osborne.  Easily one of the funniest guests in the history of the podcast.  We talked about his magical week at Bandon Dunes that will provide him with exemptions into the Masters and the U.S. Open in 2021.  We also talked about his place on the SMU golf team and why he'll never have to pay for a brownie sundae ever a...

After I recap my experience at the 2020 U.S. Amateur, my guest on this episode is the 2020 California State Amateur Champion, Joey Vrzich.  This episode was recorded before the U.S. Amateur, so you'll hear me asking Joey to talk about Bandon Dunes, how the course would suit his game, and also we spoke about the fact that he was one of SEVEN members of the Pepperdine team that would be making...

My guest on this special episode is the 2020 U.S. Amateur Champion, Tyler Strafaci.  We caught up just a few days after his dramatic victory over Ollie Osborne at Bandon Dunes.  We spoke about Tyler's incredible summer season, the challenges around playing a U.S. Amateur during the coronavirus pandemic, and some behind-the-scenes details that found him leaving the state of Oregon with th...

My guest on this episode is the 2000 U.S. Amateur Champion, Jeff Quinney.  It's the 20th anniversary of Jeff's victory at Baltustrol, so it was a perfect time to look back at his incredible feat of winning in 39 holes over James Driscoll.  Especially since his qualified that year at Bandon Dunes, which is the host of this year's U.S. Amateur! LINKS Jeff Quinney - Instagram New Towels are...

My guest on this episode of The Back of the Range Golf Podcast is Mac Meissner from SMU.  He just recently captured the 2020 Southern Amateur Championship and is poised to make a run at the U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes.  Fantastic episode with a two-time All-American that is going to be a player to watch for many years to come.   LINKS Mac Meissner - SMU Golf Profile New Towels are...

Special Bonus Episode on a Sunday!  I had a chance to catch up with the 2020 Western Amateur Champion, Pierceson Coody on his ride home from Carmel, Indiana to Plano, Texas.  We spoke about his play at the Western and what his thoughts are looking towards the U.S. Amateur at Bandon Dunes. LINKS Pierceson Coody wins the Western Amateur - Full Story New Towels are IN STOCK!  Available...

My guest this week on the 150th episode of The Back of the Range is the head coach of men's golf team at Baylor University with three national championships to his name, Mr. Mike McGraw.  We spoke about his start in the game, what led him to become a coach, and we also spoke about some of his coaching philosophies that he employed at Oklahoma State, Alabama, and now at Baylor.  If you ar...

My guest on this episode is Davis Thompson from St. Simons Island, Georgia. Davis was the runner-up to Akshay Bhatia in the 2019 Jones Cup....and when Akshay turned professional and didn't use the winner's exemption into the PGA Tour's RSM Classic....it went to Davis. What did he do with that exemption? He made the cut and picked up a top 25 finish. And that should serve him well, since he went ah...

Tim Jackson’s 30 year golf career is defined by global greens, national records, hometown loyalty and old fashioned fun. His career is highlighted by top prizes at the 1994 and 2001 U.S. Mid-Amateur, representing the U.S. as a member of the 1995 and 1999 U.S. Walker Cup Teams, and participating in the 1995 and 2002 Masters. He also won the North and South Amateur in 1998 and the 1995 Simon Bolivar...

My guest on this episode is Karl Vilips from Perth, Australia.  He is a two-time Junior President's Cup team member, Quarterfinalist at the 2019 US Amateur, Gold Medal Winner at the 2018 Youth Olympics, and a 4-time Rolex Junior All-American.   Karl and I spoke about his start in the game and his journey in junior golf.   If you're a parent of a junior golfer, or know a junior golfe...

My guest on this week's episode is Michael Beard, Head Coach of the Pepperdine Men's Golf Team. He's a  former player at Pepperdine that came back to his alma mater and this year was named the National Coach of the Year award.  We spoke about Pepperdine quite a bit, hit on several topics involving the team, but if the name Beard rings a bell....yes, his father Frank Beard played on tour,...

My guest on this week's episode is Bob Koepka, father of Brooks and Chase Koepka.  I know that I have been saying this quite often, but this episode is another instant classic.  You'll notice that I am gladly getting the hell out of the way and letting Bob tell some fantastic stories about raising two young boys that had an interest in golf.  If you really pay attention, you'll see...

My guest on this episode is Davis Riley, from Hattiesburg, MS.  Davis has been a success at every level of the game.  From winning U.S. KIDS events, becoming an AJGA All-American, two-time runner-up at the U.S. Junior and stardom at Alabama.  Now, Davis is competing on the Korn Ferry Tour and before the coronavirus put a halt to this season, he picked up his first win on the tour in...

My guest on this episode is Ron Jaworski.  If you are a casual fan of professional American football, I have no doubt that you already know Jaworski's accomplishments.  After a 17 year career in the NFL, spent primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles, he moved into broadcasting where he was a fixture at ESPN and also joined the Monday Night Football team.   Like many former athletes,...

My guest on this episode is Billy Foster.   He has toted the bag for Ryder Cuppers like Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, and Sergio Garcia.   We spoke about his experience working the Ryder Cup, learning the intracacies of Augusta from Seve, and he even provided some behind the scenes stories about some of the players he has worked for.  We probably could have gone on for hours and hour...

My guest on this episode is Alex Fitzpatrick.   Alex had a solid showing at the 2019 Walker Cup where he went 2-2.  He had an impressive singles victory against Cole Hammer and he also teamed up with Conor Purcell in the opening match on Saturday to defeat US Amateur Champion Andy Ogletree and my last guest, U.S. Amateur Runner-Up, John Augenstein.   This episode was recorded before...

My guest on this episode is John Augenstein.   After finishing runner-up to Andy Ogletree in last year's U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst, he was named to the 2019 United States Walker Cup team that was ultimately victorious against the GB&I squad at Royal Liverpool.  My conversation with John was recorded in early April when we knew even less than we did now.  We spoke about his pract...

My guest on this episode is Jason Gore.  He's currently the Senior Director of Player Relations at the USGA, but we spoke mainly about his incredible year in 1997 where he captured the NCAA National Championship with his teammates at Pepperdine and played his way on to the 1997 Walker Cup team.  Jason is one of the most well-liked guys in professional golf and shared plenty of great stor...

My special guest on this episode is Meghan Stasi!  The list of players that have won four USGA titles in the same event is pretty small.  It includes Jones and Nicklaus, as well as Meghan.  We spoke about her playing career and her decade of dominace in the state of Florida.  She also competed in the Curtis Cup in St. Andrews that was memorable for more reasons than you can ima...

My guest on this episode is Doc Redman.  The standout from Clemson parlayed an incredible summer in 2017 to a U.S. Amateur Championship and a spot on the Walker Cup team.  Now he's on the PGA Tour chasing down his victory.  Lots of fun stories about the week at LACC and life on the tour. Doc Redman - Instagram Get the official TOWEL of The Back of the Range Golf Podcast!   Get...

My special guest today is Will Zalatoris!  He joins me for a quick chat after the successful Maridoe Samaritan event that helped raise money for caddies and featured players like Viktor Hovland, Tony Romo, Scottie Scheffler, and Jordan Spieth!  Learn more about how they pulled off this amazing tournament while adhering to social distancing policies! Will Zalatoris - Episode 97 - The Back...