The DROP Podcast

The 2026 NJ Golf 4-Ball Championship at Little Mill Country Club was a week Austin and I will never forget. We got through stroke play, earned our way into match play, won our Round of 16 match, won our quarterfinal match, and then came up one shot short in a 21-hole semifinal. This episode is about the full championship run, the pressure of match play, the strength of our 4-Ball partnership, Litt...

Katie Lu is quickly becoming one of the names to watch in women’s professional golf. The New Jersey native, Michigan State standout, and ANNIKA Women’s All Pro Tour winner has already made a statement early in her pro career, highlighted by a 20-under victory and a rise to No. 2 on the 2026 money list. This episode follows Katie’s path from Golfing in the Garden State to the professional level, in...

Public golf in New Jersey is one of the strengths of Golfing in the Garden State, with courses, communities, and competitive opportunities that make this state special. This episode focuses on NJ Golf Member Golf Days and how they add another layer to that experience by giving public golfers the chance to enjoy private club access they may not otherwise get. Built around access, competition, and c...

Michael Hyland, a 2-time NJ Golf Champion, 3-time GAP Champion, 9-time USGA competitor, and one of the most decorated players, if not the most decorated, to come out of Little Mill Country Club, brings a high-level competitive perspective ahead of the 94th New Jersey Golf 4-Ball Championship. With deep ties to the club and a career built on winning in the region, Hyland breaks down what defines Li...

Little Mill Country Club takes center stage as the host of the 94th New Jersey Four-Ball Championship, and after playing the championship routing firsthand, this episode defines why it stands out as a true test of competitive golf. This is not a course built on tricks or gimmicks. It rewards discipline, decision-making, and control over 18 holes, making it an ideal venue to open major golf season...

 Mark Bryson brings a perspective that very few people in New Jersey golf can offer. As Director of Golf at Monmouth University, Head Women’s Golf Coach for the Hawks, and Director of Golf at Jumping Brook Country Club, he sits at the intersection of player development, program leadership, and club-level stewardship. That makes this episode about more than a resume line. It is about how golfers ar...

The 2026 New Jersey Golf 4-Ball Championship is next after Mike and Austin Devereux qualified at TPC Jasna Polana, finishing T6 at 4-under and extending their run to four consecutive years in the championship. That is the center of this episode, because qualifying rounds are never just about the final number. They are about handling the day, staying composed, keeping momentum when it is there, and...

Scott Fawcett is the founder of DECADE Golf, one of the most influential course management systems in modern golf, and this episode centers on why so many golfers continue to lose shots before they ever make a swing. Rather than revisiting the basics from his first appearance, this conversation focuses on the deeper issues that shape scoring: poor target selection, unrealistic expectations, emotio...

The first major of the season delivered its usual weight at Augusta, but this episode does not stop at The Masters leaderboard. It also turns to the result that mattered most in Golfing in the Garden State, with Francis A. Byrne emerging from the March Madness bracket as the 2026 Public Golf Course Champion in New Jersey. That gives the episode real substance: one championship decided on golf’s bi...

Scott Anderson serves as President of True Spec Golf, one of the most influential companies in modern club fitting, and this episode centers on what serious golfers still misunderstand about equipment performance. The conversation examines what separates a true fitting from a dressed-up retail experience, why brand-agnostic fitting standards matter, and how golfers can better identify when poor re...

The March Madness bracket for public golf in New Jersey has reached its most credible stage, with Shore Gate, Francis A. Byrne, Ballyowen, and Neshanic Valley advancing to the Final Four. This episode centers on what the Elite 8 actually revealed when the focus shifts to total vote count, separating surface-level preference from real support. At this point in the bracket, advancement is no longer...

Drew Stoltz has built real authority in golf media through Subpar and SiriusXM, which makes him a strong voice for a conversation like this as the PGA Tour moves deeper into a season that already feels bigger than week-to-week results. This episode focuses on where the Tour actually stands in 2026, what still feels unsettled about its direction, how much Tiger Woods still changes the sport’s cente...

The Sweet 16 is done, the Elite 8 is set, and this bracket has officially reached the point where every result carries real weight. This episode centers on what the Sweet 16 actually revealed: which public courses advanced with force, which matchups tightened up exactly the way they should have, and why the remaining eight now feel like the strongest and most credible group left on the board. At t...

Chris Gaffney serves as Director of Championships for the Metropolitan Golf Association, helping shape one of the most respected amateur championship schedules in the country. This episode centers on what that role actually demands, why MGA championships carry real weight in modern amateur golf, and how event setup, venue selection, and competitive standards continue to define the association’s id...

The Inaugural DROP Pod event at Tee2Green sold out with 32 golfers and 16 teams, giving The DROP its clearest sign yet that Golfing in the Garden State is becoming something bigger than a podcast feed. This episode opens with the turnout, the energy in the room, and why a full field for the first event felt like a meaningful step forward for the brand. From there, the focus shifts to the Race for...

James Nicholas returns to The DROP Podcast in a very different place than when he first came on. After we said last January that a win at this level felt inevitable, he now comes back as a Korn Ferry Tour champion after closing out the 2026 Astara Golf Championship with an eagle on the 72nd hole. This episode centers on what that breakthrough actually proved, how a player handles the pressure that...

Round 1 of The Race for the Crown is officially in the books, and the bracket is already starting to separate reputation from real support. With the field cut from 64 down to 32, this episode looks at the first results, the limited but meaningful upsets, and what the early voting revealed about momentum, loyalty, and public perception across New Jersey golf. This is where the bracket stops being t...

Brian Crowell joins The DROP Podcast after being named the 2026 PGA of America Golf Professional of the Year, the highest honor awarded to a PGA Professional. As General Manager of Bally’s Golf Links at Ferry Point, Crowell sits at the intersection of leadership, public golf, teaching, operations, and long-term facility vision. This conversation defines what elite public golf management actually l...

March Madness has come to Golfing in the Garden State. After the Qualifying Round decided the final spots, the full Field of 64 is now set, seeded, and placed into a true bracket to determine the top public golf course in New Jersey. This episode reveals the full field, explains how the seeding was built, and officially launches The Race for the Crown, a statewide competition shaped by informed pu...

Ben “Lurch” Severance was part of Fore Play before it was a brand - back when the audience was still forming and the identity of modern golf media wasn’t fully defined. This conversation revisits that early Barstool era through someone who lived inside it, clarifying what those formative years actually felt like and how Lurch fit within a group that helped shape the current landscape. It’s a groun...

The Race for the Crown returns and the standard rises with it. The Qualifying Round determines which four courses earn the final spots in this year’s Field of 64, turning months of debate into real decisions. With a larger audience and stronger field than ever, reputation alone won’t carry anyone through. This episode defines the stakes behind the bracket and why the Qualifying Round has become on...

Michael Buell, Master Fitter, True Spec Golf; Golf.com contributor explains what a professional club fitting should actually fix and why chasing more distance is usually the wrong objective. We break down True Spec’s brand-agnostic fitting model, starting with the player interview and blueprint process that often reveals spec drift across a set (loft, lie, length, swing weight, shaft profiles). Fr...

North Jersey vs. South Jersey: who actually has the better public golf? Mike takes the North, Chris rides with the South, and we keep it strictly to public courses you can book and play across New Jersey. From county-system staples in Essex, Morris, and Somerset to Monmouth and Atlantic County destination layouts shaped by wind and links-style design, we break down which side offers more depth, st...

Today’s guest is Jaeger Kovich, founder of Proper Golf and a golf course architect whose shaping work has influenced courses across New Jersey and the championship venue for the 2026 PGA Championship, Aronimink Golf Club. From discovering the game in New York City to working under Tom Doak and Gil Hanse, Jaeger shares the unconventional path that led him into golf course architecture and the momen...

The 2026 NJ Golf Major Championship schedule is set. Dates are confirmed, venues are locked in, and registration is about to open. In this episode of The DROP Podcast, we break down New Jersey’s four premier championships: the 94th Four-Ball Championship at Little Mill Country Club, the 43rd Mid-Amateur Championship at Alpine Country Club, the 125th New Jersey Amateur Championship at Baltusrol Gol...