Larry The Golf Guy Larry The Golf Guy

Rod Trump is a passionate golfer who was looking for a golf course to purchase. Rod discovered High Pointe in Northern Michigan, which was Tom Doak's first golf course design which had opened in 1989 as a daily fee facility and closed in 2009, a victim of the Great Recession. Rod, working with Tom, is reviving High Pointe as an elite national golf club. We talk with Rod about his journey in the game, his baseball exploits growing up in Baltimore, his early experience caddying at Caves Valley, his business career in tech and subsequently as an angel investor, and what led him to pursue ownership of a golf course.

Andrea Gaston has had a stellar coaching career, highlighted by her 22-year run as coach of the USC Women's Golf Team where she won 3 national championships, qualified for the NCAA's 21 years in a row, and coached 50 All-Americans (including 5 NCAA individual champions). We talk to Andrea about her start in golf in Los Angeles, her own notable playing career, her 14 year break from the game, her return to the game where she won back-to-back California State Amateur championships, her pivot to coaching, the keys to her success at USC, her decision to leave USC and Southern California for Texas A&M and College Station and her thoughts on the women's game today.

Gary Van Sickle has covered golf for more than 4 decades, including 125 majors and 14 Ryder Cups. We talk to Gary about his start in sports journalism at the Milwaukee Journal, and discuss some of the notable Ryder Cups and other events he has covered, and what it has been like to cover Tiger Woods from his 1st victory in 1996 to his 81st at The Masters in 2019. We also discuss Scottie Scheffler's recent dominance and its historical context, as well as the dramatic impact on the pro game of changes in equipment and the attempt by the game's governing authorities to roll back some of those changes. Gary also shares his views on whether we should even care about unifying LIV and the PGA Tour.

David Frost has had a wonderful career on tour, winning 10 titles on the PGA Tour and another 6 titles on the Champions Tour. We talk about his growing up in South Africa and learning the game, and his early years as a pro playing in Europe before coming to the US. We also discuss his meetings with Ben Hogan, his high finishes in The Open at Muirfield and Carnoustie, and his family wine business, as well as the distance and equipment issues with today's game and David's all-time 72 hole PGA Tour record for fewest putts.

Don Pooley had a long career on both the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour, highlighted by his victory in a playoff over Tom Watson for the 2002 US Senior Open. We talk about his journey in the game, from growing up and learning the game at The Victoria Club in Riverside, CA, walking on the golf team at the University of Arizona, his challenges in securing his PGA Tour card, and then his long and successful career on both Tours. We also get Don's thoughts on a few current issues in the pro game, including LIV and the distance debate.

We talk with our friend, Top 100 Teacher Brady Riggs, about the state of the women's and men's game as we get ready for the season's first major. We discuss Nelly Korda's dominance this year with her 4 consecutive victories, and the tremendous young talent in the women's game as illustrated by the performances we saw in the Augusta National Women's Amateur this past week. We then cover the men's game, the dominance of Scottie Scheffler, what's going on with Justin Spieth and Jordan Thomas, Rory McIlroy's change in approach for this year's Masters, and compare predictions for who might be wearing the green jacket this year.