Golf Yeah – Details, episodes & analysis

"When you can take a player from a 27 to an 11 handicap, it's something to be really proud of." [caption id="attachment_3195" align="alignleft" width="300"]https://golfyeah.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/hot-lesson.jpg Chris claims there are advantages to teaching golf in Las Vegas, not including the weather.[/caption]   Christopher Howard Worldwide Teaching Golf Professional Las Vegas Golf Club     Contrary to the popular advertising slogan, what happens in Vegas does NOT stay in Vegas; at least in terms of world class golf instruction. Christopher Howard is a golf professional based out of Las Vegas Golf Club. He works with every level of player, from beginner to consulting with tour players. In 20 years of teaching, he claims that there isn’t a swing he hasn’t seen. When Chris isn't posting instructions or analyzing his students' swings online for his 25,000 Instagram followers (chowardgolf), you can find him touring all over the world, or teaching private lessons in his golf schools. Over the last 7 years, he's hosted more than 650 golf schools in 5 different countries and 200 cities. That's a ton of frequent flier miles, and a lot of golfers who are willing to pay for the Teaching Pro from Las Vegas. Show Highlights Our conversation with Chris uncovered an interesting career path for a golf professional whose lifetime goal was simply to "be in sports." Mission accomplished. Chris talks about: [caption id="attachment_3197" align="alignright" width="300"]https://golfyeah.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/double-shot.jpg Chris gives lesson every way and everywhere...in person on the course, or virtually on your patio.[/caption]

• His short-lived career as a goalie in the American Junior Hockey League
• How he shaped his own approach to teaching the golf swing by watching hundreds of instructional videos
• Why he's found that golfers make greater progress in golf schools, compared with individual lessons
• The reason why coaches for PGA Tour players are fearful to suggest significant swing changes
• The teaching advantages of virtual FaceTime lessons
• Why he will always include student lessons in his online videos
• The #1 fault that he sees in the swings of average golfers around the world

Notable Quotes On starting his own golf coaching business: “It's been great to not have to answer to anyone regarding my teaching philosophy...particularly involving people who have been teaching golf since the 1980s, who have very different concepts." [caption id="attachment_3190" align="alignleft" width="300"]https://golfyeah.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Howard-golf-calendar.jpeg Chris's touring golf schools typically sell out very quickly.[/caption] On his early years trying to establish a golf career: "Young golf professionals need to accept the fact that there can be a lot of struggles in this industry." On what he learned early on from online golf instruction: “I didn't like most of the forms of online teaching, so I started doing FaceTime teaching, and I was one of the first instructors to do that for the regular player." On why he starting posting videos of lessons with students: "I watched a lot of videos by instructors like George Gankas, and thought that was an effective way to demonstrate lessons." On why he posts lessons on Instagram: "My major goal in posting...

"The average tour professional does not know the rules of golf very well." https://golfyeah.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Slide1-1.jpeg   Bryan Jones PGA Golf Professional and PGA Rules Official Black Oak Golf Club,  Flanders, New Jersey   Bryan Jones personifies the highest ideals of the PGA. In addition to his role as a head golf professional, he devotes a significant amount of time teaching the rules of the game to others, and volunteering his time and expertise as a rules official at professional and amateur tournaments around the world. He is recognized as one of the most knowledgeable and experienced rules officials in the game. Bryan's list of golf industry awards and recognitions is lengthy and impressive, and includes the PGA's National Horton Smith Award, and induction into the New Jersey PGA's Hall of Fame. He currently serves as the Honorary Chair of the PGA's Rules Committee. (A more complete overview of Bryan's career is posted below.) Show Highlights Our conversation covers a lot of territory involving all aspects of Bryan's long career as a PGA golf professional, including: [caption id="attachment_3175" align="alignright" width="300"]https://golfyeah.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/C2EFA282-C7AF-48A0-B407-96FC0BB5C891.jpeg Bryan with Shane Lowry on the 17th hole during the second round of the 148th Open Championship held on the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club in 2019.[/caption]

• What happened to his career plan to become a veterinarian...which is unrelated to his owning two feral cats
• Why he believes the abundance of online instruction actually increases "in person" golf instruction
• How you become a golf rules official, and who gets the best tournament assignments
• The most confusing rules in golf, and the new rules for 2023
• How a twist of fate caused Dustin Johnson to lose the PGA Championship at Whistling Straights
• The most exciting moments in officiating tour events
• His near-death experience at the 2023 Masters Tournament

Notable Quotes On watching professional golf from inside the ropes: “I love watching them play from up close. The shots they can hit and they things they can do are amazing. It's the highest level of the game." On the life of a tour professional: "It's a nice life, particularly if you're in the top 50, have the best sponsorships, and get to fly private, rather than lugging your equipment around on commercial flights." On his opinion of golf fans in America: “The Ryder Cup at Bethpage in 2025 should be an experience... I hope that it's a good one." https://golfyeah.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/IMG_3988.jpg On the swing faults he sees most often in the average golfer: "The problem I see in many golfers is alignment. If they're right handed, they tend to aim too far right at setup, and unless the clubface is properly aligned, the ball is not going to land where they want it to go. Male golfers also tend to power through the ball with their upper body." On the LIV Tour: “Golf is a business, and players should take the money if they believe it's a good thing for them. But once they've left the PGA Tour, they should not have an avenue to come back in if it doesn't work out." On controversial rulings: "I'll call in another official for a second opinion, even if I know that I'm right."...

“Spend ten times the amount of time you think you should spend on hiring the right people for your business. Not twice the amount. Not three times the amount. Ten times the amount."

Tom Cox

Founder and CEO - Golfballs.com, Inc.

Lafayette, Louisiana

We’ve had a number of golf entrepreneurs on the Golf Yeah podcast, but it’s safe to say that none are as hard-wired or successful as Tom Cox. Tom is the co-founder, president and CEO of golfballs.com, a company he started in 1995, which was one of the first eCommerce businesses for golf products. Golfballs.com has been on a rocket ship since then. In 1996, for example, the company had sales of $16,000...and they currently are around $35 million.

There are three things I find interesting about Tom. First of all, he already had a solid 10+ year golf industry career before he started golfballs.com...as the manager of a prestigious golf club in Broussard, Louisiana. But Tom knew that he wanted something more...and had self-confidence to reach for it.

Secondly, Tom had the innate ability...not only to see a market opportunity in used golf balls, but also had the flexibility to change the focus of his business into mass customization of new golf balls and other golf-related items. So he had the talent of most great entrepreneurs...which is the ability to connect the dots, and to adapt quickly based on what he learned.

The third thing I find interesting about Tom is that he has not allowed his success to get in the way of giving back. And the way that Tom gives back is by serving as an advocate, advisor and fan of startup companies and their founders. Toward that end, he is co-founder and volunteer President of Opportunity Machine, a business accelerator. Tom is also a limited partner in Tectonic Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on technology companies with high growth potential.

Here's a fun fact about Tom. On the Meyers-Briggs personality test, which classifies people as one of 16 personality types, Tom is an ENTJ, which means he is Extroverted, Intuitive, Thinking and Judging. Meyers Briggs calls this personality type “Commanders;” and describes them as natural born leaders with charisma and confidence, who project authority in a way that draws people together behind a common goal. Other ENTJ people included Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. That group also included Richard Nixon, but we steer clear of politics in our podcasts.

Show Highlights: 

• Why a passion for golf was NOT the key to Tom's success
• How Tom came to connect the dots between two concepts -- used golf balls and internet marketing -- to create golfballs.com
• Behind the scenes insights into the world of used golf balls
• What happened in the market that caused Tom to change his business model
• The value of owning the golfballs.com domain, and how he also acquired golfball.com
• Why most people do not pay an additional fee for customizing their golf balls
• What types of things that Tom refuses to imprint on a golf ball
• The key to success in running a business with 120 employees
• The next step in Tom's plan for golfballs.com
• Why Tom invests so much time helping other entrepreneurs to succeed

Notable Quotes: 

On his original business plan: “It was simply to have a website as a marketing engine, and to employ guys who dive for golf balls do the fulfillment. It was not to run an operation with 120 employees."

On changing his business model: “You can pick ONE thing and be really good at it, and the ONE thing we work to be really good at is customized golf products....which means that you have to give up on some other...

“Some of my ventures have worked out and some have not, but they have all been great learning experiences. In fact, my first start-up company was created out of desperation.”

 

 

Jason Pearsall
Entrepreneur & Golf Course Owner / Operator
Detroit, Michigan

It might be an understatement to say that Jason Pearsall is hard-wired as a golf entrepreneur. Since graduating from college in 2007, Jason has either started, or played an important role in a number of successful businesses – both cutting edge and traditional.

While in college, and prior to co-founding Club Caddie Inc. — his current entrepreneurial venture —  Jason had created and sold Performance Personal Computers, a successful e-commerce company. He had also built an app called “Golfler,” a tee-sheet and on-demand food and beverage delivery system for golf courses that was acquired by Supreme Golf.

Together with Solidea, a New York venture advisory firm, Jason is now working to establish Club Caddie’s reputation as the world’s best course cloud-based course management system; offering all types of clubs a contemporary SAAS subscription service with an affordable and transparent pricing model.

Jason also currently serves as an owner and Managing Partner at Flushing Valley Golf and Banquet Center in Flushing, Michigan, where he is able to test Club Caddie’s software every day this 18-hole, daily fee, semi-private golf facility that features an extensive food, beverage and banquet operation.

Jason is the kind of person who generates more great ideas than he has time to do them.  And I suspect that he’s only just getting started as a business builder.  If Jason’s resume doesn’t make you feel like an underachiever, here’s another fact that might push you over the edge: he also earned a law degree and is a licensed attorney.

But is Jason a nice guy? A review that was posted on Glassdoor.com from a former employee of his golf app company reported that, “Jason Pearsall is an amazing leader with both muscular intelligence and creative vision. His charisma is a major determinant guiding the company’s success.” But there was also one negative comment. He wrote “Detroit is cold. Perhaps move the company Headquarters to Florida or California.” [In his interview, Jason explains that he lives in Michigan only because his wife’s family is located there.]

Show Highlights: 

• Why Jason considers himself to be more of an opportunist than a hard-wired entrepreneur
• How Jason created a multi-million dollar e-commerce company while he was still in college
• How his misbehavior in high school resulted in a full scholarship to Wayne State
  
• Why the business model of his “Golfler” app eventually failed, and…
• …how that app’s failure resulted in development of a much larger opportunity
• The impact of consolidation in the golf course management software industry
• How you can build a software company without knowing anything about code
• Why Jason thinks the long-term outlook for the...

“When a customer comes into Pete’s Golf, we ask ourselves, “How can we help them to play golf, and to enjoy the game better?” That’s how we’ve built our reputation over the past 40 years.”

 

Woody Lashen, Owner
Pete’s Golf
Mineola, New York

In the tradition of golfing legend Old Tom Morris, Woody Lashen is a master clubfitter. And decades before the national, multi-location companies like GOLFTEC and Club Champion got into the clubfitting business, Woody and his partner Pete Makowski were providing golfers with the equipment they need to play their best. In fact, their company, Pete’s Golf — located in Mineola, New York — after more than 75,000 custom fittings, is celebrating its 40th year in business.

Similar to Old Tom Morris, Woody is also an accomplished golfer, and he competes regularly in amateur tournaments. So Woody’s connection with the game, and his clubfitting skills, are rooted in his first-hand experience on the golf course, not just in the workshop.

In his Golf Yeah podcast, Woody shares the details of his life’s journey; provides insights into the world of clubfitting; and offers some helpful advice for golfers who are looking to improve their scores as well as their enjoyment of the game.

Show Highlights: 

• Woody’s road from caddying to ownership of a successful golf business
• How and why the clubfitting business has evolved from how clubs look, to how they perform
• How Woody went from being an employee to an owner at Pete’s Golf
• Why Woody doesn’t care that his company isn’t called “Pete’s and Woody’s Golf”
• What happened when Woody told PGA Tour Pro David Frost that he was making a mistake by bending his clubs
• How often the average golfer should consider buying new golf clubs
• The ONE thing that all golfers should look for when selecting a golf ball to play
• Why Woody did not want to tell us what clubs he carries in his own golf bag
• The biggest misconception that most golfers have about clubfitting
• Why former PGA Tour Pro Erik Compton is a source of personal inspiration for Woody

Notable Quotes: 

On the golf equipment industry: “It’s difficult for small manufacturers to build a better product. They might have one engineer, wile the big companies can have 50 or 100 engineers who are true rocket scientists, and multi-million dollar budgets. The USGA also has a huge book of rules that holds back innovation. That’s why so few small manufacturers survive.”

On industry acceptance of clubfitting: “Right from the start, we wanted to become a member of the PGA, but the organization rejected that idea. But now, clubfitting is embraced by the PGA. So it was somewhat of a battle at first, trying to have people understand value of fitting.”

On selecting what golf equipment to carry: “We speak directly to the engineers; not the marketing guys. The manufacturers give us their clubs and all the technical information. Then we do our own testing. We understand what will work what won’t. We ignore the marketing mumbo jumbo.”

On maintaining his professional...

“The power of the game is that it joins people together. It doesn’t matter how rich, how old, how strong, or your nationality. I teach the kids in my academy that golf can do wonders, if you just let it take you there.”

 

Tony Brooks, PGA Legacy Master Professional

Owner
Lion Junior Golf Academy
Diamond Bar, California

If I had only one word to describe Tony Brooks…it would be “contrarian.” And that’s because my definition of the word contrarian is someone who looks at the world through an unfiltered lens. Contrarians usually have opinions that cut through politics and personal agendas, and that come from the heart. Contrarians are not always interested in achieving a consensus, and are never afraid to rock the boat.  They’re more interested in getting to the heart of any matter, uncovering the truth, and finding solutions that work.

Tony Brooks — a man with more than 30,000 LinkedIn followers — is entitled to be a contrarian for two reasons: First….Tony is recognized as a master of his craft. When it comes to golf, he speaks from authority. Secondly…He cares deeply about the game, and about how he uses his craft to benefit people’s lives. And we’re not talking about lowering handicaps.  One example of that?  The legal name of Tony’s company…GOLF, Inc…stands for Game Of Life First, Inc.

Here’s a biographical snapshot:

Tony grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa as a 3rd generation golfer. He’s played the game since he was 5 years old; and remembers how he was treated as a marginalized junior golfer. Based on that experience, Tony has dedicated his career to ensuring the growth of the game through junior golf. And toward that end, ​​for the past 13 years Tony has been the owner of the Lion Junior Golf Academy in Diamond Bar California, which is located east of Los Angeles.

Prior to that, Tony worked as a golf professional at a number of California golf facilities, including the famed Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Mission Viejo Country Club, and Black Gold Golf Club in Yorba Linda. He has also served as a Director of Instruction for the PGA Tour.

Notably, Tony is one of around 375 PGA Master Professionals in the country, which represents around 1% of the current PGA membership. The PGA of America created its Master Professional program in 1969 for PGA members who wanted to pursue the highest level of golf education possible. Tony’s specialty for his Masters program was teaching and instruction.

Tony has a long list of other professional certifications and recognitions. Last year, for example, he was a recipient of the Golf Range Association of America’s “Top 50 in the U.S. Growth of the Game” Awards. He also is a GolfTIPS National Magazine Junior Academy contributor.

Show Highlights: 

• Tony’s journey from South Africa to the Lion Junior Golf Academy in California
• The basis for Tony’s love / hate relationship with the PGA
• How golf professionals are unwittingly devaluing their knowledge and lowering the demand for their services
• The story behind Tony’s application to become a member of the LPGA
• The meaning of “dot days,” and the impact they can have on a person’s life
• Tony’s outlook for the future growth of golf in America: who will win and who will lose
• Why Tony donates 20% of his firm’s net profits to a South African charity
• How a conversation with Dr. Tim Somerville of the Professional Golfers Career College changed

               “…I came to America to grow up with a game in which I had complete confidence.  Golf has never failed me.”  – Donald J. Ross

 

Bradford A. Becken, Jr.

President
The Donald Ross Society
Durham, North Carolina

Brad Becken is one of a relatively small group of dedicated amateur golfers who share a common purpose: which is to safeguard the life’s work of a man from Scotland named Donald J. Ross…a man whom many consider to be the most importance influence on the game of golf in America.

Serious students of the game, and of golf course architecture in particular, are well aware of the contributions of Donald Ross. But it’s fair to say that the average golfer has scant knowledge or appreciation of who Donald Ross was, or his enormous impact on the game.

Hopefully, Brad Becken’s interview with Golf Yeah will increase, by some measure, the golfing public’s understanding of who the man was, and more specifically, why there is an organization called the Donald Ross Society…for which Brad Becken currently serves as President.

After a distinguished career as an investment banker, working for some of the most respected firms on Wall Street, Brad served as CFO and then President of a Los Angeles-based entertainment company until his retirement in 2005.

Brad will fill in the details regarding his own life’s story, and regarding the work of the Donald Ross Society…but I will disclose that his progress through the ranks of the Society has been somewhat impressive. Brad joined the organization in 2012, was elected to the board in 2016, and assumed to role of President in 2018….which suggests to me that Brad has a true calling for the Donald Ross Society…that’s been recognized by people who share his passion.

Another measure of Brad’s passion: over the past 8 years, he has played on 367 courses designed by Donald Ross.

 

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Pinehurst is considered by many to be Donald Ross’s greatest masterpiece.

 

10 Key Facts You Should Know About Donald J. Ross: 

ONE: Ross was born in 1872 in Dornoch, Scotland to a family of modest means. An accomplished golfer, he was sent to St. Andrews to learn from the most highly recognized golf professional of that era, Old Tom Morris.  Ross returned to Dornoch, where he served as club professional and greenskeeper.

TWO: Ross emigrated to the United States in 1899 to become club professional and greenskeeper at Oakley Country Club in Watertown, Massachusetts. His arrival coincided with growing interest in golf in America, and the need for new courses to accommodate the invention of the Haskell wound golf ball…which traveled further and higher than gutta percha balls.

THREE: Ross redesigned the Oakley course, and met member James Tufts, a successful businessman who convinced...

“I walked into the library of this pre-school, and found life. I saw joy, and children learning and playing, and I knew that I wanted to be around that…It was a defining moment for me.”

 

Kate Tempesta

Founder, Owner and President of Fun
Urban Golf Academy
New York City and Montauk, Long Island

As you can see, part of Kate Tempesta’s  title at the Urban Golf Academy includes “President of Fun.” In fact, you don’t have to dig too deeply into her website to believe that she really does enjoy her life’s work. And I suspect that the source of that happiness is based on the fact that she’s combined two of the things she enjoys most in life. And those would be her love of children, and her love for the game of golf…which also seems to be a recipe for her success in business.

Kate Tempesta’s education, and her early career, focused on exercise science and fitness. She later transitioned to the educational arena where she created and taught the movement education program at St. Thomas More Play Group for ten years. After becoming an LPGA Teaching and Club Professional, she founded the Urban Golf Academy, located in the heart of New York City.

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According to Kate, “Children are always my source of daily inspiration.”

With Kate at the helm over the past 12 years, UGA has delivered the joy of golf to at least 1,000 children each year. Most recently, Kate and her team have developed the Birdie Basics and Birdie Basics Pro boxes; a joint curriculum, lecture series, and utility kit that gives parents, teachers, and professional coaches the tools and access to implement UGA’s proven methods designed to turn their children and students into lifelong golfers…but more importantly, to empower them as individuals.

Kate has consistently been recognized by Golf Digest magazine as one of the best women teachers in the game of golf (which is even more remarkable, given that she was 30 years-old when she started playing.)  She’s spoken on several panels about growing the game of golf, including the Inaugural PGA of America’s Junior Golf Summit, as well as the Youth & Family Golf Summit at a recent Merchandise PGA Show.

Additionally, the PGA of Canada invited Kate to take part in their professional development series, offering Canadian PGA members the opportunity to learn some of the best practices of UGA. These include UGA’s trademark “Birdie-isms”; which are effective and engaging metaphors that take the complex physical, mental, and emotional concepts of golf and make them both accessible and memorable for children.

Kate resides on the Upper West Side of New York City. In her spare time, you can find Kate kickboxing, swinging a sword and planning how UGA can positively effect children the world over. Kate believes in leaving each day a little better off than when it started…and I’m confident that hearing what she has to say will brighten your day.

Show Highlights: 

• Kate’s lost sense of purpose and disconnection with “her tribe” during her early years in New York City
• The combination of circumstances that enabled Kate to find her true...

“Never buy golf memorabilia as an investment; buy it because you love the item. But if you get your hands on the right item at the right price, you might accidentally make money on it.”

 

Ryan Carey

Owner, Green Jacket Auctions
Boston, Massachusetts

Ryan Carey is exactly the type of person that the Golf Yeah podcast was created to showcase. A lawyer by training, and a practicing attorney, around 13 years ago Ryan Carey and his partner Bob Zafian, identified an opportunity in the world of golf memorabilia, and in 2006 they created on online business called “Green Jacket Auctions,” that’s grown into the largest auction house of its kind.

To give you an idea of the scope of Ryan’s business, its most recent auction featured more than 1,000 lots, with items ranging in price from $25 to more than $200,000. To appreciate those numbers, this morning I searched Ebay for golf memorabilia, and found only 124 items…ranging from a Francis Ouimet trophy listed at around $20,000, to an unsigned photo of Jack Nicklaus kissing the Claret Jug for $5.55.

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Business partners Ryan Carey and Bob Zafian have established Green Jacket Auction’s reputation as the world’s leading auction house for golf memorabilia.

Based on their passion for golf, and for collecting other rare sports items, Ryan and Bob have created what’s become a thriving enterprise that’s expanded into related services, including appraisals, authentication and private searches for hard to find collectables. And in the process, they’ve established reputations a leading authorities on just about everything related to golf…and as their company name suggests…everything related to the Masters Tournament.

I had not met nor spoken with Ryan prior to his interview, but from what I was able to discern from his footprints on the internet…I learned that he’s a native of Tampa, Florida…an avid golfer, a fly fisherman, and a lover of fine wines. He currently resides in Boston, and hoped he’d made the conversion to being a Red Sox fan. As you’ll learn in his interview, he’s a Tampa Bay Rays fan.

Show Highlights: 

• How a shared interest in golf with a stranger that he met online led to creation of Green Jacket Auctions
• The public showdown with Tiger Woods that served as the first major catalyst for business growth
• Why collectors are better off buying a few high priced items, rather than a lot of less expensive items
• The rationale for keeping an online archive of every item that’s ever been sold on Green Jacket Auctions
• What makes most autographed items from golf professional less valuable than other sports autographs
• Ryan’s “official” announcement regarding the recent dispute with Augusta National Golf Club
• How Green Jacket Auctions took the market for autographed golf items away from Ebay
• Simple advice for people who are interested in starting a collection of golf memorabilia

Notable Quotes: 

On starting the business: “For both...

“I tried to be the eyes and ears of the reader and to convey that in my story the next day. I think that’s lost today…the printed word has been devalued.”

 

Hank Gola

Veteran Sportswriter & Author
Parsippany, New Jersey

 

Hank Gola has spent more than four decades as a journalist, covering professional football and golf for the New York Daily News and the New York Post. Hank started his career in New Jersey at The Herald-News of Passaic, and the Daily Record of Morris County, where he covered the Cosmos of the North American Soccer League and the New York Giants of the NFL.

​Hank’s talent as a sportswriter has earned several awards over the years. Most recently, in 2018, he received the coveted Lincoln Werden Award for golf journalism from the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association; an honor he shares with the likes of Jim McKay, Chris Schenkel, Dave Anderson, John Feinstein and George Peper.

Hank has also written three books.  In 1987 he published “Hard Nose with Jim Burt: The Inside Story of the Giants’ 1986 Super Bowl Season… and in 1998 he published a pictorial biography of a young golfer named Tiger Woods. This past November, after nearly 4 years of meticulous research –involving more than 75 personal interviews – Hank published “City of Champions“…a book that tells the story of the people and the drama behind the Garfield High School Boilermakers in their quest to win the national football championship in 1939.

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Hank with a few cast members from Garfield High School, which wrote and produced a play based on his “City of Champions” book.

As a native of Garfield, New Jersey, this book was a labor of love for Hank, as well as a very personal tribute to a generation of Americans who embodied this nation’s highest ideals; many of whom eventually gave their lives fighting the tyranny of Hitler.  City of Champions continues to receive critical acclaim, and has been particularly well received within his hometown.

Next month, Hank Will receive the Walter D. Head Award from the Garfield New Jersey Rotary Club in recognition of his book’s rekindling of the town’s pride in an achievement that took place 80 years ago, and that has long provided Garfield with the right to call itself “The City of Champions” – a claim that has remained to this day on the road sign that welcomes visitors into the town.

I’m honored to have Hank as a guest on Golf Yeah, and was particularly pleased to learn in my research that we have two things in common: an interest in Civil War history, and Huckleberry Finn as one of our favorite books.

Show Highlights: 

• Hank’s...