Mid-Am Crisis: A Golf Discussion – Details, episodes & analysis

There's something about the Oregon coast that seems to inspire hand crafted golf accessories. The area also produces wonderful people who love the game. People just like Akbar Chisti. Among the many brands that call the region home, Chisti's company, Seamus Golf, continues to stand out. Their tartan headcovers and forged ball markers are easily recognizable on courses across the country. The Seamus success story is rooted in the history of golf in Oregon as well as the state's recent ascension to the forefront of the American golfing conscience. It's no coincidence that as Bandon Dunes resort has grown in popularity so has Seamus Golf. Its a story that founder Akbar Chisti is proud to tell.  Chisti joins me on this episode of Mid-Am Crisis to discuss how Seamus Golf has flourished in an era that gave rise to the internet golfer. We talked about how social media tools like Instagram and Twitter have helped fuel a new generation of golf enthusiasts who love products and brands like his. Chisti shares some stories about golf's history in Oregon, how Bandon Dunes helped inspire his company, and why so many golf accessory brands are flourishing in the Portland area.  I've known Chisti for a few years and this conversation confirmed all the reasons why I enjoy talking golf with him. While I've yet to make my golfing pilgrimage to the Oregon coast, his passionate descriptions on the area and its courses make me want to leave today. For now, I'll just have to keep using my Seamus gear and pretending I'm at Bandon Dunes. Maybe we will change that soon. To learn more about Seamus Golf and their beautiful products please visit https://www.seamusgolf.com/ Thanks as always for listening to Mid-Am Crisis. The show is brought to you by my friends at Imagine Golf – the #1 app for the mental game. Download Imagine Golf today and start your journey to an improved way of thinking on and off the course. https://www.imaginegolf.com/ Be sure to follow me on Twitter @JayRevell and find more or my work at https://jayrevell.com/ You can order my new book, Swing, Walk, Repeat at https://www.back9press.com/swing-walk-repeat You can also subscribe to my newsletter at www.midamcrisis.com If you enjoy the show, I would love for you to leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Cheers, -J Mid-Am Crisis is a production of Revell Media, LLC

Spencer Hadelman has made a name for himself marketing some of golf’s most desirable destinations. His company, Advantage Marketing, has helped the likes of Bandon Dunes, Sand Valley, and other bucket list locations attract travelers from around the globe. Hadelman’s love for golf and creative sales strategies doesn’t end there. Last year he founded an upstart direct to consumer golf product brand called Talon Golf that’s making it easier than ever for players to find great gloves and other gear at low prices.  In this episode of Mid-Am Crisis, Hadelman joins me to talk golf marketing, product development, and why he thinks the current golf boom may stick around longer than most might think. We also dove into what it has been like for him to build a successful marketing company and how the game has led him to some incredible friendships with professional athletes and other well known personas who love the game. For more information on Advantage Marketing and their work in the golf industry please visit https://www.advantagemrkt.com/ To check out the great golf products Spencer is developing go to https://talongolfco.com/ Thanks as always for listening to Mid-Am Crisis. The show is brought to you by my friends at Imagine Golf – the #1 app for the mental game. Download Imagine Golf today and start your journey to an improved way of thinking on and off the course. https://www.imaginegolf.com/ Be sure to follow me on Twitter @JayRevell and find more or my work at https://jayrevell.com/ You can pre-order my new book, Swing, Walk, Repeat at https://www.back9press.com/swing-walk-repeat You can also subscribe to my newsletter at www.midamcrisis.com If you enjoy the show, I would love for you to leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Cheers, -J Mid-Am Crisis is a production of Revell Media, LLC

In the early days of golf podcasting, Ru Macdonald was one of the first hosts to take a deep dive into the courses of Scotland. His show, The Scottish Golf Podcast became an important outlet for those like me who were looking to learn more about the many lesser known golf options in the game's native land. The stories he shared in those show helped to spark a whole new wave of appreciation for Scotland's hidden gem links courses. Today, Macdonald is using those same storytelling skills to help the European Tour develop widely viewed content for their social media channels.  I've been a big fan of Macdonald's work for years and his podcast is one of the main reasons for my Scottish golf obsession. Although I still haven't had a chance to hop over the pond for a visit yet, I like to stay in touch with him for when I eventually pull that trigger. Macdonald and I got the chance to catch up for a lengthy chat as he was taking a break from a long day of work at the 2021 Scottish Open. Chatting from his hotel room in the COVID19 protocol bubble, Macdonald and I discussed the current state of golf in Scotland, how the travel industry there is poised for a big comeback in 2022, and of course what his world is like right now helping create viral content for the European tour. It was great to speak with Macdonald during the middle of one of the tour's biggest events. I'll be watching the Scottish Open closely and keeping an eye out for the content he's creating around the event. I'm sure it will only worsen my desire to travel to Scotland and see their links first hand.  If you haven't listened to the Scottish Golf Podcast before, be sure to go and subscribe as Macdonald is still producing great episodes there. Also, be sure to follow him on twitter at @RuMacdonald . Thanks as always for listening to Mid-Am Crisis. The show is brought to you by my friends at Imagine Golf – the #1 app for the mental game. Download Imagine Golf today and start your journey to an improved way of thinking on and off the course. https://www.imaginegolf.com/ Be sure to follow me on Twitter @JayRevell and find more or my work at https://jayrevell.com/ You can also subscribe to my newsletter at https://midamcrisis.substack.com/ If you enjoy the show, I would love for you to leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Cheers, -J Mid-Am Crisis is a production of Revell Media, LLC  

Golf journalism is an increasingly small field. It's rare these days to find someone who wanted to choose that as a career path from an early age. That's one of the reasons Zephyr Melton stands out as one of the game's bright young reporters. When he attended the University of Texas, he did so with a goal to become a golf journalist and after graduating he was able to successfully carve that path. Today, Melton is on the reporting staff at Golf.com and has become an important voice on that team. Covering the LPGA tour, instruction, and some of the other professional tours, Melton is refining his craft one deadline at a time. Recently, he was on the ground reporting for Golf.com at both the U.S. Women's Open at Olympic Club and the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club. His dispatches, both in articles and in tweets, included some of the best insights from those major championships. In doing so, Melton is showing his chops in an arena that is ripe for new voices.  I've enjoyed reading Zephyr Melton's stories for the past couple years and it was great to catch up with him to talk about chasing his dream as a golf writer. During our discussion we spent some time talking about his path from UT to Golf.com, the state of the LPGA tour, and what's it's like trying to play golf as a resident in New York City. It was great to hear his perspective on those topics and more. I'm hopeful he will remember this chat when as he continues to climb up the masthead at Golf.com. I've got a feeling his bylines will only become more and more common in the future.  Be sure to catch all of Zephyr's work and insights on the game by following him on Twitter at @zephyrmelton  Thanks as always for listening to Mid-Am Crisis. The show is brought to you by my friends at Imagine Golf – the #1 app for the mental game. Download Imagine Golf today and start your journey to an improved way of thinking on and off the course. https://www.imaginegolf.com/ Be sure to follow me on Twitter @JayRevell and find more or my work at https://jayrevell.com/ You can also subscribe to my newsletter at https://midamcrisis.substack.com/ If you enjoy the show, I would love for you to leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Cheers, -J Mid-Am Crisis is a production of Revell Media, LLC

Adam Heieck is leading one of golf's most impactful organizations. He is the CEO of Youth On Course,  a program aimed at creating pathways to golf access for children across the United States. The organization is transforming the landscape of golf by subsidizing golf rounds for junior players all across America. Based in Northern California, where the movement began, Heieck and his team have grown Youth On Course to impressive levels since its founding in 2006. Today, over 1,400 golf courses participate in the program which has now expanded to over 100,000 members. With numbers like that, Youth On Course is undoubtedly moving the needle.  Thanks to the subsidy provided by Youth On Course, the cost for a member to play at any participating golf course in only $5. Those subsidies come from a large scale fundraising operation that Heieck and his team oversee. Youth On Course has corporate partners and other means for raising dollars to support their work, but a large amount of their funding comes from the grassroots level. Golfers across America raise money for Youth On Course through day long golf marathons and other inventive means. With so many advocates for the program spread across the country, the number of participants continues to climb.  The accessible rate is not just a win for the junior players either. It has sparked impressive financial results for participating courses too. As Heieck points out in our conversation, getting the kids to the course usually means mom and dad aren't far behind. Youth On Course has created an ecosystem where the child playing golf at an affordable rate is only a small part of the larger impact. Whole families are getting involved with golf that otherwise may not have been able to or know how to. As the number of participants continues to explode during golf's post-COVID boom, Heieck and his team are looking at the future and making big plans. In our discussion, we touched on the Youth On Course origin story, what makes the model work so well, and how providing access to young golfers is one of the keys to making golf a more diverse and attractive game. We also dove into Heieck's background and touched on what drives him to do this important work in the game he loves. He isn't slowing down. With new initiatives like caddie programs and a growing scholarship fund, Heieck and the Youth On Course team are poised to see their impacts widen across the spectrum of American golf. I greatly enjoyed chatting with Heieck and hope to connect with him next time I visit Northern California. Fingers crossed that will be soon. In the meantime, he's given me an arsenal of reasons to help bring Youth On Course to my own community. I'm hopeful that my hometown will join the ranks of this fast growing movement that is bringing so many new faces to golf. To learn more about Youth On Course, please visit their website at https://youthoncourse.org/ Thanks as always for listening to Mid-Am Crisis. The show is brought to you by my friends at Imagine Golf – the #1 app for the mental game. Download Imagine Golf today and start your journey to an improved way of thinking on and off the course. https://www.imaginegolf.com/ Be sure to follow me on Twitter @JayRevell and find more or my work at https://jayrevell.com/ You can also subscribe to my newsletter at https://midamcrisis.substack.com/ If you enjoy the show, I would love for you to leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Cheers, -J Mid-Am Crisis is a production of Revell Media, LLC

If I owned a golf resort Tom Pashley would be exactly the sort of person I'd want running it. Unfortunately for my ownership aspirations Pashley seems quite happy with his current gig. As the President of Pinehurst Resort since 2014, he has spearheaded one of the most successful reimaginations of a golf property the world has ever seen. With tremendous momentum from the back-to-back men's and women's U.S. Opens in 2014, Pinehurst could have rested comfortably on their laurels. Instead, Pashley hit the ground running. In his seven years on the job he has overseen a dramatic transformation of the Pinehurst experience that includes the creation of The Cradle short course, the Gil Hanse renovation of  Pinehurst No. 4, the renovation of Pinehurst No. 3, the construction of Pinehurst Brewing Company, renovated lodging options, and even refreshed branding based on the resort's rich history. All of which has resulted in a new golden age for the resort.  Pashley spent 19 years at Pinehurst before ascending to the role of President and he wears his love for the place on his sleeve. He's also a humble and easily approachable person. If you see him walking around the grounds at Pinehurst you'd think he was just another immensely satisfied customer. Although, his smile makes you think he knows something you don't. What that might be is that the big ideas and grand plans aren't over yet. Not even close. In 2020, Pinehurst announced that the resort would not only become an anchor site for the U.S. Open, but also the second home of the USGA. That partnership has triggered a whole new wave of possibilities including plans for a new hotel overlooking the Cradle and potentially a 10th course for the resort.  I have only known Pashley for a few months, but after having dinner with him this Spring and then seeing him again on a Summer buddies trip, he's almost got me talked into moving to Pinehurst myself. Pashley has been quite generous with his time with me to date and it was a real treat to have him on the podcast as well. In our discussion we touched on all the resort's recent success, how COVID19 impacted the area, and what the U.S. Open coming to town every five years will mean for Pinehurst's future. We also dove into my recent trips and why the resort is seeing unprecedented levels of guests in 2021. If you have never been to Pinehurst, I'm confident this conversation will make you want to go and book your trip immediately. After a few trips in the past couple years, I can proudly say there are few places I love more than there. Thanks to Tom Pashley that love will only continue to grow.  If you want to learn more about Pinehurst Resort and how to book your next trip there, please visit https://www.pinehurst.com/ Thanks as always for listening to Mid-Am Crisis. The show is brought to you by my friends at Imagine Golf – the #1 app for the mental game. Download Imagine Golf today and start your journey to an improved way of thinking on and off the course. https://www.imaginegolf.com/ Be sure to follow me on Twitter @JayRevell and find more or my work at https://jayrevell.com/ If you enjoy the show, I would love for you to leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Cheers, -J Mid-Am Crisis is a production of Revell Media, LLC

Mark Stewart once had a crazy idea to build a golf course on his family's old sand pit. Turns out it was a pretty good idea. Tobacco Road Golf Club has been wowing guests for over 20 years now and Stewart is still at the helm of the operation. When the project began in 1998, he took a chance on an up and coming golf architect named Mike Strantz. There was no way to know how impactful that decision would become. Today, Mike Strantz courses have a cult following and Tobacco Road is widely considered his masterpiece. Stewart has always liked taking risks and he's still at working to make his dream course an even better place for people to have an unforgettable golf experience.  Stewart and I first met a few years ago when I was doing some reporting for the Golfer's Journal on how Tobacco Road came to be. We've stayed in touch since the story came out and have become good friends. He keeps a close eye on trends in the golf industry and we often talk about how things are going at his course and here at my home track in Tallahassee. Now, as the COVID19 golf boom reaches the one year mark, I wanted to catch up with Stewart to see how things were going and what he is doing at Tobacco Road to seize on these generational golf business opportunities.  During our discussion, we talked about the impacts to golf travel, the surge in new players, and what strategies the Tobacco Road team has pursued to capture new business. We also dove into some of Stewart's memories from the early days and working with Mike Strantz. I'm always impressed with how much he emphasizes the preservation of Strantz's work there and we spoke on that as well. There is also a fun segment where we dive into Stewart's favorite movie franchise - The Fast and the Furious. You will get a kick out of that.  It's always a treat to talk to Mark Stewart and this episode was a blast to record. I'm headed up to Tobacco Road again soon and look forward to seeing that great place again with a new batch of friends. If you haven't been yet...I highly recommend you go.  To learn more about Tobacco Road Golf Club, Mike Strantz, and all the great ways to experience the course please visit https://tobaccoroadgolf.com/ Thanks as always for listening to Mid-Am Crisis. The show is brought to you by my friends at Imagine Golf – the #1 app for the mental game. Download Imagine Golf today and start your journey to an improved way of thinking on and off the course. https://www.imaginegolf.com/ Be sure to follow me on Twitter @JayRevell and find more or my work at https://jayrevell.com/ If you enjoy the show, I would love for you to leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Cheers, -J Mid-Am Crisis is a production of Revell Media, LLC

It’s a challenge to condense the career of Davis Love III into a few short lines. The World Golf Hall of Fame member has been a force in the game for over thirty years. As an accident player in the 90’s he was a staple on major championship leaderboards. He won the 1997 PGA Championship in fairytale fashion and added two Players Championship titles to go with it. His 21 total wins on the PGA Tour puts him in rare company especially with his latest coming at age 51. Love is a two time Ryder Cup captain and currently serves as the US President’s Cup captain for the 2022 matches slated for his home state of North Carolina. His career in golf has been incredibly impressive and even with all of those resume highlights, he’s not done yet. Today, much of Love's time is spent working on his golf design business. Alongside his brother Mark, Love has built a design company that is founded on the principles of golf's golden age. Pulling inspiration from the likes of Seth Raynor, C.B. McDonald, Donald Ross, and Allister MacKenzie, Love Golf Design has a long list of projects to their credit and no two courses seem to be alike. In today's competitive golf architecture market, Love Golf Design is garnering lots of attention for their thought provoking renovation work. Their latest effort in Richmond, Virginia is a renovation and reimagination of the municipally owned Belmont Golf Course. Love joins me on Mid-Am Crisis to discuss that effort and much more.  During our discussion, Love and I dive into Phil Mickelson's recent win at the PGA Championship, his thoughts on the 2021 Ryder Cup matches(he's currently an assistant Captain for the team), and took a deep dive into his design career and the newly debuted Belmont Golf Course. We also took a detour into one of his great passions - cooking BBQ.  Love was kind to give me quite a bit of time for our discussion and it was a real treat to talk some golf with him. His insights into Phil winning over 50, the U.S. chances at Whistling Straights, and what his favorite BBQ stops around the south are were all fun to hear. I particularly enjoyed his perspective on golf design and why projects like Belmont are likely to become par for the course in the future as there are less opportunities to build new courses. I'm excited to share this interview and thanks to the good folks at Belmont for helping make it happen. About the Belmont Golf Course project... Belmont was originally designed by A. W. Tillinghast and hosted the 1949 PGA Championship which was won by Sam Snead. In the decades to come the course fell on hard times and conditions suffered. Some land was lost to infrastructure projects and the character of some holes changed forever. Faced with many challenges, the local government came close to shuttering the course before deciding to partner with the region's First Tee program and Love Golf Design to give the property new life. Thanks to those efforts, Belmont now has a fully restored collection of 12 Tillinghast holes, a sprawling practice facility, large putting course and even a six hole short course inspired by the best works of Tillinghast. The course re-opened in May 2021 and positive reviews are already flowing in.  To learn more about Belmont Golf Course and the vision for it's future, please visit https://www.playbelmontrva.org/ To learn more about Love Golf Design be sure to check out https://davislovegolfdesign.com/ Thanks as always for listening to Mid-Am Crisis. The show is brought to you by my friends at Imagine Golf – the #1 app for the mental game. Download Imagine Golf today and start your journey to an improved way of thinking on and off the course. https://www.imaginegolf.com/ if you enjoy listening to the show, please do leave a review and subscribe

Michael Murphy's book, Golf in the Kingdom, has sold over 1 million copies and has been translated into 19 languages. It's one of the highest selling golf book of all time. His story about a chance encounter with a mystic golf professional in Scotland also changed my life.  I make no secret of my spiritual pursuits in golf and much of that has been inspired by the Golf in the Kingdom. Much like the book's protagonist, I too was once a hot headed player obsessed with low scores the status that comes with them. After reading Murphy's book, something changed in me. I began to seek out unique experiences in the game and worried less about perfecting it. The result was a true awaking.  Today, I feel as though my soul is tethered to golf and each time I walk a fairway at sundown I can hear the many memorable lines from Golf in the Kingdom running through my head. Through Murphy's most acclaimed work, I found peace with my place in the game. Those revelations opened the door for me to start traveling and writing and talking with people on this very podcast. Now, that journey has come full circle as I've been fortunate to connect with Murphy and have one of the most special conversations of my life with him.  In this episode of Mid-Am Crisis, I had an extensive conversation with Michael Murphy about what he's learned about life and golf in his 90 years. We talked about the impact Golf in the Kingdom has had for golfers like me around the globe and what he hopes the book's lasting legacy will be. During our discussion, Murphy shared many of his theories on why golf creates moments of mysticism and other occult phenomenon.  I shared with him a story of my own flirtations with the unexplained while playing golf on the Kiawah Island Ocean Course and dove into some theories I've developed about the game. For someone who has long admired his writings, having the chance to talk with Michael Murphy was one of the highlights of my golfing life.  I'm proud to share our full conversation and can't wait to hear how other Golf in the Kingdom fans enjoy hearing it. I hope to hear more from Murphy in the future and our discussion makes me eager to read his writings once again. Each read inspires something new in my love for golf.  Golf in the Kingdom is available anywhere books are sold. Be warned though, it may lead to abnormal golfing behavior.  Thanks as always for listening to Mid-Am Crisis. The show is brought to you by my friends at Imagine Golf - the #1 app for the mental game. Download Imagine Golf today and start your journey to an improved way of thinking on and off the course. https://www.imaginegolf.com/ Be sure to follow me on Twitter @JayRevell and find more or my work at https://jayrevell.com/ If you enjoy the show, I would love for you to leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Cheers, -J Mid-Am Crisis is a production of Revell Media, LLC

Tom Coyne doesn't need much of an introduction. If you are a golf reader, his name will be familiar. Coyne is the author of a handful of moving golf books including a couple New York Times Bestsellers. His golf tales include popular titles such as A Gentleman's Game, Paper Tiger, A Course Called Ireland, A Course Called Scotland, and his latest effort, A Course Called America. In those books, Coyne takes readers along with him on a series of ambitious adventures. All of which begin with a looming question and become a journey of personal discovery. In these beautifully told tales, Coyne takes readers right along with him on cross country adventures that provide a backdrop for stories about the people and places that make golf a game worth playing.  In addition to his books, Coyne has found a number of other impressive outlets to tell golf stories through. In recent years he has made a home at The Golfer's Journal where he has authored numerous essays and articles about his experiences in the game. Recently, he has been named Senior Editor for the publication. Coyne has also spent time in front of the camera hosting a variety of shows included a digital series called The Links Life that chronicles his worldly travels. All of which is impressive for a married father of two girls who teaches full time at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia.  I've known Tom Coyne for a few years now and have thoroughly enjoyed his company on and off the golf course. He's been a great guide on my own golf writing career journey and was even kind enough to write the forward for my first book, The Nine Virtues of Golf. I'm excited to dive into his latest book and with his new role at The Golfer's Journal I'm looking forward to have him edit some of my work.  Coyne joins me on Mid-Am Crisis to talk about A Course Called America, his plans to promote the book this Summer, and what his new role with The Golfer's Journal means for his career. We talked about life and golf of course and as always his sense of humor and enjoyable disposition made for a great conversation. I'm hopeful our travels will lead us to playing together again soon and perhaps he even will give me a good grade on my next submission to The Golfer's Journal. For more information on Tom Coyne's writings and how to bring him to your club for a book signing, please visit https://www.tomcoyne.com/ Be sure to follow Tom Coyne on twitter at @CoyneWriter Thanks as always for listening to Mid-Am Crisis. The show is brought to you by my friends at Imagine Golf - the #1 app for the mental game. Download Imagine Golf today and start your journey to an improved way of thinking on and off the course. https://www.imaginegolf.com/ Be sure to follow me on Twitter @JayRevell and find more or my work at https://jayrevell.com/ If you enjoy the show, I would love for you to leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Cheers, -J Mid-Am Crisis is a production of Revell Media, LLC