Golf Nation

In this episode of GNP, we sit down with Kelly Miller, President of Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club to discuss beer, the amazing history of Pine Needles and Mid Pines, the Charles Schwab Challenge, and there may even be another brand ambassador announcement hidden in there...You'll have to watch and find out! Make sure to leave us a rating, comments, or suggestions, like, and subscribe! Also be sure to sign up on GolfCritique.com and review the last round you've played to be entered into our $25,000 giveaway that starts today! (June 15th) Thanks so much to Mr. Miller and the entire staff at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club for their hospitality! We can't wait to be back in the fall for the conclusion of the GolfCritique.com Giveaway!

Kicking off season 2 of GNP with Holly Sonders at the beautiful Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, VA! This season we will be a little different than season 1...We're stepping out and not holding back.  There's a lot going on in this episode! Brace yourself for some bold content and exciting things happening here at GNP and over at www.GolfCritique.com! Thanks to Holly! We can't wait for the future of our partnership!

It was an awesome season of the podcast and this week we have the winner of our season ending contest at Pinehurst Resort.  Andrew Keene aka Fleetwood won the West Coast IPA contest with the name Clean Grooves that will now be featured in the Pinehurst Brewing Company!  Listen as we speak with him about winning, discuss golf and our round coming up tomorrow at Pinehurst #4 and some of the friends he brought along.  We also jump into what he is doing on his end to grow this great game and what THE BAG TOUR is all about!

This week here in Pinehurst US Kids is hosting their annual world Championships and over 1500 kids from 50 countries have come here to compete.  All divisions are based on age and range from 12 to 7 & under for both boys and girls.  This is one of the best junior golf tournaments in the world and one that is showcasing the talent of the next generation.  Today one of those kids is from my home state of Kentucky and is a tremendous player who is going out of his way to play this great game.  

Today we have we have one of the most well-known guys in golf joining us.  He has the job we all dream of having.  He literally gets to fly around the world, visit exclusive resorts, interact with the locals, enjoy the spirits of the area and most of all, play a ton of golf!  A true gentleman of the game and someone who you want to listen to when you book your next golf trip!  Please help me welcome Matt Ginella from The Golf Channel and Golf Advisor to the show!

Do you love golf, do you love craft beer?  Well then, you will be excited to learn that Pinehurst resort now has created the ultimate experience.  What’s better than craft beer and golf!  Pinehurst brewing company is not about the beer, it’s about the experience.  Located in the village, it once was the village steam plant built in 1895.  When you step in you will notice they have kept the original brick façade and much of the character of the original historic building!  Today we have two people who are instrumental in the success of this incredible new amenity here at the Pinehurst Resort!  Eric Kuester, Vice President and the Head of Sales and Development and Eric Mitchell, Head Brewer are here to give us all the details and why it is a must visit on your next trip to Pinehurst!

Do you have an entrepreneurial mindset?  Do you think new ideas or inventions and always thought, man, if I could just bring this to market?  Well I am glad you found this episode because we are going to jump into what it takes to transform that million dollar invention and bring it to market!  Think it is easy?  Well think again!  Adam Hollis, CEO of Glovelast is here to give you the high’s and low’s of bringing a new product to market in the golf industry!

If you are like me, many of you out there are trying to use social media to grow your business.  At first glance it seems easy.  Your confident, believe in your business and feel that your content is great!  How hard can it be?  Then reality sinks in and you realize how hard it really is!  Well today we have Jackson Barokas from JB Marketing on the show who is a young millennial entrepreneur who is building a business that can help you achieve your social media goals.

This week we have an incredible guest that is has done incredible things over the course of his career!  Doug Timmons, a class A pga teaching professional at Encinatas Ranch Golf Course in San Diego, Ca has been breaking barriers for 20 years.  He has created an incredible youth program that now teaches over 500 kids annually, he is the winner of the 2004 PGA Youth Leader of the Year and now in addition to being a great instructor, he also is the Founder & CEO of 18 Greens apparel company and the GOLF BPM

Our guest this week dreamed of playing professionally, but life had a different plan for him. In 2008, Mike Guillen had a career ending knee injury that would change his path in golf forever.  Not knowing what to do, he became a nomad for 3 years before his love for the game gave him inspiration to write his first golf book.  Now he has 7 golf books to his credit with three that are best sellers on Amazon in the short-read sports category.

Making it to the top of the game as an instructor too takes a tremendous amount of dedication, skill, ability and work ethic.  Chris Mayson has risen to the top and is ranked as one of the best teachers in America, he is the trusted swing coach for players like Brenden Steele, HK LEE, Ariya & Moriya Jutanugarn, IK Kim, Yani Tseng, Alison lee and a host of others.  On top of that he has taught 40+ AJGA golfers including 2 #1 Ranked Juniors.  He played golf for Purdue University and was an incredible player in his own right before he began teaching.  He has played on tour, has carded a 60 and just to top it all off, he has hollywood good looks and an accent to match.

If you have been keeping up with golf and you have been paying attention to the recent news about the PGA of America, then you know that they have announced that they will be moving their headquarters to Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas and one of the fastest growing areas in the country.  What you may not know, is there was one person who led the charge and who was instrumental in getting the PGA of America to make this decision!  His name is Mark Harrison and he is the Executive Director of the North Texas PGA

It seems like today the world revolves around the internet and you can get exactly what you want when you want it. But when it comes to marketing a business, it can be challenging, frustrating and expensive.  So how do you stand out?  How do you set yourself apart from the competition?  What is the secret to marketing online?  Long Drive Agency is a digital marketing agency focused specifically on the golf industry and work with clients like Top Golf, North Texas PGA and a number of clubs across the country to implement new technologies and forward thinking marketing strategies.

Thomas Morris or most know him as “Cash” is a Master Musculosystematic Engineer with IISM.life based out of Miami, Florida.  Since 2008, he has been removing injury and pain in all types of athletes, from young athletes to professionals, as well as non-athletes. The bulk of his clientele of are seasoned professional athletes looking to overcome injury and prolong careers; primarily NFL players, but also professional soccer, MMA, baseball, and basketball.   No injury is too big to improve, and often completely remove, with the right support.  Golfing clients who utilize Musculosystematics consistently find more yardage, better feel, and less (or NO) soreness or pain post-round. 

She began playing golf at age 14, graduated from George Mason University, began graduate studies at Stanford University but left early to pursue a modeling career!  During that time, she continued her studies in Paris and London.  She began her career in golf heading up Sponsorship, marketing and PR for the Latin PGA Tour, now runs her own company and leading the charge in bringing attention to women’s golf. 

Kolby Wayne Tullier, or many of you know him as just Kolby Wayne if you follow him or one of his many tour pros that he works with on Instagram.  Kolby is the Performance Director at Joey D Golf in Jupiter, Florida and was named top 50 fitness instructors in the game by golf digest.  Joey D Golf has 3 of the last world number 1’s training at their facility and Kolby Wayne is trusted by a list of who’s who in professional golf.  His clients include, both PGA and LPGA players including names like Justin Thomas, Michelle Wie, Lexi Thompson, Lucas Glover, Jessica Korda, Bud Cauley and the list goes on!  Can’t wait to jump into the world of golf fitness and what it takes to be a top athlete in today’s game!

This week we are joined by Patrick Koenig!  Many of you may know Patrick as founder of the RGV Tour and how he spent the last year of his life traveling the country, playing an enormous amount to rounds and getting to tee it up with some incredible people across the world all for a great cause, to raise money for the First Tee of Seattle.  Now the tour is finished and we are so excited to talk with him to see what next great adventure he has planned, learn all about his incredible golf photography business and of course talk about the upcoming Masters!

Olympian Jonathan Edwards, founder and CEO from Athletespecific.com is back with us this week for part 2 of the podcast.  Last week we had a great discussion on youth sports, what athlete specific.com missions was and all about his journey to becoming an Olympic athlete.  This week we are diving into more of his book An Athlete’s Guide to Winning in Sports and Life and look to give you so much information on how to become a top-level prospect and the best way to get there!

This week we are joined by Olympian Jonathan Edwards, founder and CEO from Athletespecific.com.  He hails from Boston but lives in Calgary, Alberta Canada.  He is an author, a speaker and a coach who is dedicating his life to empowering athletes and the parents who support them to reach their goals.  If you want to play college sports or dream of being a professional athlete, maybe have talented kids that want to play college sports or you yourself want to be a better athlete, then get ready to learn so much from someone who has and is defying the odds, changing the way athletes prepare and giving you a whole new perspective on how to get your kids on the right track, the right way.

This week we are joined by professional golfers Leslie Cloots & Maia Schechter who not only are grinding it out on the Symetra tour, they are taking their story to the podcast world and are the hosts of the Birdiecast.  On the podcast they discuss life on tour, have great interviews with incredible guest like Suzy Whaley, President of the PGA of America and talk all about what it takes to make it to the LPGA tour.