Starting a Golf Tour and Playing on the APGA

This episode focuses on the APGA Tour, which seeks to bring greater diversity to golf by helping African Americans and other minorities to gain access to careers in the game. First, Andy speaks with APGA founder Ken Bentley about how he started the tour, what his original goals were, and what the tour has become. They also touch on some stories of APGA players. For the second half of the episode, APGA Tour and PGA Tour Canada member Aaron Beverly joins Andy to discuss his life in golf (57:45). Aaron talks about how his years of experience in ballet helped his game, and about his path from watching Tiger Woods every weekend as a kid to winning the Charlie Sifford Award and joining Tiger on a panel.

A Chat with the Designer of the Ryder Cup Venue

Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, outside of Rome, Italy, is this year’s Ryder Cup host. In preparation for this rather high-profile gig, Marco Simone underwent a redesign by European Golf Design, in cooperation with Tom Fazio II. European Golf Design’s lead architect for this project was Dave Sampson, and in this episode, Dave joins Garrett for a deep dive into the course. Dave talks about the most attention-getting holes at Marco Simone, the thought that went into building the spectator and hospitality infrastructure at the venue, whether he believes the course will actually favor the Europeans over the Americans, and some of the criticism Marco Simone has received from European Tour players. Garrett also asks Dave about his general philosophy of championship course design, including his take on the role of narrow fairways and thick rough in challenging elite players.

A Ryder Cup Draft with Shane Bacon

Shane Bacon joins Andy to draft their own Ryder Cup teams: Team Egg vs. Team Bacon. They do a schoolyard pick, drawing from the pool of American and European pros who will compete in the Ryder Cup later this month, ranking them 1-24, and offering insights and critiques on individual players. Banter ensues.