VSGA‘s Golf in the Commonwealth Podcast

Golf Channel’s Johnson Wagner was in town to emcee the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Salisbury Country Club. While here, he sat down with host Chris Lang for a brief conversation on a wide range of trending golf topics. Lang also gives the Hall of Fame Class of 2025 its flowers before moving into the Wagner conversation.

The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur begins a week from Saturday at The Omni Homestead Resort’s Cascades Course, which boasts a rich history, especially when it comes to women’s golf. Host Chris Lang catches up with two VSGA members playing in the event – Kristin Shifflett and Joan Gardner – along with Boodie McGurn, who played in the championship the last time it visited Hot Springs in 2009. Listen along for a preview of the first USGA championship at the Homestead in 16 years.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, host Chris Lang catches up with Jason Hasty, one of three VSGA members who competed in the 4th U.S. Adaptive Open earlier in July. Hasty talks about his journey in golf, the thrill of competing at a USGA championship, and where he sees his role as an advocate for adaptive golf.

It’s U.S. Open week, and our guest on Golf In The Commonwealth has some local knowledge of Oakmont Country Club, having played in a U.S. Open there. Keswick Hall club general manager and director of golf Rob McNamara joins host Chris Lang to talk U.S. Open memories and the excitement at Keswick for the upcoming 100th VSGA Women’s Amateur Championship.

Virginia native Lauren Coughlin has made a late-season surge to earn a likely spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup team. Coughlin, fresh off a victory at the CPKC Canadian Open, joins host Chris Lang to talk about her season and the anticipation of being able to represent her country in her home state at the upcoming Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

Guest host Matt Pochily catches up with key figures in advance of the 2024 State Open of Virginia, which runs from Friday, July 19 to Sunday, July 21 at Independence Golf Club.

Join guest host Matt Pochily as he chats with key figures in advance of the 111th VSGA Amateur Championship, which will be held June 24-28 at Belle Haven Country Club in Alexandria.

Guest host Matt Pochily fills in for this episode as he talks to players and key figures leading into the 2nd Women's Open of Virginia at Independence Golf Club.

VSGA member Mike Leach spent 16 years in the NFL, is now an assistant golf coach at William & Mary, and he’s watching proudly as his son Ryan makes final preparations for a Division I golf career at West Virginia. Join host Chris Lang and Leach as they hit on a wide-ranging variety of topics in this episode of Golf In The Commonwealth.

The U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship is coming to Richmond in September, and several key figures in the run-up to the event were in town in May for a media day preview of the event. Catch up with defending champion Stewart Hagestad, Virginia’s own Evan Beck, and championship director Bill McCarthy as we start building the hype for this prestigious championship.

Connor Burgess, Lynchburg native and 2023 State Open of Virginia champion, is battling during his first year on the Korn Ferry Tour as he chases his ultimate dream of playing PGA Tour golf. Burgess joins host Chris Lang in a wide-ranging conversation about growing up playing junior golf in Virginia, his time at Virginia Tech, and the start of the Korn Ferry Tour season.

The 2024 VSGA Championship season is here! Join us for a conversation with VSGA tournament department staffers Josh Coates and Amanda Braun as they take us through what happens in the golf association off-season, the new USGA Exemption Events, the VSGA’s relationship with the USGA ahead of this year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur in Virginia, and much more.

The 110th VSGA Amateur begins Monday, June 26 at Boonsboro Country Club in Lynchburg. Hear from defending champ Ross Funderburke, last year's State Open champ, Nick Taliaferro, two-time Fox Puss champion Ben Keefer, and the VSGA's Josh Coates as we prime you for the week to come.

Two guests join Chris Lang on this special U.S. Open preview episode. Hear from Isaac Simmons (starting at the 3:23 mark), one of two VSGA members who qualified for the championship. Michael Brennan was the other. Then, U.S. Open Championship director Charlie Howe joins (starting at the 26:05 mark). Howe discusses his path from Virginia Tech soccer player to his current role with the USGA and gives some good intel on Los Angeles Country Club, a first-time U.S. Open host.

The Club at Viniterra’s Josh Speight is one of 20 PGA members of the Corebridge Financial Team competing at this week’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill. Thanks to his T11 finish at the PGA National Professional Championship, Josh will get his second chance to tee it up against the world’s top players in a major championship, having previously compete in 2016. Chris Lang caught up with Josh prior to the tournament to hear his thoughts on his trip to Oak Hill.

College golf in Virginia doesn’t stop with the Commonwealth’s Division I schools. In this episode, we chat with VSGA members Robb Kinder and Alex Price, who have helped elevate Christopher Newport University into the second-ranked Division III team in the country. The duo will participate in next week’s DIII championship before heading south to Kiawah Island for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. Chris Lang speaks with the pair about how they got to CNU and their hopes of leading the Captains to a national championship, among other topics.

Brinson Paolini won four VSGA Amateur Championships before departing on a whirlwind professional career that took him all over the globe. He played tournament golf in 43 different countries in eight years before starting first a coaching business, and now, a business focused on the nutritional aspect of golf. Paolini chats with Chris Lang about some of his favorite VSGA memories and his new venture, Sharp Focus Nutrition, in this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth.

In wake of the USGA announcing major changes to the qualifying structure for several USGA championships starting in 2024, the USGA's senior director of championship administration, Brent Paladino, joins host Chris Lang on the pod. He discusses his time playing golf at William & Mary, the evolution of an important junior tournament he helped form, and of course, the major upcoming changes to USGA championship qualifying.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, Chris Lang chats with two members of the VSGA’s championships department – Kent Holubar and Amanda Braun – to preview the 2023 VSGA championship season. We talk venues, players and what’s new on the championship schedule in 2023.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, Chris Lang chats with U.S. Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis, who was in Washington earlier this week for the announcement that she’ll serve a second term as U.S. captain in 2024 when the Cup is played at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville. Lewis shares her thoughts on both playing and captaining in the Cup and talks a little bit about her unique golf journey and her advice to young girls who want to play competitive golf.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, Chris Lang is emptying the notebook, as they say in reporter terms. To supplement the recent Virginia Golfer story on Fat Perez, listen to the full interview with the man himself, otherwise known at Nick Stubbe. Learn more about his journey into golf and how Fat Perez came to be in this interview, which was conducted in November at Keswick Golf Club.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, we chat with Turner Lewis, founder of Fore Craft Cocktails, a Virginia beverage company that features a signature Transfusion drink that you’ll find in grocery stores and golf courses around the Commonwealth. Lewis, a VSGA member who is still a full-time radiologist, describes how the venture came to be and where he sees it going in the future.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, we chat with Lanny Wadkins, the World Golf Hall of Famer, Virginia Golf Hall of Famer, and lead analyst for Golf Channel’s coverage of PGA Tour Champions. Wadkins was back in Virginia to emcee the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony before he turned his attention to his Golf Channel duties for the Dominion Energy Charity Classic at CCV. Lanny talks about growing up at Meadowbrook Country Club in Richmond, his battles with some of Virginia’s golf legends, and his work at Golf Channel.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, we catch up with Darren Clarke, who is in Richmond for this week’s Dominion Energy Charity Classic. Clarke is one of four players to have won both The Open Championship and The Senior Open Championship, and he enters this week ranked 13th in the Charles Schwab Cup points standings as the playoffs get underway at The Country Club of Virginia. Clarke speaks of his role as brand ambassador for Abaco Club in the Bahamas, his relationship with Dr. Bob Rotella, and his win in this past summer’s Senior Open at Gleneagles.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, we catch up with Sean Patterson, the PGA Director of Golf at Willow Oaks Country Club in Richmond. One of Patterson’s specialties as a teacher is helping his pupils slay their mental demons. One prime example is Willow Oaks member Joey Jordan, who qualified for the U.S. Mid-Amateur earlier this month. Patterson talks about the experience of caddying for Patterson at Erin Hills and shares some tips that might help you quiet some of the negative thoughts that creep up during a round.

VSGA communications intern Ben Walls catches up with two sides who competed in the recent VSGA Parent-Child Championship -- Olivia and Gregory Minjack and Joey and David Jordan. Listen to find out what keeps them coming back to one of the VSGA's most unique events.

The 2022 State Open of Virginia presented by CapTech begins Friday, July 15 at Independence Golf Club in Midlothian. Listen to catch up with four of the event's competitors, including defending champion Evan Beck and last year's low professional, Mark Lawrence Jr.

Grayson Wood and Ross Funderburke will meet in the 109th VSGA Amateur Championship final match on Friday, July 1. We visit with both competitors ahead of the big 36-hole match.

The 109th VSGA Amateur Championship begins Monday, June 27 at Cedar Point Club in Suffolk. Before Sunday's practice round, we caught up with four of the competitors in the field to preview the event -- defending champion Jimmy Taylor, three-time finalist Jordan Utley, 2022 VSGA Four-Ball champ Adam Houck and two-time Senior Open of Virginia champion Dave Pulk.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, we’re chatting with the defending champion of the VSGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship, Jessica Spicer. A North Carolina native who had a decorated career at Virginia Tech, Jessica and her twin sister Sarah recently won the VSGA Women’s Four-Ball Championship. Jessica talks about how the twins got started in golf, her time in Blacksburg, and her future plans. Stay for the end to hear from UVA alum Steve Serrao, who earlier this week won the VSGA Senior Stroke Play Championship at Chatmoss Country Club.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, we’re celebrating the scholarship recipients at VSGA Day, which was held on Monday, May 23 at Richmond Country Club. Listen in as VSGA P.J. Boatwright intern Ben Walls chats with our five named scholarship award winners. Stick around until the end to hear from VSGA Senior Four-Ball champions Buck Brittain and Jon Hurst. Chris Lang caught up with the back-to-back champs after their win on Tuesday at Washington G&CC.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, Chris Lang chats with aspiring young professional golfer Peter Gasperini. A two-time VSGA Amateur semifinalist from Halifax who played for five years at Radford University before transferring to VCU, Gasperini recently qualified for conditional status on PGA Tour Canada. He has his foot in the door, as he says, and he’s ready to put in the work to make his professional dream a reality.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, Chris Lang chats with Wells Fargo Championship tournament director Gary Sobba. The event is moving just across the river from Virginia to TPC Potomac at Avenel Farms this year due the Presidents Cup being played at its usual home, Quail Hollow, later this year. After that conversation, we recap the opening tournament of the 2022 VSGA championship schedule, the 4th VSGA Multi-Format Team Championship, which wrapped up Tuesday at The Dominion Club.

It’s tournament time! The VSGA championship season opens on Monday, April 11 and Golf in the Commonwealth has you covered with a full preview of the championship season. Tournament department staffers Josh Coates, Amanda Braun and Kent Holubar join host Chris Lang to discuss the high points of this year’s championship schedule, with insight into some of the venues and new things players will see at championships in 2022.

We’re releasing this installment on Thursday, March 10, the opening round of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. We’ll hear from someone on the ground in Florida, past VSGA intern Daniel Stamper who now works for Trackman as a Tour Operator. Daniel takes us through his long journey from the state of Washington to VCU’s golf team, the value of the connections he made along the way in VCU’s Center For Sports Leadership, and the day-to-day life of running Trackman equipment on the PGA Tour. He also shares the best spot to grab a mid-round taco at TPC Sawgrass.

For our second episode of 2022, we’re talking with Michael Brennan, the 2019 VSGA Amateur champion who recently had the opportunity to play in the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational after winning the Collegiate Showcase at Riviera Country Club. It was another accomplishment in a career filled with them. Now a sophomore at Wake Forest, Brennan has won four individual collegiate titles, and all indications are that he’s just getting started.

For our first episode of 2022, we catch up again with VSGA manager of championships and junior golf Kent Holubar to see how his Youth on Course incentive trip to Pebble Beach went. Kent was on the podcast in 2021 prior to the 100-Hole Hike, and thanks to hitting the incredible benchmark of $10,000 raised for Youth on Course in Virginia, he earned a trip to California in December to play several iconic courses and spend time with folks from YOC national. Kent also talks about the upcoming VSGA Junior Golf Circuit season as it gets set to resume in the coming weeks. Here's our conversation with the VSGA's Kent Holubar.

For our final episode of 2021 we thought it appropriate to provide kind of an all-encompassing look at the VSGA and who better to offer that than our Executive Director, Matt Smiley. Many listeners have asked to hear a conversation with Matt over the course of the year so here you are. That being said, we actually had this conversation back in the fall as we were getting ready for the 100-Hole Hike at The Hollows to raise money for Youth on Course here in Virginia. The hike ended up raising about $55,000 to support Youth on Course here in Virginia all thanks to our hikers and the folks who generously donated to their campaigns. So, you will hear a little hundred-hole hike conversation in there, which, again, took place before the hike. Quick shoutout to our 100-Hole Hike sponsors Adams Performance, Cutter & Buck, Fore Craft Cocktails, GolfDom, Srixon and Turtleson. During the hike, Matt was the only hiker to have find his way around the course playing with each of the other 11 hikers at The Hollows. Without further delay, here’s our conversation with VSGA Executive Director Matt Smiley.

This week we’re sharing David Partridge’s Virginia Golf Hall of Fame induction speech. You may know David’s name from our Virginia Golfer magazine where he’s the author of our recurring Great Holes feature, or as a five-time VSGA player of the year winner or, as you’ll hear from Dottie Pepper, David is the player with the third most VSGA wins behind only Keith Decker and Vinny Giles. Thanks to our friends at Hourigan Construction, Lansing Building Products, Markel, MarshMcLennan Agency, TSW and Virginia Green for their sponsorship and support of the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame. Okay, enjoy learning more about Virginia Golf Hall of Fame inductee David Partridge.

This week we have audio from this fall’s Virginia Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Kandi Kessler Comer was inducted with the class of 2020 and is currently the Director of Golf at Orchard Creek and has been recognized as a top teacher in Virginia by Golf Digest and as a US Kids Top 50 Junior Instructor. Special thanks to our friends at Hourigan Construction, Lansing Building Products, Markel, Marsh McLennan Agency, TSW and Virginia Green for their sponsorship and support of the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame.

Shopping for clubs at local thrift stores was the most affordable way for a then 22-year-old to get into the game. That quickly became an obsession of searching for bargain clubs that he’d then rebuild and play with himself or sell to others. Five years later, the Goodwill Golfing Instagram account is informing new golfers on clubs from the past and scratching the itch for hipsters looking for niche brands.

This week we're returning to our conversations with women who qualified for the 2021 US Women’s Mid-Am and we’re talking with Alexandra Austin. Alex was medalist at the Fredericksburg Country Club qualifier making birdie on the 18th hole to shoot a one-under par 71. Alex was also the runner-up in the 2021 VSGA Women’s Amateur and earlier in the season partnered with Lauren Greenlief to win their second VSGA Women’s Four-Ball. In this conversation, Alex shares her journey in golf from growing up, playing in college at Radford, to then turning professional and now back to amateur golf.

It's Giving Tuesday 2021 and your opportunity to have an impact on golf in Virginia! Visit VSGA.org/engage/donate to make a donation today.

We’re returning this week to our conversations with women who qualified for the 2021 US Women’s Mid-Am and this week we’re talking with Kristine Rohrbaugh. Kristine is a Richmond native who attended the College of William and Mary and has really been in and around golf most of her life with her father having been a professional and owning a couple golf stores in the Richmond area. Kristine shares the fascinating perspective of a thirty something female golfer who works a full-time job, practices a little and plays as much as she can but that still only adds up to Saturdays and Sundays and yet somehow still maintains a competitive edge.

This week we're sharing a conversation focused on our veterans, their service to our country and involvement with golf. That led us to Mark Lynch the PGA professional and Vice President of Golf Operations for the First Tee of Greater Richmond and US Army veteran. Mark shares how he enlisted shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001 and through his deployments in Africa began to find golf as a great way to support his mental health. We also get into how he came to Richmond and hear updates on Belmont now that it’s been reopened for almost six months. Oh, and shameless plug that Belmont is now a participating Youth on Course Club. Meaning that Youth on Course members can play Belmont or Little Bell, the six-hole short course, for $5 or less during the designated playing window. Visit VSGA.org/YouthOnCourse to see more.

This week we’re talking with Andrea Miller. Andrea qualified for the US Senior Women’s Open this year and in VSGA play won her second consecutive VSGA Senior Women’s Amateur title. For the next few weeks we’re going to be sharing conversations with the Virginia women who competed in the US Women’s Mid-Am in September. Qualifying for a USGA championship is always a big deal and the diversity of age and work / playing balance the five Virginia women who qualified is fascinating…and they’re all women who are over 25…because that’s what a mid-am is but in the golf industry, that’s the age when many women drift away from the game to focus on families or careers so to see how these five do we thought would be fascinating.

This week we’re sharing a conversation Matt had over the summer with Abby Liebenthal. Abby’s full-time job is the Senior Manager of US Open Fan Engagement for the USGA, a position she’s been in for almost the last two years. She’s been in the golf industry her entire career including time at Acushnet and the Tiger Woods Foundation but her side hustle is what we’re really talking about in this conversation and that’s the non-profit she founded almost three years ago, Fore the Ladies. For the Ladies is a female-based community with the intent to introduce more women to the game and bring women together to play, watch and participate in everything golf has to offer. She also has a podcast called Fore the Ladies that you can find wherever you get your podcasts and for our listeners that have been with us a while you’ll appreciate that her fiancée is former VSGA intern Brendan Ahrnsbrak. Okay, here’s our conversation with Abby Liebenthal.

We're now a full month after the 100-Hole Hike and sharing our conversation with Lance Lemon. Lance and Matt Pochily have been friends for a few years leading up to the hike and had the chance to playing the first 36 holes or so with each other during the event. While everyone had a different strategy for carrying their bag and making it through the day, Lance alternated from carrying his bag on his should to carrying like a briefcase. In this conversation we talk with Lance about his growth in the game and full-time work as an entrepreneur and actor. Big thanks to our 100-Hole Hike sponsors Adams Performance, Cutter & Buck, Fore Craft Cocktails, GolfDom, Srixon and Turtleson.

Just a couple weeks after US Women’s Mid-Am in which five Virginia women competed at Berkley Hall in South Carolina, it seemed appropriate that we finally catch up with the 2015 champion, Virginia’s own Lauren Greenlief. While many listeners have seen or heard of Lauren in some way, this interview offers a different look at her journey to college golf at UVA and why an amateur at her level chooses to stay that way and not pursue playing professionally.

This week we’re returning to meet another one of hikers from September’s 100-Hole Hike and will bounce between hiker profiles and other relevant Virginia golf interviews in the coming weeks. This week we’re talking with hiker Rachel Collins who came down from the northern Virginia area to join us at The Hollows. Rachel married into a big golf family and after not too long got into the game herself and during the pandemic dove all in and has ultimately built a business around it with her company called The Events Caddie. Big thanks to our sponsors of the 100-Hole Hike, Adams Performance, Cutter and Back, Fore Craft Cocktails, GolfDom, Srixon and Turtleson for supporting the VSGA and our hikers on the journey that has led us to raise more than $53 thousand dollars to date. Enjoy our conversation with Rachel Collins.