The golf talk is minimal in this Friday episode, which begins with news that Andy is up in LupLand looking over his shoulder. He provides some details of his day on the ground chatting about driveway costs, new HQ buildings, and the cool pictures throughout the clubhouse. There’s an apology tour for some mistakes on the USGA championship locations as well as Walker Cup competitiveness from Wednesday. There is a quiz on some of the official partners of the PGA Tour, such as “Official Business Kno...
Mar 05, 2021•49 min
This Wednesday episode begins with a belated birthday wish for one past Masters champion. Then Brendan and Andy get into the schedule of the week, beginning with the annual stop at Bay Hill. Andy cites the “screened-in porch watching” of this event while Brendan cites a history there for why they enjoy the API. Three things to watch focuses on what could be the distance debate denouement at the 6th hole this week. They try to decipher and translate some of the specifics in the Tour’s big announc...
Mar 02, 2021•42 min
The week begins with some laughter-induced tears as Andy and Brendan delight in their re-acquaintance with the walking, talking Cologuard box. They naturally begin their results review with the Senior Tour, discussing the water hazards in Tucson, Mike Weir’s wounded putts and HOF credentials, and Kevin Sutherland “hanging in on the backside.” Then they get to the brilliance of Collin Morikawa and how his golf almost made Sunday’s finish at Concession boring. They discuss the venue’s volatility, ...
Mar 01, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Andy and Brendan close out the week with this Friday episode reacting to early action from across the “swamp swing,” where water is now in play on almost every hole across every tour. They marvel at the Solicitor General running out in front early at the PR Open, while also wondering if Bob Allenby’s island PTSD led to his DFL spot. There’s also a fun Smylie story about being put on the clock. Then they get back into The Concession crowbarring its name into the title of this WGC. Matthew Wolff’s...
Feb 26, 2021•47 min
Andy and Brendan begin this Wednesday episode with the unfortunate breaking Tuesday news of Tiger Woods’s serious car accident in Los Angeles. They react to the scenes from the brutal crash, news of Tiger’s “non-life-threatening injuries,” and hope for recovery to some form of normal. Then comes a preview of the schedule for the week, starting with the WGC Workday. Andy provides some intel on THE Concession while Brendan has some questions about its driving range. The field list at the oppo PR O...
Feb 24, 2021•1 hr 4 min
This Monday episode revels in the weekend that was at Riviera, which the Shotgun Start proclaims as the Tour’s real “gold standard.” Andy and Brendan lead off by discussing Max Homa’s emotional win and the kind of resonance that winning this event at this moment had for him. They speak to the history that Riviera has on Tour and the event has in that market to build that kind of resonance. Then they get to the hard-luck loser, Tony Finau, who played his ass off but looked underwhelming in the pl...
Feb 22, 2021•59 min
This Friday episode begins with an apology and some relief on the Bears dodging the Wentz bullet. Then Brendan and Andy debate what’s worse -- the narrative of an Elevated Status Slam now subtly being pushed, or the Tour Champ’s thirsty chase for the Happy Gilmore content train. Then they get to some initial thoughts on Riviera, which was playing quite firm and fast in the opening round. They discuss a few of their favorite holes, some “big names” taking their lumps, and Bassy Munoz’s new Flex S...
Feb 19, 2021•1 hr 12 min
This Wednesday episode previews the best week of the year on the PGA Tour, the annual LA Open Genesis Invitational at Riviera. Andy quickly anoints it the event of the week, but not after a brief digression on the Spieth v. Rickie OWGR race. There’s an apology related to that OWGR movement and Brendan proposes radical changes for Rickie’s career to get him out of the doldrums. Then they get to the course and field at hand, highlighting the strengths of Riviera, how it could be better, and how yo...
Feb 16, 2021•52 min
This Monday episode begins with some thoughts on social media, a Saudi Arabia ad on Golf Channel, and Nate Lashley’s four wiggle and subsequent course desecration. Eventually, Andy and Brendan get to the more pertinent matters of Daniel Berger’s win and Jordan Spieth’s weekend. They marvel at the specifics of Berger’s squeeze cut and the more general whole package, while also discussing (or questioning) his putting line-up routine. Spieth’s weekend was more evidence of how close he is and they d...
Feb 15, 2021•54 min
This Friday episode begins with a prompt apology to the local news industry and to Xander Schauffele on an item unrelated to the local news issue. Then Brendan and Andy get into the early action from Pebble Beach, where Patrick Cantlay went low, Akshay Bhatia dialed in, and Jordan Spieth’s duck tape held up on the coast. They also highlight the significant impact a bad piece of fruit had on Bhatia’s sterling round. There’s also some chatter about the 6th hole and a radical proposal heard on PGA ...
Feb 12, 2021•50 min
This Wednesday episode begins with some chatter about the peculiar habit of local news consumption in the year 2021. Then Brendan and Andy dive into the breaking Tuesday news that the PGA Championship, Women’s PGA, and Stand-up Mixer PGA will permit the use of distance measuring devices starting THIS year. They debate whether this is the erosion of yet another skill, an area that was already properly bifurcated, and dispel with the cover justification that this is a pace-of-play nostrum. Then th...
Feb 09, 2021•49 min
Even before the final putt fell in Phoenix, Andy and Brendan chatted on Super Bowl Sunday night to recap the weekend that was at TPC Scottsdale. They begin with Brooks Koepka’s victory, his admission that he was in some “dark places,” and the significance, if any, of this win for his future. They also note the symbolism of how he got lost (by most people, not all) in the shuffle of a weekend that became all about Jordan Spieth. The Golden Child is obviously the next subject of their chat. They r...
Feb 08, 2021•47 min
This Friday episode begins with an admission from Andy that he might be turning into a “Florida man,” which prompts an interrogation from Brendan on why he wasn’t at the historic moment when a new all-time wins leader was crowned in the MLGT this week. Then they get into the Saudi event, namely some informed guesses on appearance fee totals, if this course is ever played outside of this week, and how such a new venue already has an obsolete range. The Phoenix Open chatter focuses on some amuseme...
Feb 05, 2021•1 hr 15 min
This episode begins with a lengthy segment on the announcement from the USGA and R&A disclosing some notable “research topics” and “proposed equipment standards changes.” Andy and Brendan dissect the different areas of interest and proposals and the potential implications from a document on the distance issue. They ponder the PGA Tour’s response to a local rule option, whether this is language signaling a rollback or just holding the line, and then reasons for optimism as well as concern fro...
Feb 02, 2021•1 hr 4 min
The new month starts down a path we’ve been before: Patrick Reed engulfed in a shady rules controversy of his own making and the PGA Tour covering for him. This Monday episode jumps right into the drama from the weekend. Andy explains why this wasn’t nearly to the level of the sandcastles Reed built at the Hero Challenge. Brendan argues that this seemed to be an M.O. for Reed, his behavior indicating that this is part of some usual decision tree for getting better lies. They react to all the con...
Feb 01, 2021•1 hr 6 min
This Friday episode begins with some business matters on merch re-stocking and news that the Westy Island Blend is now live and available for purchase . Then Brendan and Andy relay a fun stock market analogy for two wayward pros from a friend of the program. At the Farmers, they lament the preemptive ball-in-hand declaration under perfect conditions for inclement weather coming the next day. When did this become a thing? Why is it a thing? Is it a ridiculous slippery slope toward always playing ...
Jan 29, 2021•1 hr 1 min
This Wednesday episode begins with some light Snow Day reminiscing before turning to our shhhhedule for the week. Brendan and Andy start with the Farmers Insurance Open, where a loaded field will also include featured groups with a couple players deep down the OWGR. Then they assess the Jones Family venue and if it will provide even the slightest indication of what might happen at the U.S. Open later this year. Some intel from the ground also reveals another potential driving range controversy a...
Jan 27, 2021•56 min
It’s the first Monday of the year with a full golf plate to digest from the weekend. Brendan and Andy begin with the LPGA celebrity event in Orlando, where the pace of play was excruciating and the celebs featured way too prominently in the final round broadcast. They praise Jessica Korda’s weekend comeback charge and also delight in some of the hole-in-one prizes at the event. Then they swing out to PGA West for the victory lap with Si Woo Kim while also offering a couple alternative theories f...
Jan 25, 2021•52 min
This Friday episode meanders about for 50 minutes without ever really going anywhere, if that makes sense? Andy begins with an apology and a clarification on “Fake Winter” while offering some expert testimony from a listener from Sweden. The Olympics news has them sympathizing with the Boy From Bratislava while also proposing alternative ways to make sure the games, at least the golf portion, are played this summer. Then they unintentionally start discussing the Bob Hope, and by “discussing” we ...
Jan 22, 2021•53 min
This Wednesday episode begins with the breaking news that D.J. Trahan has had to WD in Palm Springs after a positive Covid test. There’s also the news of yet another Tiger Woods back surgery, which Brendan and Andy discuss in the context of his past injury history and what it might mean for any future. Then they get into a loaded schedule for the week with the return of the European Tour, LPGA, and Champions Tour providing a full slate. Andy rejoices in Westy’s current reign and the strength of ...
Jan 20, 2021•50 min
This Monday episode pushes on even though Brendan is wallowing in a state of despair about the Browns season coming to a close. They quickly transition from that sadness to the triumph of Kevin Na, who does not enter the Rickie Zone but rather the Swedish Pancake Zone with his fifth Tour win. They examine some of the places he’s bagged those Ws and some of the other names in the Pancake Stack. The Sony is broken down into some things they liked -- the Chris Kirk story, outrageous scoring, Webb’s...
Jan 18, 2021•47 min
It’s Friday! And more importantly, it’s sumo citrus season. Andy and Brendan begin this episode with a good old fashioned fruit chat extolling again the virtues of their favorite orange, which Andy unexpectedly ran into on Thursday. Then they get to the delectable controversy over the PGA Tour’s 11th hour installation of internal out-of-bounds at Waialae’s 18th hole. They cover this in depth, including the BfB being the only one to find what one article termed the “death zone, Billy Ho being ava...
Jan 15, 2021•43 min
This Wednesday episode is here to celebrate the Sony Open as the event of the week. But first there’s an important uninformed discussion on RV operation and licensing. Andy’s three things to watch for at Waialae focus on a potential backboard-less 18th hole that will hopefully make it play as Tom Doak intended, and then two young up-and-comers also in the field. There’s of course a shout out to Robert Allenby and the night he took that pummeling from a sentient sidewalk. Featured groups are back...
Jan 13, 2021•53 min
This Monday episode came on the heels of a dispiriting Bears loss and in the middle of a Browns first quarter beatdown so it may bounce around a bit as Brendan and Andy recap the 2021 PGA Tour opener. First they hit on Harris English and his first win after some early career success and then an almost eight-year drought. This leads to more concern about the new FedExCup top 30 now getting invites to a Tournament of Mostly Champions. They also discuss the broadcast dismay at Joaquin Niemann not w...
Jan 11, 2021•41 min
This Friday episode begins with Andy disclosing a mice problem that’s vexed him all week. Then they turn to the real, actual problems of the week, notably what took place at the Capitol building and how it should impact golf’s relationship with Donald Trump. They discuss next year’s PGA Championship and whether the PGA of America will move their major from Trump Bedminster. A full review of the year’s first round a Kapalua then ensues, with a breakdown of what they liked and didn’t like from one...
Jan 08, 2021•58 min
The Shotgun Start is back! And Andy and Brendan are in the best podcasting shape of their lives as a new year begins. They start this Wednesday episode with some banter about the practice of resolutions before diving into the schedule for the week. That prompts a quick discussion on the Big Money Classic and whether Alaqua Lakes has a reciprocal club in the UK. Then it’s on to the event of the week, the Tournament of Mostly Champions. There’s a lengthy discussion on the uneven lies of Kapalua an...
Jan 06, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Andy and Brendan put a bow on another year of Shotgun Start podcasts with the final installment of their Year in Review series. Part 4 begins with the first major championship of the year, the PGA at TPC Harding Park, and runs through the end of the PGA Tour season in Atlanta. They again remember some of the amusements (Jeff Hart!), controversies (Trigger the Dog!), and triumphs (Hermie go low!) from this stretch in golf, including stories from the LPGA, Euro Tour, and other areas (Big Cedar Phi...
Dec 30, 2020•2 hr 2 min
The Bears and Browns push for the postseason is the subject of the first segment of this episode. Then Part 3 of the annual Year in Review picks up with the Milkshake Swing in Columbus and the many amusements and dramatics around those back-to-back weeks at “Jack’s Place.” Then they bounce up to Minnesota and the course of 10,000 man-made lakes and some intrusive courier trucks. The WGC Swampass, or WGC Preferred Lies as it was known this year, is given the full treatment. We recall the double-w...
Dec 29, 2020•1 hr 28 min
Part 2 of the annual Year in Review picks up with The Players Championship. Andy and Brendan begin with the tone-deaf TikTok solicitation and then the “fluid” messaging from the Tour from Wednesday through a final decision to cancel on Thursday night after multiple adjustments and press releases. They discuss how the Tour’s handling of the week now looks in hindsight, and some lighter-fare amusements before the shop closed for a few months. The discussion during the quarantine stretch hits on so...
Dec 24, 2020•2 hr 6 min
The annual Year in Review is back and instead of breaking this one into a couple parts, we’ll leave it as one thicc boi sized episode you can work your way through during this week. First, Brendan and Andy begin with some reactions to the concluding Tour Championship on the LPGA and the closing of the Catnip Carnival at the PNC. Then it’s onto the Year in Review, brought to you by our Shotgun Start blend from Bixby ( subscribe or purchase that here if you like ). This part of the Year in Review ...
Dec 22, 2020•2 hr 20 min
