This week we're very excited to share the conversation Matt Smiley and Matt Pochily had with Lanto Griffin at the AJGA event that bears his name in Blacksburg. They caught up with Lanto during the first Lanto Junior Championship at Blacksburg Country Club, a club where Lanto had opportunity the play a lot of golf growing up where he is now offering the opportunity for a new generation of juniors to grow their competitive love of the game through the AJGA event. In this conversation, Lanto shares...
Jun 10, 2021•11 min•Season 1Ep. 20
This week we're sharing what it sort of behind the scenes footage from the grand re-opening of Belmont Golf Course in Henrico under the management of the First Tee of Greater Richmond. We'll use these interviews for a video which you’ll be able to find on our YouTube channel but in the meantime we wanted to share them here in their entirety. The event took place on May 24 and included speeches from the First Tee’s Board Chair, Ben Pace, and comments from county officials recognizing the journey ...
May 27, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Our guest this week is another former VSGA member with aspirations and opportunities to play professionally, in fact, the opportunity to play in this week’s PGA Championship at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island. We’re talking with Larkin Gross, the 23 year-old assistant professional from Springfield Golf & Country Club in Northern Virginia who earned his way to the PGA Championship after a third round 64 at the PGA Professional Championship in Port St. Lucie, Florida. We spoke with Larkin wh...
May 20, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Our guest this week has achieved what many of us have aspire to, succeed in all levels of amateur events, play college golf and now play professionally. We’re talking with back-to-back VSGA Women’s Amateur champion from 2012 and 2013, UVA grad and Symetra and LPGA Tour player Lauren Coughlin. Lauren grew up in Chesapeake, attended the University of Virginia and has called Charlottesville home since graduating while managing a schedule on both tours. She has a unique sponsorship with the team at ...
May 13, 2021•33 min•Season 1Ep. 17
This week we’re talking with a former VSGA member who grew up playing golf on the southside of Richmond at Brandermill Country Club and Clover Hill High School and then as a member of the James Madison golf team but has since moved about as far west as you can get in the continental United States and to one of the most beautiful resorts in the country, if not the world at Bandon Dunes. We’re talking with PGA Professional Michael Chupka who grew in the game in Virginia is now the Director of Comm...
May 06, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 16
This week we’re talking with Corey and Eric. These guys were both in Matt's foursome during the VSGA One-Day event at the Country Club of Petersburg. What felt special about that day and this conversation is that none of them knew each other going into this round but four hours later could have sat and talked longer than they did and were already setting up the next time to play. They’re both at different places in the game and with competition which is part of what makes the community of respec...
Apr 29, 2021•19 min•Season 1Ep. 15
This week we’re talking with a couple of golfers whose names are annually among the top of VSGA leaderboards…not the leaderboards you’re thinking of in events or championships though…the perhaps more coveted leaderboard of number of rounds played in a year. Kate and Rob Tidgewell, of River Creek Club in Leesburg, posted a combined 538 rounds in 2020…and those are just the number of rounds they posted to their handicap. It’s a fascinating interview with a couple who’s been married for 28 years on...
Apr 22, 2021•26 min•Ep. 14
This week we’re talking with PGA professional Troy Thorne. Troy is a Virginia native, graduate of Old Dominion University where he was a member of the golf team and now head golf professional at Hobbs Hole Golf Course in Tappahannock, not far from where he grew up…and, when Troy came out of high school he was a recipient of a scholarship from the VSGA-VIP Scholarship Foundation and is now giving back to the foundation through Hobbs Hole participating in the VSGA VIP Golf Card. Matt was actually ...
Apr 08, 2021•15 min•Season 1Ep. 13
This week we’re talking with Carrie Abernathy. You may recognize Carrie’s name from our weekly Clubhouse email where we’d featured her in the member spotlight a few weeks ago…but for those who don’t know…Carrie’s an event planner, podcast host and blogger through her blog A Woman with Drive where she shares ideas on leadership, elevating women and golf. She’s also recently begun contributing to Golf & Travel magazine. Carrie took up the game just seven years ago and in this conversation shar...
Apr 01, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 12
This week we’re talking about the Golf Digest Hot List. As a VSGA member, you’re receiving a complimentary subscription to the magazine and by now have probably caught the issue which contained the 2021 Hot List of new clubs and products. In flipping through that you may have seen today’s guest, Buddy Christensen. Buddy is the owner and president of GolfDom, a golf store in McLean, Virginia which helps golfers live the game through a huge selection of products, gear, fittings and more. Buddy has...
Mar 25, 2021•44 min•Season 1Ep. 11
This week we’re talking with one of our VSGA staff members, Director of Championships and Golf Operations, Josh Coates. With the tournament season opening in the next few weeks we wanted to have Josh on to share news on the upcoming events and venues and how the schedule comes together. This conversation is co-hosted by Matt Pochily and Chris Lang. We hope this conversation inspires you to visit VSGA.org and find an event that’s right for you and join us on the course in 2021....
Mar 18, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 10
This week’s episode is with physical therapist and sports performance coach Dr. Kyle Adams. Kyle is the owner of Adams Performance in Richmond where he works with some of the area’s best athletes including golfers who are often seen atop VSGA junior, amateur and senior amateur leaderboards. In this conversation he shares how the things we see at the tour level work their way down to his athletes and how he works with folks to safely incorporate those things with their bodies and games....
Mar 11, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 9
This week’s episode is with writer, golfer, student and teenager Gwen Foddrell. Gwen is the author of the book series, The Golf Diaries . She began writing just a few years ago as a means to improve her writing in school, a figure skating injury lead her to golf and the two growing passions of writing and golf converged to create The Golf Diaries.
Mar 04, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 8
In our final episode of Black History Month on Black golfers in Virginia, Chris Lang is talking with Lee Coble. Lee is a longtime volunteer with the VSGA, including Board President in 2013-2014; he is currently the head men's golf coach at Virginia Union University and recent recipient of the USGA's Ike Grainger Award for 25 years of service to the USGA. We hope you enjoy this conversation with Lee Coble.
Feb 25, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 7
This week we have the pleasure of talking with comedian Micah 'Bam Bamm' White . Micah’s only been playing the game for about three years but is already down to a single-digit handicap and is continually seeking more ways to expose under-privileged juniors to the game through his community involvement in Richmond. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Micah 'Bam Bamm' White.
Feb 18, 2021•40 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Our guest this week is Gavin Parker . Gavin is the Junior Golf Coach at Salisbury Country Club, he’s a former PJ Boatwright intern with the VSGA and graduate of Campbell University. In 2020 he received the VSGA’s Grow the Game Award for his work with junior golfers, he also made Golf Digest ’s list of Best Young Teachers in January of 2021. You’ll hear this in his voice but Gavin is passionate about golf and removing the boundaries and barriers that anyone may face as they experience the game. W...
Feb 11, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 5
This week Matt Pochily talks with Ashleigh McLaughlin of Youth on Course. Ashleigh is the Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the national non-profit dedicated to opening doors, supporting dreams and transforming the lives of young people through opportunities on and off the golf course.To-date, there are 24 courses across Virginia participating in Youth on Course and the list is growing as word spreads.
Feb 04, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 3
This week we’re sharing a conversation Matt had with Dr. Bob Rotella in the fall to use for our annual meeting video. You can see that video on our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/VSGA1904 . Dr. Rotella doesn’t need much more of an introduction. Most listeners have read or at least heard of his books like Golf is Not a Game of Perfect or Putting Out Of Your Mind . Matt had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Rotella mostly around things related to golf during the pandemic but we did cover some other...
Jan 21, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 2
This week we’re sharing a conversation Matt had with Megan Wise back over the summer. For folks in Richmond they may be familiar with Megan, she’s a meteorologist on NBC12 and if you’re familiar with her Instagram you know she’s often playing golf around the metro Richmond area and also not shy about sneaking in some putting at the station between newscasts. Megan’s only been playing a handful of years or so but has found it to a great escape during the pandemic and has some tips for how to inte...
Jan 07, 2021•17 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Welcome to the VSGA's podcast! Golf in the Commonwealth is an opportunity to hear fun conversations from people involved with the game at all levels across Virginia. From top amateurs, upcoming juniors, club owners, superintendents, hall of famers, brands, influencers and everyday golfers like the rest of us, golf in the commonwealth has all types of golfers and we want to share their stories with you. Look for new episodes starting Thursday, January 7 and then every other week thereafter....
Dec 31, 2020•1 min•Ep. 1
