The Approach Shot

J Marc Chambers is a comedian and a golfer. He has friends that are comedians and golfers. They decided to create a business that incorporates both golf and comedy. Add to those two the element of fundraising and you have their business, Hole Hecklers. J Marc and his friends will come out to your golf outing, charity scramble, even a client appreciation day, and set up shop on a par 3 hole. Unless they are paid by the golfers (to raise funds for the charity involved with the golf outing) they will heckle the golfers as they try to tee off. It is impossible to hit a good shot while you are laughing your ass off. Trust us, we’ve tried. You can also pay extra to get your buddy heckled mercilessly. It’s fun. It’s funny. And it’s a great way to raise some money on the golf course for a worthwhile cause. It also makes for one helluva funny hour of gold podcast. Listen now to J Marc Chambers from Hole Hecklers, this week’s guest on The Approach Shot Podcast.Support the show

Matthew Laurance is our guest this week on The Approach Shot Podcast. Yes, the same Matthew Laurance you remember from Beverly Hills 90210; from Eddie And The Cruisers”; from guest appearances on “Cheers” and countless other TV guest shots. Plus, he was on SNL of an entire year. Matthew Laurence currently does radio in Lexington, Kentucky and plays lots and lots of golf: bad golf. Yeah, for someone who plays as often as does he, you think he’s play a lot better, but no, he sucks! Yes, as a golfer Matthew is a great actor. But he does have lots of great stories and you are about to hear a bunch of them. Funny, heart warming, and some embarrassing stories this week on the Approach Shot podcast.Support the show

Garrett Johnston has covered golf for outlets around the world for more than a decade, including the hometown papers of most players on the PGA Tour. He also has contributed to GolfDigest.com, Golf.com, USOpen.com, China Daily, The Irish Examiner and New Zealand Golf Magazine. Sadly, he has not improved his golf handicap since he left high school, and covering 30 major championship hasn’t helped him through osmosis. But he does regale us this week with some terrific stories from some of the most prestigious golf tournament that he is lucky enough to cover. We coax the good stuff from him. Listen and enjoy.Support the show

Chris Mascaro is a member of the Sports/Golf Podcasting brotherhood. And being one of our brethren, we welcome Chris in with open arms. Chris does two podcasts: Next On The Tee and Thursday Night Tailgate. His podcast, Next On The Tee has been around for quite a few years. On it, Chris interviews some of the most iconic names in professional golf (Gary Player is a regular guest). You might expect Chris has quite a few stories that he has heard over the years. Quite a few stories that he can repeat as well as some of his own he can relate. No matter where they originated, Chris spends some time with us in The Approach Shot swapping golf stories you won’t want to miss.Support the show

Bob Picozzi is a television and radio announcer who was employed by ESPN and Fox Sports as a play-by-play announcer for college football and basketball. You are familiar with his voice if you ever listened to Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio, he is the man with the updates. His coolest gig though, in our own humble yet never-the-less expert opinions was the Play By Play guy for UConn Women’s Basketball. Unless you could have called the UCLA games in the 70’s with Coach Wooden, you will not find a team with more wins, more championships than UConn Women. Bob has been there for some of the greatest moments in sports. He also has some very cool golf stories. Listen to them all this episode of The Approach Shot.Support the show

Chris Smeal is a PGA Professional in San Diego California. He works primarily with junior golfers, the kids of today that will become the greens fees paying adults of tomorrow. And we all know that is the only way to assure this game will continue to be a constant choice for recreation. Through junior leagues, junior lessons, Chris makes sure Junior Golf is strong on the area of southern California and beyond. Chris has even created some junior tournament activity as far away as China. So, to help “grow the game” and to pass on the benefits of the game we love, listen to how Chris Smeal is helping to create the golfers of tomorrow.Support the show

This week we welcome Gill Capps as our guest on The Approach Shot Podcast. Gil is an Emmy award-winning content creator. He has spent his entire working career in golf media, having founded a regional golf magazine right out of Davidson College and written extensively about the game before jumping into television. Capps has worked on-site at more than 500 tournaments around the world – most spent sitting in NBC’s main tower providing editorial content and direction to its broadcasts and announcers such as Johnny Miller, Dan Hicks, and Dick Enberg. He also built and led Golf Channel’s ground-breaking Editorial Research Unit. A native of North Carolina, Capps resides with his family in Florida. And we are lucky to have Gil and his many stories this week on The Approach Shot PodcastSupport the show

You know how they say you should never go to the grovery store on an empty stomach? It seems when you shop fr food while hungry you tend to buy too much because everything looks delicious. Well, this episode of The Approach Shot is much the same. Do Not Listen On An Empty Stomach! Everything will sound delicious. In fact, everything will sound delicious even if you’re full. Our guest, Jeff Tracy, is The Cowboy Cook. He is a Bar-B-Que expert with books, blogs radio and television shows all about cooking meat with flames. So pull up a rack of ribs and settle in for a captivating conversation with The Cowboy Cook, Jeff Tracy.Support the show

Michael Whalen has shelves full of Emmy Awards. He was a big time producer at HBO for years. And then a good ol’ boy from Birmingham Alabama approached him with an offer to put a brand new cable channel with a brand new concept on the air, Even though many told him people won’t watch golf all day, Michael Whalen ignored them and took the gig and helped to build The Golf Channel! Michael talks with us this week and relates some of the best stories, shares some of the success and the mistakes, and talks about some of the iconic, talented folks he was able to hire at the beginning to make The Golf Channel the success it is today. Another enjoyable, informative and entertaining edition of The Approach Shot.Support the show

This week on The Approach Shot Podcast we are excited to welcome a true golf legend. One of the women who built the reputation of the LPGA, Jane Blalock. Jane still holds the record for consecutive cuts made: 299. That’s over 12 years without missing a cut. She won multiple times. She holds many records on the LPGA. She is currently playing on the Legends Tour and is still winning. Jane is so much fun to talk to and we’re sure you’ll have as much fun listening this week to Jane Blalock on The Approach Shot.Support the show

Gary Reasons has two Super Bowl rings. He won them while playing with the NY Football Giants. He was a linebacker. Gary played next to Lawrence Taylor. LT’ s number has been retired. Gary is still know for “the hit” (check out the video on Youtube). Gary is currently a College Football Analyst for Fox Sports TV. He plays a mean game of golf too. Be advised, you want him on your scramble team. He hits the ball a long way and gives a great interview. Get to know him along with us on The Approach Shot Podcast.Support the show

This week’s guest is the top rated Golf Architect in Latin America, Augustin Piza. He has worked with such golf icons as Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and now has teamed up with Brandel Chamblee to create the most original idea in golf course design since the bunker. He calls it the Butterfly effect with 3 6 hole layouts you can play in any combination for any number of holes from 6 to 24. And that’s just one of his out of the box (some might say off the wall) ideas. Join us this week for a conversation with golf course design genius, Augustin Piza.Support the show

Connie Willis is the weekend host for Coast To Coast AM Radio Show. She also has a few of her own on-line shows all exploring the weirder side of life. Ghosts, Aliens, Big Foot are all topics you will delve deeply into with Connie. And she plays golf. Yeah, the truth is out there and Connie spends most of her free time looking for it. Spend some time with this episode of The Approach Shot Podcast and we guarantee you will laugh, laugh with us, laugh at us, laugh next to us. It matters not, but you will laugh! Enjoy.Support the show

Keith Hirshland is an Emmy Award–winning sports television producer with more than three decades of experience producing live and pre-recorded programs that aired on ESPN and ESPN2. Among the first forty people to be hired by the Golf Channel in 1994, Hirshland was in the middle of the action when that network debuted in 1995. He provided his talents for Golf Channel, as its live tournament producer, for two decades.
Cover Me Boys, I'm Going In: Tales of the Tube from a Broadcast Brat is a memoir about his experiences in the television industry. Published by Beacon Publishing Group, Cover Me Boys was recognized as the Book Talk Radio Club Memoir of the Year. Hirshland’s second book, and first work of fiction, Big Flies, was published in 2016 and is the recipient of the New Apple Awards “Solo Medalist” in the True Crime Category. Hirshland followed that success with his third book, The Flower Girl Murder. In 2020 Beacon Publishing Group will release Murphy Murphy and the Case of Serious Crisis, Hirshland’s third mystery novel. All four books are available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other bookstores. Or on his website, http://keithhirshland.comSupport the show

Joe Greiner is this week’s guest on The Approach Shot Podcast. Joe is Max Homa’s caddy. Joe is also Max’s boyhood friend. They grew up together, played golf together, and are both pretty good golfers. In fact, Joe holds a course record at the course they both grew up playing. He only rubs it in a few times a year. Joe talks about his own golf prowess, about how easy it is to work together with a good friend in a PGA Tournament and how much fun golf is, in general. And to prove it, we have a blast talking about it. Give a listen. We guarantee you will laugh your butt off.Support the show

On this week’s edition of The Approach Shot Podcast we are so lucky to have the most beautiful, gracious, and talented Heather French Henry, Miss America 2000. Since winning that crown Heather has been tirelessly traveling the country espousing Veteran’s Rights and Benefits, she has coached other pageant contestants, she has designed a line of evening wear, she has helped her husband in his efforts to make men aware of the benefits of Prostate Cancer screening, and has played a lot of golf. We talk about all of that, especially the golf. Meet and get to know Heather French Henry on this week’s Approach Shot PodcastSupport the show

Old Rockers never die! They start Golf Podcasts. Our guest this week on The Approach Shot Podcast is Frank Basset, host of the podcast, Golf Talk America which can be heard on PGATour.com. Frank is also the founder of the Golf Talk America Network, of which The Approach Shot Podcast is a proud member. While we know John and Neal are old (although the word “former” might sound better) DJ’s, Frank is a former musician. He’s played with Blood, Sweat & Tears, The Memphis Horns, and done many studio musician gigs. The chances are pretty good if you listen to 70’s music, you’ve heard Frank’s trumpet work. We talk about music, musicians, golfers, podcasters and any other topic that pops up. (Alcohol seems to be a recurring theme). We laughed a LOT while creating this episode. We’re pretty sure you will laugh a lot while listening. Enjoy this episode of The Approach Shot Podcast.Support the show

Kiel Christianson has the job everyone wants. No, not the one in Linguistic Psychology with advanced degrees from Michigan State and UMass, Amhurst. No, the one where he travels the world, playing golf, reviewing courses and getting paid! Yeah, that gig. To say we are jealous would be a vast understatement. The dude played a round in Finland at midnight on the Summer Solstice. He played in Ireland in rain and 34 degrees. Kiel has seen the best sights, eaten the best meals and played some of the best courses in the world and on this episode he tells us all about it.Support the show

With best wishes from the beach, and we mean the real beach not the bunker. Here is one of our most popular episodes of all time. Listen for the first time or the 20th, it will be informative, fun, funny, and entertaining conversation with a true Renaissance woman. To enter to win this Abstract vision of The Ocean Course go to: https://kingsumo.com/g/lxqbwm/the-ocean-course-abstract/68zzege?Support the show

We spend some time with Tony Casillas, former defensive stud for the Dallas Cowboys. The man has two large hands, each with a Superbowl Ring. His hands may be large, but they are soft. Yes, Mr. soft hands is killer on the golf course. He carries a 6 handicap but still won't play with Romo. Listen this week to some fun, funny, entertaining conversation with Tony Casillas of the Dallas Cowboys on The Approach Shot Podcast.Support the show