Pod for the Course
Pod for the Course is the official podcast of Washington Golf. From discussions with local professionals to conversations with college golf coaches, we peel the curtain back and shed light on the people in the golf community who make golf in Washington so great.
Episodes
41 episodes
Jake Koppenberg’s journey from collegiate All-American to the top of the Mid-Am game
Jake Koppenberg played collegiately at Western Washington University, where he twice was named NCAA All-American. After college he played briefly on the mini-tours, trying to earn his way onto the PGA Tour. But he returned to Bellingham, regain...
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28:31
Aubrey Faucett – selected as a PGA WORKS Fellow, she is making her way in the golf industry
Living in Port Orchard, Wash. and playing on her high school golf team at South Kitsap High School, Aubrey Faucett wasn’t sure yet what direction her life would take. During her senior year at Liberty University in Virginia, things became a lot...
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15:24
Victoria Fallgren - state champion, player of the year, coach at Gonzaga, apprentice in PGA program
Since 2013 Victoria has been the assistant coach for the women’s golf team at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. Prior to that she played four years on the Gonzaga team, winning her very first collegiate tournament as a freshman, and becoming...
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19:13
Andrew Von Lossow - Former WA Golf Men's and Men's Mid-Amateur Player of the Year
Andrew Von Lossow is the kind of guy you would want in your Dream Foursome, or at least to have a beverage with at the 19th hole. He made national headlines on a big stage last year, when, as a 34-year-old, he defeated the No. 3-ra...
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39:42
Pono Yanagi - WSU Golfer and 2023 Washington Men's Amateur Champion
It’s been a busy summer for Pono Yanagi. In late June, he shot rounds of 72-63-67 to run away from the field in winning the 102nd Washington Men’s Amateur, held at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla. A couple weeks later he shot 65-65 at Palo...
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19:41
Catching up with 14-year-old golf phenom Angela Zhang
Angela Zhang of Bellevue, who won her second consecutive Washington Women’s Amateur title this past June, talks about what it was like competing at the recent U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. She was the youngest player in the field of the be...
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19:06
Mike Riste – region’s foremost golf historian talks about Scotty Campbell, Seattle’s first public player to reach the national stage
Golf historian Mike Riste joins the podcast to explore the history of public golf in Washington and the influence of PNGA Hall-of-Famer Albert "Scotty" Campbell, a golfer from Seattle in the 1930s and 40s. Despite having no formal golf lessons,...
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56:38
Mike Riste – region’s foremost golf historian talks about Bon Stein, known as ‘The Overlooked Champion,’ who won four of the first five Washington Men’s Amateurs
Mike Riste serves as the historian for the BC Golf Museum, and is the official historian for the PNGA. He assembled the initial research for “Washington Golf: 100 Years of Growing the Game,” the centennial history book of Washington Golf,...
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1:01:46
Mike Riste – region’s foremost golf historian talks about A.S. Kerry, past PNGA and WA Golf president who launched the Northwest onto the national golf scene in the early 20th century
Mike Riste serves as the historian for the BC Golf Museum, and is the official historian for the PNGA. He assembled the initial research for “Washington Golf: 100 Years of Growing the Game,” the centennial history book of Washington Golf, publi...
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1:09:48
Mike Riste – region’s foremost golf historian talks about Robert Johnstone, the golf course architect and club pro who founded the Pacific Northwest Section PGA
Mike Riste serves as the historian for the BC Golf Museum, and is the official historian for the PNGA. He assembled the initial research for “Washington Golf: 100 Years of Growing the Game,” the centennial history book of Washington Golf, publi...
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59:30
Mike Riste – region’s foremost golf historian talks about the creation of uniform handicapping, the Alex Rose Caddie Scholarship, and the elimination of the Stymie rule
Mike Riste serves as the historian for the BC Golf Museum, and is the official historian for the PNGA. He assembled the initial research for “Washington Golf: 100 Years of Growing the Game,” the centennial history book of Washington Golf, publi...
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1:00:22
Mike Riste – region’s foremost golf historian talks about the rise of major golf events in the Northwest in the 1930s through the 1950s
Mike Riste serves as the historian for the BC Golf Museum, and is the official historian for the PNGA. He assembled the initial research for “Washington Golf: 100 Years of Growing the Game,” the centennial history book of Washington Golf, publi...
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1:04:55
Durel Billy (aka: “Billy Bogey”) – Board member, knicker-wearing hickory lover, golf dreamer
Not picking up a golf club until the age of 30, Durel Billy found himself going all in on the game, determined to get better. And then he discovered hickory golf, causing him to delve deeper into the history of the game, inspired by his discove...
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37:55
Austin Hurt – 2009 Washington Men’s Amateur champion and PGA Championship participant
Austin Hurt shot 81 (this is not a misprint) in the first round of the 2009 Washington Men’s Amateur while suffering an eye allergy that sent him to the hospital after the round. The championship that year was held at his home course of Palouse...
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29:56
Sharon Johnston – Past president of WA Golf and the WSWGA talks about her journey from the sideline to the headline
When Sharon Johnston started playing golf in 1975, she went all in, both on and off the course. A natural athlete, she began competing almost immediately. As a member of Fircrest Golf Club, she became involved with the Washington State Women’s ...
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30:17
Mike Riste – region’s foremost golf historian talks centennials and more
Mike Riste serves as the historian for the BC Golf Museum, and is the official historian for the PNGA. He assembled the initial research for “Washington Golf: 100 Years of Growing the Game,” the centennial history book of Washington Golf, publi...
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57:51
Ann Swanson – Hall of famer, golf historian, and champion talks history of the game in Washington
In 2010, Ann Swanson knew she was in line to become president of the Washington State Women’s Golf Association (WSWGA) in 2012. So in preparation, she went all-in by writing and publishing a book about the 90-year history of the WSWGA. Founded ...
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27:44
Jeff Wallach - Golf Journalist and Author
Jeff Wallach has published his new novel, Everyone Here is From Somewhere Else, the follow-up to his novel Mr. Wizard, and continues to chronicle the journey of two brothers who discover they have Irish heritage and set off in...
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20:43
Dan Raley – author of the centennial history book, “Washington Golf – 100 years of growing the game”
WA Golf is celebrating its centennial history in 2022, and among the year’s festivities is the publication of a history book, which is authored by Dan Raley.In this podcast, Raley talks about the people he interviewed, the unknown facts...
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24:49
Sean Kato – Last year’s Washington Men’s Amateur champion will attempt to defend his title
Sean Kato went wire-to-wire in winning last year’s Washington Men’s Amateur and returns this year to defend his title in the 100th Washington Men’s Amateur, to be held July 6-8 on the Olympic Course at Gold Mountain GC in Bremerton, Wash. ...
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11:16
Caroline Matelski – the first state champion finds her way back to the game
The first Washington Women’s Amateur Championship was held in 1994 at Twin Lakes Golf and Country Club in Federal Way. Caroline Speigelberg (now Matelski), who at the time was playing on the University of Washington women’s golf team, had set a...
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15:49
Cathy Kim – former WWU player named Golf Digest’s “Best Young Teachers”
Cathy Kim was recently named one of Golf Digest’s “Best Young Teachers” for 2021-22. She is a dual member of the PGA of America and the LPGA. She attended Skyline High School in Sammamish, Wash. and then received a full-ride scholarshi...
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26:10
Gabby Lemieux – former Idaho state champion is making her way to the LPGA Tour
Originally from Caldwell, Idaho, Gabby Lemieux is a three-time Idaho Women’s State Amateur champion who won four individual titles while playing on the women’s golf team at Texas Tech University, where she was named the 2016 Player of the Year ...
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22:29
Notah Begay III – the long and winding road leads to creating opportunities for others
At age nine, Notah asked the head pro at the local muni in Albuquerque, N.M. for a job. He worked for free in exchange for the chance to practice and play at the course (“I was a bad negotiator.”). A full-blooded Native American (Navajo, San Fe...
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33:19
Tom Stebbins talks golf shows in Spokane and Boise under the COVID umbrella
Prior to founding Vision Marketing in 1997, Tom was the assistant athletic director for marketing and promotions at Michigan State University Athletics and marketing director at Washington State University Athletics. He and his wife Karen are t...
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22:14