Pod for the Course

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, regained his amateur status, got married and started a career in business development and is now a father of two boys.

Staying competitive, he has qualified for a dozen national championships, including five U.S. Amateurs, and two U.S. Mid-Amateurs, making it to the quarterfinals in 2019. He has gone deep in the bracket at several PNGA Men’s Amateurs, been selected to Hudson Cup and PNGA Lamey Cup teams, and won the 2021 Washington Men’s Mid-Amateur. He was named the 2023 Washington Men’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year.

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 clearer when she was one of just 23 students nationwide selected by the PGA of America to serve a Fellowship in their PGA WORKS program. 

The PGA WORKS Fellowship provides the opportunity for a one-year, paid immersion in a PGA Section’s Foundation operations. It is one of the most valuable, entry-level opportunities for individuals from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds to gain experience in all facets of the golf industry. The Fellowship gives recent college and university graduates a first-hand look at everything that a career in the golf industry can provide. 

Since May of 2023, Faucett has been working at the Southern Texas PGA Section just north of Houston.

Learn more about the PGA WORKS program: https://www.pgareach.org/pgaworks/

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 the first Gonzaga player to win the individual West Coast Conference championship, which she did as a junior in 2012. 

Since then she has won the Washington Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship three times (2017, 2018, 2020) and was named the Washington Golf Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year three times (2017, 2018, 2020). She has qualified for three U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links, two U.S. Women’s Amateurs, and two U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs. 

Victoria talks with us about her own journey from learning the game as an 8-year-old in Southern California, and how she works with her players in improving their games. 

She has recently made the decision to enter the PGA Professional program, giving up her amateur status as a player, with the goal of becoming a better coach to her players at Gonzaga. 

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-ranked amateur player in the world and pre-championship favorite, Michael Thorbjornsen, in the round of 64 at the U.S. Amateur. Andrew rocked a colorful shirt during the match, an outward symbol of the joy he feels when he plays the game.

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 Palouse Ridge Golf Club and earned medalist honors in qualifying for the U.S. Amateur. Then, two weeks later competed in the Pacific Coast Amateur at Capilano G&CC in West Vancouver, B.C., being selected for the WA Golf team in that championship’s Morse Cup competition.

Originally from Hilo on Hawaii’s Big Island, Pono will be a fifth-year senior at Washington State University, playing on the men’s golf team. 

Pono talks about how he made his way to Pullman from Hawaii, how he works on his game during the winters in Pullman, how he is preparing for the thin air in Colorado at the upcoming U.S. Amateur, and his plans for when his collegiate career is over.

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 best women golfers on earth, and the 14-year-old phenom shares some wisdom beyond her years (with a few giggles thrown in).

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, Campbell was a talented golfer, setting an amateur record for the 1936 Masters tournament and being selected for the 1936 Walker Cup team. The podcast also discusses the role of Jefferson Park Golf Course in promoting public golfers and fostering the development of successful golfers, including Bill Wright, the first black golfer to win the US Public Links in 1959. The hosts also delve into the history of the USGA Pub Links tournament and how Campbell's success helped raise its profile. 

 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, published in 2022.

Mike may claim he is not a writer, but his body of work is substantial. He co-authored the monumental “Championships & Friendships,” the centennial history book of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA); and wrote “Just Call Me Mac,” the biography of noted Northwest course architect, A. Vernon Macan.

He first became involved in golf in the spring of 1960 when Capilano Golf and Country Club (in West Vancouver, B.C.) advertised for caddies for their opening day tournament. Mike would later become the very first Evans Caddie Scholarship recipient from the Northwest.

In 1986, when the University Golf Course clubhouse (in Vancouver, B.C.) came vacant, MIke assembled a group of volunteers to renovate the structure into a golf museum. Today, BC Golf House is in a building that is the oldest structure still used for golf in B.C., and the BC Golf Museum is the only provincial or state standalone golf museum in North America.

In 2013, Mike received the Distinguished Service Award from the Northwest Golf Media Association. 

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, published in 2022.

Mike may claim he is not a writer, but his body of work is substantial. He co-authored the monumental “Championships & Friendships,” the centennial history book of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA); and wrote “Just Call Me Mac,” the biography of noted Northwest course architect, A. Vernon Macan.

He first became involved in golf in the spring of 1960 when Capilano Golf and Country Club (in West Vancouver, B.C.) advertised for caddies for their opening day tournament. Mike would later become the very first Evans Caddie Scholarship recipient from the Northwest.

In 1986, when the University Golf Course clubhouse (in Vancouver, B.C.) came vacant, MIke assembled a group of volunteers to renovate the structure into a golf museum. Today, BC Golf House is in a building that is the oldest structure still used for golf in B.C., and the BC Golf Museum is the only provincial or state standalone golf museum in North America.

In 2013, Mike received the Distinguished Service Award from the Northwest Golf Media Association.

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, published in 2022.

Mike may claim he is not a writer, but his body of work is substantial. He co-authored the monumental “Championships & Friendships,” the centennial history book of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA); and wrote “Just Call Me Mac,” the biography of noted Northwest course architect, A. Vernon Macan.

He first became involved in golf in the spring of 1960 when Capilano Golf and Country Club (in West Vancouver, B.C.) advertised for caddies for their opening day tournament. Mike would later become the very first Evans Caddie Scholarship recipient from the Northwest.

In 1986, when the University Golf Course clubhouse (in Vancouver, B.C.) came vacant, MIke assembled a group of volunteers to renovate the structure into a golf museum. Today, BC Golf House is in a building that is the oldest structure still used for golf in B.C., and the BC Golf Museum is the only provincial or state standalone golf museum in North America.

In 2013, Mike received the Distinguished Service Award from the Northwest Golf Media Association.