Sticks Podcast

Xander Schauffele becomes the second gold medal winner by one shot over Rory Sabbatini since golf's return to the Olympics in 2016. We discuss where winning a gold medal in golf ranks among other golf achievements, and if there should be other formats the Olympics should introduce. Finally Wil Bateman of Edmonton joins us to talk about his last season on the Outlaw Tour being the leading money winner, competing on the Forme Tour this summer, what separates a scratch-or-better player from a tour pro, and the time he played against Jordan Spieth in the US Junior (interview starting at 38:58).

After an extensive winning drought, Elmhurst's Mundie Putter team finally captured the Bannatyne Cup for the first time since 2008 by defeating Niakwa at Breezy Bend Country Club this past weekend. The players in Elmhurst's finals lineup included Jeff Bleue, Nathan Wazney, Ben Bandura, Wesley Hoydalo, Jordy Lutz, Jack Werhun, Scott Mazur, and Ryan McMillan.

After a busy couple of weeks with the Manitoba Mid-Amateur at Niakwa Country Club and then the Amateur at Neepawa Golf & Country Club taking place the very next week, we are back and joined by this year's Manitoba Amateur and Junior Champion, Braxton Kuntz (interview starting at 49:18). Braxton talks about his week and what led to his success in Neepawa finishing the event at -16, one over Breezy Bend clubmate, Ryan Sholdice. The sticks also recap their own showings at the Manitoba Mid-Am and Amateur including Bort's dramatic conclusion to his tournament.

With the Manitoba Men's Mid-Amateur and Women's Amateur kicking off this weekend at Niakwa Country Club, Niakwa's Head Golf Professional Terry Reilly joins us to preview the events including the course set up, the keys to scoring well, and who's likely to be in the mix come Sunday (interview starting at 46:05).

After multiple delays, the Golf Manitoba competitive season officially kicked off this past weekend with the qualifier for the Manitoba Men's Mid-Amateur where 108 players competed for 58 available spots. Also taking place were the Women's City & District Championship and the Bantam Championship, all contested at Transcona Golf Club. Harris English and Kramer Hickok duked it out in the second longest playoff in PGA Tour history at the Travelers Championship, Nelly Korda captured her first LPGA major title at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, Steve Stricker took home the Senior Players Championship at Firestone in convincing fashion, and the inaugural event of the Forme Tour wrapped up on Saturday in Georgia.

After getting robbed of a likely victory at the Memorial, Jon Rahm got his redemption by capturing his first major at the 2021 US Open at Torrey Pines, the same venue where he captured his 1st PGA Tour victory in 2017. Restrictions loosen in Manitoba to where golfers can finally play with people from outside their households, Jack and Bort get ready for the Manitoba Mid-Amateur qualifier as Golf Manitoba's season finally kicks off, past guest Brendan MacDougall finishes runner-up at the Glencoe Invitational, and Jack sets a new career-low round!

Coming off their runner-up finish at the US Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Chambers Bay, the Canadian duo of Sam Meek and Brendan MacDougall from the University of Nevada join us to talk about their experiences qualifying for, competing in the event, and their plans for the future (interview starting at 36:40). Stephen Ames and Mike Weir finish 1-2 at the Champions Tour's Principal Charity Classic, Stuart Macdonald cards his career best finish at last week's KFT event, and Jon Rahm is forced to WD from the Memorial after testing positive for Covid-19 while having a 6 shot lead heading into the final round.

After a Sunday for the ages where we first witnessed the Winnipeg Jets come back from a 4-1 deficit against the Oilers to win game 3 in their playoff series, Phil Mickelson became the oldest major winner in PGA Tour history at the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course. TSN golf reporter and analyst Bob Weeks joins us to breakdown this historic win by Phil, Corey Conners' week and the current status of his game, and talk regarding Jack's favourite show, TSN's "OverDrive".

Coming off his recent win at Quail Hollow and 8 shot victory at the 2012 PGA Championship when it was contested at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course, Rory looks to repeat at the same venue at this year's PGA. We get the bad news that competitive golf and organized club events have been moved or postponed in Manitoba (including the recently discussed Mundie Putter League), and Bort finds himself a new flat stick that has aided in some respectable scores over the last week.

2019 Manitoba Golfer of the Year and short game wizard Colwyn Abgrall joins us to talk about making it to the Manitoba Match Play finals 4 years in a row, competing in the US Amateur, his current gig at Golftec, and much more (interview starting at 39:30).