The Golf Insiders

PODCAST NOTE: Listeners can tune in to iHeart Radio 740 The Game or listen in the Orlando area on FM 96.9 Wednesdays from 6-7 p.m. to hear The Golf Insiders live. Add The Golf Insiders podcast to your iPhone as an app. Click here and go to the bottom of the device's screen to create the "Quick Launch" icon for the Golf Insiders. Once you've done this it will add The Golf Insiders podcast as an App to your home screen. 

Holly G along with co host Kevin Sternett, assistant pro at Golden Bear Club at Keene's Point and Will Perry, creative director at EVVUS and social media ace for The Golf Insiders, are in the studio on the eve of the 145th Open Championship in Royal Troon, Scotland.

The Golf United Charity Scramble for Pulse Orlando web site is live. Visit golfunited.org to find out how you can help.

Holly talks with the guys about the U.S. Women's Open Championship that ended once again in a rules infraction. With Anna Nordqvist being penalized for unknowingly moving a grain of sand in the bunker on the second hole of a 3-hole aggregate playoff.

Holly G talks with Kevin and Will about the 20 professional golfers who have opted out of playing golf in the 2016 Rio Olympics with the latest American being Jordan Spieth. The sport is only slated to play in this Olympics and the 2020 Olympics after not being part of the games for more than 100 years.

Another headline was that Rory McIlroy speaking out about drug testing for golfers in the Olympics being basically a joke. 

Holly welcomes Jeff Babineau, Golfweek, from Scotland to the show to talk about the Open Championship and Rory's comments. Justin Rose is that golf is skipping Rio and not the Olympics. Jeff said that you really can't blame any of the participants since you can't guarantee someone's health in Rio you can't blame them for not participating. Jeff stressed that it's not just the Zika virus, but the Tour schedule as well as security concerns that have all factored into the player's decisions.  Plus for Tour players this might only be the 5th or 6th most important event this season with the Major Championships. Those don't exist in other sports so golfers don't grow up dreaming of playing in the Olympics as they might in the other sports where no major trophy or goal exists.

Jeff had a chance to walk the course with Matt Kuchar today who now is the fourth member of the U.S. Olympic team. Matt, a 38-year-old is excited about the Olympics and a possibility of a gold medal.

Holly talks with Jeff about the course at Royal Troon and how it sets up for the golfers competing in the Open Championship that starts tomorrow. The wind and the weather will be factors as it is always at Royal Troon as well as the creativity coming from the pot bunkers.

Jeff feels the course that solid ball strikers should be favored on this course and golfers who like to fight and hang in there for 4 days. Luck and the player's draw also factor into who will win. Adam Scott is Jeff's pick.

Todd Lewis, the Golf Channel, the course is green and looks good. Probably low scores on Thursday but maybe not Friday with the poor weather that's on the forecast. Holly talks with Todd about the course's pot bunkers and the creativity that may come from the players as they try to escape with an up and down over the next four days, especially at the postage stamp 8th hole. Todd says that it's a wedge shot of about 120-130 yards. Todd says there may be some train wrecks on the hole and will be a fun hole to watch.

Holly asks Todd about Rory's comments about the Olympics ... Todd agrees with Brandel Chamblee's comments that Rory could have said it a little more eloquently instead of how he said it which seemed like a slap in the face to those who worked tirelessly to get golf back into the Olympics. Also Rory's comments about it not being his responsibility to grow the game of golf.  It seemed odd since Rory is totally the opposite when it comes to helping children get into golf and his charities that help others. Todd thinks that it might be a difficult for Rory with all this extra stuff in the media.

Todd says that it's just the ninth time that Royal Troon has hosted the Open Championship and the last time was 2004 so a lot of the players aren't familiar with it. Guys who have good form now and those who like links golf courses. Like Dustin Johnson and Zach Johnson, Scott Piercy or even Patrick Reed who finished second at the Scottish Open last week. Another player who may do well this week is Danny Lee who was a former European Tour member. This is the Golf Channel's first time covering a major. Jason Day is Todd's pick to win.

Steve Eubanks, The Global Golf Post, calls in the final segment of the show to talk about the U.S. Women's Open Championship and the USGA's handling of the ruling on Anna Nordqvist. He said it clearly was a penalty but it's how they handled the penalty. As far as the Open Championship, Steve's pick is Jordan Spieth. Kevin picks Justin Rose and Gary Woodland, Will takes DJ and Holly takes Sergio and Jason Day. Holly's dark horse is Danny Willett.

PODCAST NOTE: Listeners can tune in to iHeart Radio 740 The Game or listen in the Orlando area on FM 96.9 Wednesdays from 6-7 p.m. to hear The Golf Insiders live. Add The Golf Insiders podcast to your iPhone as an app. Click here and go to the bottom of the device's screen to create the "Quick Launch" icon for the Golf Insiders. Once you've done this it will add The Golf Insiders podcast as an App to your home screen. 

Holly G along with co host Kevin Sternett, assistant pro at Golden Bear Club at Keene's Point and Will Perry, creative director at EVVUS and social media guru for The Golf Insiders, briefly cover Dustin Johnson's comeback win at the WGC-Bridgestone and Brooke Henderson's back-to-back wins on the LPGA Tour. This week is the U.S. Women's Open conducted by the USGA. 

Holly G makes a special announcement about the GolfUnited Pulse Orlando Scramble scheduled for Friday, Aug 26, 2016 at the Grand Cypress Golf Club. The scramble benefits the OneOrlando and Pulse of Orlando Funds and starts at 8 a.m. There will also be an After Party and Silent Auction. The goal is to raise $100,000.

Robert Scott, Grand Cypress Golf Club's Tournament Director, calls in to talk with The Golf Insiders about the upcoming tournament. The GolfUnited Fundraising Scramble will be played on the New Course at Grand Cypress, which is Jack Nicklaus’ tribute and homage to the famed Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland. 100% of the proceeds from the Scramble and the Silent Auction that follows the event will go to OneOrlando and Pulse of Orlando Funds. One way to contribute is to donate $49 and "buy" a sign along the fairway. Volunteers are needed to help out with this major event. You don't have to be a golfer to participate or contribute. Participants need to RSVP to reserve their spot by contacting Holly G at 321-303-9684 or Will Perry at 727-364-6384.

In the second segment of the show, Holly welcomes Jeff Shain, former Orlando Sentinel golf writer and now with the Sports Editor at the Island Packet in South Carolina. Holly and Jeff talk about the recent success of Dustin Johnson. The final leader board from the WGC showed good showings for Spieth, Kevin Chappell, Scott Piercy and Matt Kuchar. Jeff points out that Chappell has placed second a number of times this season on the Tour and is waiting for him to break through with a win.

With the British Open only two weeks ago Holly G talks about the recent play from Zach Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace. Holly asks Jeff about Jason Day's final four holes at the WGC Bridgestone when he handed the tournament over to whoever was trailing him.

Kevin talks with Jeff about Dustin Johnson's potential of becoming #1 in the OWGR. Jeff didn't think that DJ would overcome Spieth. It'll take one big victory and another victory before Day can finish well which will allow DJ to catch Day.

Holly asks Jeff who he's keeping his eye on as potential winners of the Open Championship: Jeff says McIlroy and Stenson.

In the third segment Holly G talks with Kevin and Will about the LPGA's U.S. Women's Open this week and the stars like Brooke Henderson, Lydia Ko, Gernia Piller and Ariya Jutanugarn's performances this season making the LPGA even more exciting than usual. 

PODCAST NOTE: Listeners can tune in to iHeart Radio 740 The Game or listen in the Orlando area on FM 96.9 Wednesdays from 6-7 p.m. to hear The Golf Insiders live. Add The Golf Insiders podcast to your iPhone as an app. Click here and go to the bottom of the device's screen to create the "Quick Launch" icon for the Golf Insiders. Once you've done this it will add The Golf Insiders podcast as an App to your home screen. 

In the first segment of the show, Holly G along with co host Kevin Sternett, assistant pro at Golden Bear Club at Keene's Point and Will Perry, creative director at EVVUS and social media guru for The Golf Insiders, briefly cover  Dustin Johnson's comeback win at the WGC-Bridgestone and Brooke Henderson's back-to-back wins on the LPGA Tour. This week is the U.S. Women's Open conducted by the USGA. 

Holly G makes a special announcement about the GolfUnited Pulse Orlando Scramble scheduled for Friday, Aug 26, 2016 at the Grand Cypress Golf Club. The scramble benefits the OneOrlando and Pulse of Orlando Funds and starts at 8 a.m. There will also be an After Party and Silent Auction. The goal is to raise $100,000.

Robert Scott, Grand Cypress Golf Club's Tournament Director, calls in to talk with The Golf Insiders about the upcoming tournament. 

The GolfUnited Fundraising Scramble will be played on the New Course at Grand Cypress, which is Jack Nicklaus’ tribute and homage to the famed Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland. 

100% of the proceeds from the Scramble and the Silent Auction that follows the event will go to OneOrlando and Pulse of Orlando Funds. One way to contribute is to donate $49 and "buy" a sign along the fairway.

Volunteers are needed to help out with this major event. You don't have to be a golfer to participate or contribute. 

Participants need to RSVP to reserve their spot by contacting Holly G at 321-303-9684 or Will Perry at 727-364-6384.

PODCAST NOTE: Listeners can tune in to iHeart Radio 740 The Game or listen in the Orlando area on FM 96.9 Wednesdays from 6-7 p.m. to hear The Golf Insiders live. Add The Golf Insiders podcast to your iPhone as an app. Click here and go to the bottom of the device's screen to create the "Quick Launch" icon for the Golf Insiders. Once you've done this it will add The Golf Insiders podcast as an App to your home screen. 

Holly G is at Dewey's Indoor Golf and Sports Grill in Orlando along with co host Kevin Sternett, assistant pro at Golden Bear Club at Keene's Point and Will Perry, creative director at EVVUS and Golf Insiders social media guru. Dewey's and Ready Golf League are sponsoring the show.

Holly and the gang are joined by Dr Bob Winters, Sports Psychologist/Mental Conditioning Coach and author. Holly, Kevin and Dr Bob discuss the week in golf including Billy Hurley III's magical win at the Quicken Loans National.  

Lydia Ko picked up her 3rd win of the season on the LPGA Tour with her 2-stroke win at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. Her 17-under par is a new tournament record. Dr Bob says that he feels that Lydia's success is that she is happy and having fun enjoying the game. 

Kevin and Dr Bob talk about how Lydia is like a surgeon on the course. The trio talk more on the women's play of late including Brooke Henderson's win. 

In the next segment Holly welcomes Jeff Babineau, Golfweek. Jeff talks about his recent article on the Olympics and mentions that it's an unfortunate situation with players opting out of participating for a number of reasons. It's the first time in over a 100 years that golf is a part of the Olympics. Jeff feels that it's a perfect storm of factors that affect the game. Jeff and Holly talk about the Zika virus, the scheduling and the format of 72-hole stroke play. Holly also mentions that kids don't grow up today thinking about playing in the Olympics but more so a major championship. 

Kevin brings up a lot of the unknown factors at Rio that might be affecting the players' decision. Funding dilemmas, Zika virus, security and more. Golf is only set as part of the Olympics for this year and the next Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The committee will vote in 2017 on the future of golf participating. 

Holly asks Jeff about the WGC-Bridgestone this week and the French Open. Dr Bob and Jeff revisit the recent U.S. Open ruling debacle and the USGA's ruling. Dr Bob said that it was like the USGA held everyone hostage not knowing the final ruling.

Next week's event at the Greenbrier has been cancelled due to the deathly flooding. Holly and Jeff talk about Bubba Watson's efforts to help bring attention to the golf world and others about the devastation and helping the people in the area.

Dr Bob, Jeff and Holly talk about Tiger's return to golf and when he might come back.

For the final part of the show, Holly welcomes Josh Broeker from Ready Golf League, an innovative combination of both networking and golf, created for motivated business professionals in Central Florida. Lee Goldberg a ready golf league participant mentions that it's open to the public on the last Wednesday of the month at Dewey's. There are also golf tournaments that are cheap to participate in and around the local area. Golf is a good conduit to bring business and people together. 

PODCAST NOTE: Listeners can tune in to iHeart Radio 740 The Game or listen in the Orlando area on FM 96.9 Wednesdays from 6-7 p.m. to hear The Golf Insiders live. Add The Golf Insiders podcast to your iPhone as an app. Click here and go to the bottom of the device's screen to create the "Quick Launch" icon for the Golf Insiders. Once you've done this it will add The Golf Insiders podcast as an App to your home screen. 

Holly G is in the studio with co host Kevin Sternett, assistant pro at Golden Bear Club at Keene's Point and Will Perry, creative director at EVVUS and Golf Insiders social media guru. The trio kicks off the show talking about the great week of golf including the U.S. Open, won by Dustin Johnson.

One of the main distractions for this year's U.S. Open and DJ is that the USGA had a questionable ruling on DJ on the 5th hole of his final round where the ball moved before he grounded his club behind the ball. He called the rules official over and told him that he did not cause the ball to move. The official told him to play on with no penalty. However, the USGA confronted DJ on the 12th hole and told him that they had reviewed the video evidence and requested that he review the footage after the round. Then it would be decided if he would incur the one-stroke penalty.

Bob Harig, ESPN.com, calls in from Congressional to talk about last week's U.S. Open and the USGA's ruling on DJ. Bob said that in the media center that it was chaos and absolute disbelief as the events unfolded. 

Kevin talks with Bob about the fact the ruling controversy not only was hard on Dustin, but it impacted the rest of the field not knowing how each player chasing the leader should attack the rest of the round. They did not know if Dustin was going to incur the penalty or if his current round's score was accurate. The team and Bob talk about the player's honor being called into question, which is paramount in the game of golf, not only for Dustin but Lee Westwood who was playing alongside DJ. In the end DJ was able to win by more than one stroke, which saved the USGA from an even greater PR nightmare.

Bob said the key was that DJ had not addressed the ball. "Outside the USGA, I don't see anyone else who agrees with them." It happened to Shane Lowry the day before when he called the penalty on himself. USGA Rule 18b was revised in 2016, which was supposed to help shed some clarity on the subject.

Tony Austin, Director of Programs for Core Golf Education in Orlando and also serves on the board for PGA of America as a member of the rules committee, call in for the second segment of the show to talk more about the ruling that affected this year's U.S. Open.

Tony said that he felt for everyone involved including the committee. He said that he would have ruled that DJ had moved the ball because of his close proximity to the ball when it rolled, that DJ caused it to move. The problem was that the ruling wasn't made until after the round and not immediately when it happened.

Tony pointed out that the rule is written that the committee can always take a look at something to get it right. It seemed like a non incident in real time. But the committee taking so long to bring it up and get it into the mainstream of the world was chaos.  

Tony said as he was watching the event on TV, he didn't think that DJ caused the ball to move. He said he thought differently after he reread the rule. There didn't appear to be any wind, and DJ stood very close to the ball, and the fact that he put his putter down to the side and it touched the ground to some degree, Tony would have given DJ the penalty ... based on the way the rule is written.  The USGA and R&A definitely need to take a look at the rule and see what the intention of the rule is.

Mike Kern, Philadelphia Daily News, calls in to the show to talk about the U.S. Open Championship. Mike talks to Holly about Dustin Johnson's play. When he is on he is as talented as anyone on the Tour. His putting usually holds him back. Holly asks Mike about Jim Furyk and the rest of the Top 10 on the leader board at the 2016 U.S. Open. Mike discusses the age of the Furyk and Mickelson and the fact that they don't usually win major championships in their 40s. Not that they can't but it's something that is usually not done.

Jeff Shain, The Island Packet in Hilton Head, calls in to wrap up the show. Holly asks Jeff about the Olympics and the people like Rory McIlroy deciding not to participate in the Olympics due to the Zika virus. Jeff said that the golf schedule has a huge event over other week this season and a week off is a big deal to the players. None of the LPGA players have backed out of the Olympics. Jeff said that it seems that it would be a female golfer who has pulled out of the Olympics.

Kevin, Will and Holly discuss the fact that it seems the women players seem more interested in the Olympics and not the men in the U.S.