The Turn

Andy's Twitter - twitter.com/andyroddick?s=20

The Roast of Andy Roddick - www.noloveandyroddick.org/

Sweetens Cove website - sweetenscovegolfclub.com/pages/about

This is our fifth episode of The Turn. Welcome to a different side of golf.

This week we hear from Andy Roddick. You might know him as a former tennis pro - among winning 32 singles titles during his career, Andy won the 2003 US Open and made the finals again in 2006. He also played in the Men’s Wimbledon Final three times in 2004, 2005, and 2009.

Throughout his career, Andy reached World No.1 ranking and managed to remain in the top 10 for 10 years straight. In 2017 he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

I’ve come to know Andy as a savvy investor and dedicated golfer who makes no bones about leaving the past in the past and looking ahead. Among the 30 companies Andy has angel invested in, two are golf apparel brands - Travis Mathew and William Murray Golf; one is a new concept called InTown Golf; and also Sweetens Cove Bourbon, which is tied to the Sweetens Cove 9-hole course in Tennessee that has become the darling child of golf social media.

Andy and I dive into how he had his mind set on business ventures before he transitioned to his life after Tennis, how he fell in love with golf, and what’s attracted him to the golf market as he’s doubled down on investing in the future of the game.

Mike Zisman LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/mike-zisman-51528/

GolfGenius Website - www.golfgenius.com/

This is our fourth episode of The Turn. Welcome to a different side of golf. This season will include 9 episodes with one released every 9 days. In these episodes, we’ll approach what each individual does both on and off the golf course with a business perspective in mind.

This week we hear from one of the leading entrepreneurs in golf technology, plus the first person to give me a job - Michael Zisman, the founder of Golf Genius.

Mike served on the faculty of M.I.T. in 1977 after receiving his Ph.D. in Decision Sciences from Wharton. He left M.I.T. to pursue a career in technology in 1979 when he founded Soft-Switch, a leading pioneer in the email industry. In 1994, Mike sold Soft-Switch with to Lotus Development Corp. for $62 million where he became CEO. Eleven months later, IBM bought Lotus for more than $3 billion. Mike subsequently held executive positions at IBM in the Storage Systems Group, On Demand Strategy, and corporate strategy divisions before retiring in 2004. He since served as a Managing Director at Internet Capital Group until 2010 and is now on several boards as an investor.

It goes without saying that Mike has had astounding success in IT services — and golf genius is no exception. Mike founded Golf Genius in 2009. As a tournament management software, Golf Genius has processed over 20 million rounds in the past 12 months, is used by over 9,500 golf clubs in 53 countries, and recently they’ve partnered with the USGA, R&A, and other major global golf associations to build the infrastructure for the new world handicap system. Mike and I talk about the essence of entrepreneurship, building technology companies from the ground up, how Golf Genius is embracing data for the future of golf, and much more. You’ll learn how Mike is relentless and has a killer instinct in creating groundbreaking startups. I’m sure you’ll walk away having heard something insightful like I did

Milky Golf Instagram: www.instagram.com/milkygolf/?hl=en

Milky Golf website: milkygolfofficial.com/

This is our third episode of The Turn. Welcome to a different side of golf. This season will include 9 episodes with one released every 9 days. In these episodes, we’ll approach what each individual does both on and off the golf course with a business perspective in mind.

This is the second week we are focusing on people who have leveraged social media to cultivate a following and create a brand. 

If you love watching videos of smooth swings and are a fan of dairy products, you’ll love this episode. 

This week we hear from Max Siegfried, a D1 collegiate golfer who happens to be my younger brother. He’s also the co-founder of the successful Instagram page - Milky Golf.

Milky has gained almost 30,000 followers in 24 months by posting swings of up and coming, relatively unknown elite junior and college golfers. More recently Milky has started selling branded apparel and gear such as shirts, hats, and headcovers. Like me, Max has been a competitive golfer for most of his life and was named the Philadelphia junior player of the year in 2015.

We talk about Max's come up through junior golf and setting expectations playing at the next level, why starting Milky Golf was the best decision he made for himself, and what makes Milky different than other golf-centric social media accounts. He also shares a great story about playing poker with Tiger Woods at an event a few years ago. And, most importantly, we learn who was the original milkman and the inspiration for the Milky Golf page.

Lou’s Twitter - twitter.com/LouStagner?s=20

Augusta National Amen Corner LEGO replica - golfweek.usatoday.com/2020/03/18/aug…replica-no-12/

This is our second episode of The Turn. Welcome to a different side of golf. This season will include 9 episodes with one released every 9 days. In these episodes, we’ll approach what each individual does both on and off the golf course with a business perspective in mind.

The next two weeks we are focusing on people who have leveraged social media to cultivate a following and create a brand. If you’re always looking for ways to improve your game through stats and analytics like me, you’ll love this episode. This week we hear from Lou Stagner, a Director of Analytics at a multi-billion dollar privately held company in Philadelphia. He’s also the Golf Stat Pro, and has gained over 11,000 twitter followers in 18 months by publishing deep statistical insights into the questions we all ask:

Does your angle to the pin matter? (twitter.com/loustagner/status/1…36880543744?lang=en)

Should I go for it or layup? (twitter.com/loustagner/status/1173773949307686917)

At what point is being in the rough instead of the fairway an advantage? (thefriedegg.com/rough-vs-short-gr…t-pga-tour-venues)

And one of my favorites, what are the PGA Tour pros handicaps and if they played net events, who would’ve won the most majors? (mygolfspy.com/tour-stats-major-w…ayers-got-strokes/)

Lou’s analysis and tweets have been written about by every major golf publication, he’s appeared on Michael Breed’s XM radio show numerous times, has been interviewed on several occasions, and is a guest contributor for the website My Golf Spy. As a byproduct of his work, Lou helps professional and amateur golfers optimize their strategy with stats & analytics. His stable of players range from PGA Tour and European Tour professionals, to Division One collegiate players competing at the highest amateur level, to weekend country club players looking to improve.

Lou and I discuss what he set out to create with his twitter account, how he’s built a brand around objective data insights, and the unforeseen opportunities that have come out of it all. We also talk about how he and his daughter built a 20,000 lego piece replica of Augusta’s Amen Corner that they will auction off to benefit charity after it’s signed by several former Masters champions.

Denny's Instagram: www.instagram.com/mccarthy_denny/?hl=en

Hey everyone I am Cory Siegfried and this is my interview series - The Turn. Welcome to a different side of golf. Our first season will include 9 episodes with one released every 9 days. In these episodes, we’ll approach what each individual does both on and off the golf course with a business perspective in mind.

Our first guest is Denny McCarthy, a PGA Tour professional and the number one ranked putter on Tour for the past two seasons including this current one. Denny and I were teammates at Virginia during his first year, where he entered as one of the most sought after recruits in the country among the likes of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth. He was subsequently named ACC freshman of the year and an eventual two time all-American.

He has won the Junior PGA Championship, the Porter Cup, the Maryland Amateur twice, the Maryland Open three times, and has represented the United States at the Junior Ryder Cup, the World Amateur Team Championship, the Walker Cup. He has also competed in seven US Amateurs, and has qualified for two U.S. Opens. Before turning pro, Denny was ranked as one of the top 50 amateurs in the world. He is currently ranked 72nd in the FedEx Cup standings(as of 8/1/2020) and has notched a few top-ten finishes.

We spoke two weeks ago while he was in Ohio at Muirfield, in between the Workday Charity Open and the Memorial. Most recently, he’s been mentioned in headlines as one of the first Tour players to test positive for Covid-19 at the Travelers Championship. We touch on that briefly, talk about his transition to Tour life, how he’s surrounded himself with the right team to help cultivate his personal brand, and how golf has helped him create opportunities for others.

Denny also shares an incredible story about his first round with Tiger Woods at their home club in Florida right in the beginning quarantine. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.