Weekday Golf

A few episodes back, Jason Soucy told us that hosting a major championship means building a temporary city.

After spending several days inside the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, Preston realized he wasn’t exaggerating.

We go behind the scenes of a modern major championship — from 60,000-square-foot merch tents and massive hospitality compounds to volunteer operations, transportation logistics, production kitchens, TV compounds, and the invisible systems designed to make the experience feel seamless for tens of thousands of fans.

This episode is about what it feels like when you build a temporary world around the pursuit of creating an unforgettable experience.

We also discuss:

• ​Why Preston barely watched any golf
• ​The volunteer experience
• ​No bathroom lines, somehow
• ​Saucon Valley’s legendary shower pressure
• ​and a quick stop at Baltusrol Golf Club on the way home

This episode isn't a tournament recap, but rather field notes and an early glimpse into the world surrounding the 2028 PGA Championship at The Olympic Club.

Contact us: [email protected]

Instagram: @weekdaygolfpodcast

YouTube: @weekdaygolfpodcast

Twitter/X: @weekdaygolfpod

Design by: Austin Wooldridge

Music provided by: ⁠https://www.classicals.de/mozart-figaro

For years, golf course rankings have tried to answer a deceptively simple question: what makes a golf course great?

We intuitively believe that our overall golf experience includes, but extends beyond pure course design. But we were curious to learn how the official ratings worked.

This week, we sit down with Golf Digest course rating panelist David Rawlinson to explore that question from every angle — architecture, strategy, aesthetics, conditioning, atmosphere, history, and the emotional pull that keeps golfers coming back to certain places.

Along the way, we talk about:

• Why some famous holes work so well
• Risk/reward and “choose your own adventure” golf
• Trees, walkability, routing, and the psychology of design
• Whether great golf architecture can ever really be objective

As the conversation unfolds, we circle around the main question: is it possible to separate a course rating from your experience?

Contact us: [email protected]

Instagram: @weekdaygolfpodcast

YouTube: @weekdaygolfpodcast

Twitter/X: @weekdaygolfpod

Design by: Austin Wooldridge

Music provided by: ⁠https://www.classicals.de/mozart-figaro

Dr. Rick Sessinghaus has spent decades coaching golfers at the highest level of the game, including working with Collin Morikawa since childhood. Instead of approaching this conversation like a traditional interview, we decided to use ourselves — and our own golf games — as the case study.

We talk with Rick about focus, confidence, expectations, frustration, slow play, performance under pressure, and what actually separates golfers who can recover mentally from those who spiral. Along the way, Rick helps us unpack some of our own patterns and contradictions on the course — from Oliver’s emphasis on shot results to Preston’s relationship with expectations and rhythm.

Topics include:

• Why “flow follows focus”
• Whether flow is actually trainable
• Confidence vs commitment
• How to refocus after distractions
• Slow play and emotional regulation
• Expectations, frustration, and the “should” trap
• Curiosity over criticism
• What the soul of golf means to Rick

Dr. Rick Sessinghaus is a performance coach, sports psychologist, and co-founder of FlowCode Golf Academy. He has coached players at every level of the game and is best known for his longtime work with two-time major champion Collin Morikawa.

Contact us: [email protected]

Instagram: @weekdaygolfpodcast

YouTube: @weekdaygolfpodcast

Twitter/X: @weekdaygolfpod

Design by: Austin Wooldridge

Music provided by: ⁠https://www.classicals.de/mozart-figaro

Two years ago, a golf trip to Wickenburg, Arizona brought together 44 guys for a long weekend of golf, games, and stories. This year, it became something much bigger.

For Part 1, we teamed up with our friend Scott Walker, co-host of The Edge podcast, and recorded live from Rancho de Los Caballeros just before the 2026 Los Cab Cup began: 90 golfers, 22 teams, and three and a half days in the Arizona desert.

At the time of this recording, nobody knew how it would go.

Could the magic of a golf trip still hold at this scale? Could new friendships form? Would people care more about the golf, or the experience around it?

This is the before.

Part 2 — what actually happened — coming soon.

Contact us: [email protected]

Instagram: @weekdaygolfpodcast

YouTube: @weekdaygolfpodcast

Twitter/X: @weekdaygolfpod

Design by: Austin Wooldridge

Music provided by: ⁠https://www.classicals.de/mozart-figaro

This week we sit down with Jason Soucy, Championship Director for the 2028 PGA Championship at the Olympic Club, for a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to stage one of the biggest events in golf.

Jason takes us inside the enormous scale of a major championship — from building a “startup” years in advance for what is ultimately one week of golf, to coordinating thousands of workers, city agencies, broadcasters, vendors, players, and fans. We talk about the evolution of the fan experience, what makes Olympic Club a special championship venue, how a course is prepared to crown a worthy champion, and what success looks like when the trophy is finally hoisted.

It’s a conversation about stewardship, spectacle, and a side of golf most of us never get to see.

Contact us: [email protected]

Instagram: @weekdaygolfpodcast

YouTube: @weekdaygolfpodcast

Twitter/X: @weekdaygolfpod

Design by: Austin Wooldridge

Music provided by: ⁠https://www.classicals.de/mozart-figaro

There’s a moment for a lot of serious golfers where the path changes.

You’ve spent years competing, improving, chasing something—and then, at some point, you realize it’s probably not going to be your profession.

But that doesn’t mean you stop.

This week, we talk with Marissa Mar, a Stanford golfer and elite amateur, about what happens after that decision.

We get into the difference between loving the game and needing it, what competitive golf looks like when it’s no longer your career, and why some of the most meaningful golf happens later than you expect.

Contact us: [email protected]

Instagram: @weekdaygolfpodcast

YouTube: @weekdaygolfpodcast

Twitter/X: @weekdaygolfpod

Design by: Austin Wooldridge

Music provided by: ⁠https://www.classicals.de/mozart-figaro

Golf friendships are real—but they’re different.

We talk about what makes them unique: the time you spend together, the “hang,” and how the shared love of the game can lead to legitimate friendships without needing to get into deeper life stuff.

We also get into how these friendships form, why some people find a crew and others don’t, and whether playing well matters more than we want it to.

At the end of the day, it’s about the people you play with—and why that might be the real soul of golf.

Contact us: [email protected]
Instagram: @weekdaygolfpodcast
YouTube: @weekdaygolfpodcast
Twitter/X: @weekdaygolfpod
Design by: Austin Wooldridge
Music provided by: ⁠https://www.classicals.de/mozart-figaro

In Part 2 of our conversation with Olympic Club instructor Nic Noya, we shift from Nic’s playing career to how he now thinks about coaching—and what actually helps golfers improve and perform on the course.

Nic breaks down how he evaluates players, why he focuses on ball flight over mechanics, and how he tailors his approach depending on the person in front of him. Through contrasting examples—including how he would coach Oliver versus Preston—the conversation explores different paths to getting better.

At the same time, the discussion turns to performance: why playing under pressure often matters more than practice, how competitive environments change behavior, and what separates golfers who can translate skill into scoring.

At the center of it all is a key idea: the goal isn’t to think more—it’s to build something you can trust. Nic explains how great players move from conscious thought to instinct, and why neutrality, acceptance, and preparation matter when it’s time to hit the shot.

In this episode:

• How Nic evaluates players and coaches different players in completely different ways
• How tournaments and competition reveal your real game
• What great players are thinking (and not thinking) over the ball
• How to turn thinking into instinct on the course
• Why golf is better—and improvement easier—when you do it with someone

Contact us: [email protected]

Instagram: @weekdaygolfpodcast

YouTube: @weekdaygolfpodcast

Twitter/X: @weekdaygolfpod

Design by: Austin Wooldridge

Music provided by: ⁠https://www.classicals.de/mozart-figaro

In Part 1 of our conversation with Olympic Club instructor Nic Noya, we start with Nic’s own golf story: growing up as one of the top junior players in Northern California, competing against future PGA Tour names like Bryson DeChambeau, Austin Smotherman, and Kurt Kitayama, and trying to understand what truly separated the best from everyone else.

Nic reflects on the players who became his measuring sticks, why his college career at UC Davis didn't go as planned, how his game evolved during his mini-tour years, and why succeeding in high-level golf often has less to do with obvious talent than people think.

This is a conversation about junior golf, unrealized potential, competitive disappointment, and the lessons Nic now carries with him as a coach.

In this episode:

• What Nic saw in Bryson DeChambeau as a junior
• Why college golf at UC-Davis didn’t go the way he expected
• What mini-tour golf taught him about scoring
• Why the gap at high levels is not always raw talent
• What it means to “play your best at the right time”

Contact us: [email protected]
Instagram: @weekdaygolfpodcast
YouTube: @weekdaygolfpodcast
Twitter/X: @weekdaygolfpod
Design by: Austin Wooldridge
Music provided by: ⁠https://www.classicals.de/mozart-figaro

Golf has a way of inspiring some pretty ridiculous behavior among friends.

In 2024, our friend Jerry played 201 rounds of golf. So heading into 2025—with his first baby on the way and a job search underway—we started wondering: how many rounds would he actually play this year?

What began as a casual conversation at the bar turned into a secret betting pool predicting Jerry’s entire golf year. And one ironclad rule: Do not tell Jerry.

By the end of the year, 73 friends were involved. And Jerry still had no idea.

This is the story of the betting pool we called "Jerrymandering"—and what it reveals about the strange sociology of golf friendships.

Contact us: [email protected]
Instagram: @weekdaygolfpodcast
YouTube: @weekdaygolfpodcast
Twitter/X: @weekdaygolfpod
Design by: Austin Wooldridge
Music provided by: ⁠https://www.classicals.de/mozart-figaro