Speaker 1: Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where I just
Speaker 1: arrived in Arizona for the She Believes Cup with the
Speaker 1: cide of Cubs Baseball and it's Sonny in seventy five degrees,
Speaker 1: no snow insight, I've got my sun screen on and
Speaker 1: oh sorry, Mishan Alex. I would bottle up some sunshine
Speaker 1: if I could. It's Friday, February twenty first. On today's show,
Speaker 1: we'll be chatting with Tisha Allen, former pro golfer and
Speaker 1: host of Iheart's Welcome to the Party podcast about how
Speaker 1: she got her start as a golfer, getting to preach
Speaker 1: her love of golf to half a million Insta followers,
Speaker 1: and why golf lags behind the other sports when it
Speaker 1: comes to women's empowerment and activism. Plus No Dumb Questions,
Speaker 1: LPGA Tour Edition and NWSL Denver's asking for your help.
Speaker 1: We remember a tennis pro who traded a racket for
Speaker 1: a bag of clubs, and Flage Johnson get some well
Speaker 1: deserved flowers.
Speaker 2: It's all coming up right after this.
Speaker 1: Welcome Back, Happy Friday slices. Here's what you need to
Speaker 1: know today in tennis news. Venus Williams the first black
Speaker 1: woman to achieve a number one ranking in the Open
Speaker 1: era is hitting the court again. The seven time Grand
Speaker 1: Slam singles winner hasn't played in a WTA event since
Speaker 1: last March, but she's been granted a wild card to
Speaker 1: compete in the BNP Paribus Open in Indian Wells, California.
Speaker 3: Starting on March fifth.
Speaker 1: This will be the forty four year old second straight
Speaker 1: year competing at the event. She received a wildcard last
Speaker 1: year too, but she lost in the first round. This
Speaker 1: is the same tournament you remember that Williams and her
Speaker 1: sister Serena boycotted for fourteen years. Yeah, in case you
Speaker 1: weren't tapped in then, Serena played and won the two
Speaker 1: thousand and one tournament final against Kim Cleister's in front
Speaker 1: of a crowd that directed racial slurs and booze.
Speaker 3: At her and her family.
Speaker 1: Venus is currently ranked number nine hundred and seventy four
Speaker 1: in the world, but she's a legend in every sense
Speaker 1: of the word. In footy news, the Denver NWSL club
Speaker 1: is asking fans to help name the team. The Colorado
Speaker 1: franchise announced it's name the club campaign on Wednesday and
Speaker 1: released a short list of six names to choose from.
Speaker 1: They include Denver Peak FC, Colorado fourteen Ers FC, Colorado
Speaker 1: Summit FC, Denver ELEVATEFC, Denver FC, and Denver gold FC.
Speaker 1: Fans can cast a vote for their favorite at Denver
Speaker 1: NWSL dot com slash name. We'll be sure to throw
Speaker 1: that link at our show notes. And hey, if you're
Speaker 1: a rebel and you don't like any of those choices,
Speaker 1: there's also a right in option. More footy news, there's
Speaker 1: an NWSL docu series on the way. Prime Video released
Speaker 1: the trailer and key art for for the Win NWSL,
Speaker 1: a four part series premier in March sixth that grants
Speaker 1: viewers access to the twenty twenty four NWSL playoffs via
Speaker 1: some of the league's biggest stars, exclusive interviews, locker room access,
Speaker 1: match highlight throughout helping paint the picture of the race
Speaker 1: of the championship in Kansas City. We'll link to the
Speaker 1: trailer in our show notes. In international soccer, Luis Rubiellis,
Speaker 1: former president of Spain's football federation, has been convicted of
Speaker 1: sexual assault for forcibly kissing Spanish national team player Jenny
Speaker 1: Hermoso on the lips during the team's twenty twenty three
Speaker 1: World Cup trophy ceremony. Prosecutors pushed for a one year sentence,
Speaker 1: but when the verdict came down, the forty seven year
Speaker 1: old Rubialis was ordered to not go within two hundred
Speaker 1: meters of thirty four year old Hermoso or contactor for
Speaker 1: a year. He was also fined ten thousand euros about
Speaker 1: ten thousand, four hundred and thirty seven US dollars. The
Speaker 1: court also ruled on accusations of coercion. So Rubialis plus
Speaker 1: the team's former head coach Jorge Vilda, former Federation sporting
Speaker 1: director Albert Luke, and former marketing chief Ruben Rivera were
Speaker 1: also accused of pressuring Hermoso into claiming the kiss was consensual.
Speaker 1: Prosecutors initially sought an eighteen month sentence for coercion, but
Speaker 1: all four men were acquitted. After the ordeal took place
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty three, FIFA banned Rubialis from all national
Speaker 1: and international soccer activities for three years. That band is
Speaker 1: said to expire in twenty twenty six. More international soccer,
Speaker 1: the She Believes Cup continues over the weekend. There are
Speaker 1: two games Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. Arizona.
Speaker 1: First Columbia versus Japan at two pm Eastern, then the
Speaker 1: US Women's national team versus the Matilda's of Australia Eastern.
Speaker 1: You can catch both those matchups on TBS and streaming
Speaker 1: on Max, with Spanish language broadcasts available on NBC Universo
Speaker 1: and Peacock. Oh and shout out to friend of the show,
Speaker 1: Becky Souerbrun, who recently retired and came over to the
Speaker 1: dark side. She's working as media for the tournament and
Speaker 1: made her broadcast debut yesterday on TBS. In Pro Hoops,
Speaker 1: Marina Maybrey became the center of attention after news broke
Speaker 1: that the Connecticut s soun denied her trade request. Mayby
Speaker 1: made the ask earlier this month, and her agent, Marcus Crenshaw.
Speaker 1: The FAM agency, gave ESPNS Alexa Philip Who a statement
Speaker 1: about the franchise's decision on Tuesday. It reads, in part quote,
Speaker 1: in this current age of women's empowerment and support of
Speaker 1: the players, the Connecticut Sun threatening to force Marina Maybrey
Speaker 1: to play for them after her trade request is mind boggling.
Speaker 1: He continued, Why would anyone try to force someone to
Speaker 1: play on their team?
Speaker 3: When they don't want to be there.
Speaker 1: It's counterproductive in a ton of ways, and everyone we've
Speaker 1: spoken to is perplexed about how they are handling Marina
Speaker 1: after trading away Hall of Fame caliber players end quote, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you remember, Connecticut's roster looks very different this offseason. The
Speaker 1: team notably traded Elisa Thomas, Dewana Bonner, and Bree Jones,
Speaker 1: who were all key pieces during a stretch of five
Speaker 1: seasons where the Sun made it to the WNBA semi finals.
Speaker 1: Or further, Connecticut acquired Maybury in a shocking trade with
Speaker 1: Chicago last season, giving up their twenty twenty five first
Speaker 1: round pick, a twenty twenty six pick swap, and guards
Speaker 1: Rachel Bannon and Mariah Jefferson. Connecticut's Sun president Jen Rizzotti
Speaker 1: made her own bold statement after denying Maybury's trade request,
Speaker 1: telling Sportico quote, we knew at the time she had
Speaker 1: already forced her way out of two teams, so it
Speaker 1: was a bit risky for us to trade for her,
Speaker 1: but we felt like it was worth it.
Speaker 3: End quote.
Speaker 1: Rizzotti also noted that the franchise has a desire to
Speaker 1: build around Maybury, considering her versatile offensive talent. She told
Speaker 1: ESPN that it quote wasn't in our best interest to
Speaker 1: move her because of the value that we gave up together,
Speaker 1: but also that we place on her end quote. Maybury
Speaker 1: played twenty four games with the Sky before being traded,
Speaker 1: and in sixteen games with the Sun, she averaged fourteen
Speaker 1: point nine points, three point five rebounds, and three point
Speaker 1: four assists. Speaking of the Sun, I don't want to
Speaker 1: stir up any more drama, but could the franchise be
Speaker 1: on the move? After the Sun sold out game in
Speaker 1: Boston last season, some folks from Beantown suggest that the
Speaker 1: team would be better off in their city and now.
Speaker 1: According to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, an ownership
Speaker 1: group led by actor singer Donnie Wahlberg and former NBA
Speaker 1: player Michael Carter Williams, both Boston Burbs natives, is planning
Speaker 1: to prepare an offer for a WNBA expansion team. There's more, though,
Speaker 1: esp Nations Noah Dalzel spoke to Carter Williams, who said
Speaker 1: his group is open to purchasing an existing team like
Speaker 1: the Connecticut Sun. Of course, the Sun would need to
Speaker 1: be willing sellers. We'll keep you updated on that story.
Speaker 1: To college hoops a big ESPN tripleheader is headed our
Speaker 1: way on Sunday. Five ranked programs take the court starting
Speaker 1: at noon Easter with number one Notre Dame at number
Speaker 1: thirteen NC State. Then it's number nine North Carolina at Louisville,
Speaker 1: followed by number seven LSU at number fourteen Kentucky. There
Speaker 1: are thirteen other top twenty five teams playing that day too,
Speaker 1: so we'll link to the full schedule in our show notes.
Speaker 1: Make your viewing plan or set your DVR now do
Speaker 1: people still do DVR? I still do DBAs I'm old. Also,
Speaker 1: number five Yukon plays Butler tomorrow, and we're on Pagebecker's
Speaker 1: watch because she continues to make her way up Yukon's
Speaker 1: all time scores list. On Wednesdays, she passed Dinah Tarassi
Speaker 1: in the record books by scoring her two thousand, one
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty eighth point. She's now ninth on the list,
Speaker 1: and she's got three games left in the regular season,
Speaker 1: needs just twenty one more points to surpass Carrie Bascomb's
Speaker 1: twenty one seventy seven and Nikisha Sales and Kalina Mesgado
Speaker 1: Lewis's twenty.
Speaker 3: One seventy eight.
Speaker 1: We'll keep an eye on her all right, This one's
Speaker 1: for all you ruggers out there. Women's Elite Rugby is
Speaker 1: almost here. The new league announced its game schedule and
Speaker 1: complete rosters for season one this week. The regular season
Speaker 1: starts on May twenty second in New York with a
Speaker 1: match between the New York Exiles and Boston Banshees. The
Speaker 1: season we'll run for roughly three months, concluding on June fourteenth.
Speaker 1: We'll link to the full schedule along with the roster
Speaker 1: announcements in the show notes. And if you didn't hear it,
Speaker 1: go back and listen to our January episode giving you
Speaker 1: the full one oh one on this new league. Also,
Speaker 1: you know the protocol, go choose which team you're riding with.
Speaker 1: It's always more fun when you got some skin in
Speaker 1: the game. At Rugby Evolved and Women's Elite Rugby dot
Speaker 1: us is where to find him.
Speaker 3: And in pro vibes.
Speaker 1: The PVF All Star Game takes place tomorrow in Indianapolis.
Speaker 1: More than ten thousand fans voted on who they wanted
Speaker 1: to see, and now twenty four of the league's best
Speaker 1: players will take center stage at Fisher's Event Center. They'll
Speaker 1: be led by two active college coaching icons Michelle Collier,
Speaker 1: who's entering her twelve year as head coach at Georgia Tech,
Speaker 1: and Dave Shandell, who's guided Purdue since two thousand and three.
Speaker 1: The match will be available live on CBS Sports and
Speaker 1: streaming on Paramount Plus at one thirty Eastern.
Speaker 2: Don't miss it.
Speaker 1: We'll link to where you can find the match and
Speaker 1: ticket info in our show notes.
Speaker 2: Some pretty awesome pop culture news.
Speaker 1: Time magazine released its twenty twenty five Women of the
Speaker 1: Year honorees, and Asia Wilson and Jordan Chiles made the list. Now,
Speaker 1: we're a little confused about why we're announcing Women of
Speaker 1: the Year for the year twenty twenty five in February,
Speaker 1: but that's neither here nor there. We're just excited for
Speaker 1: Asia and Jordan. If you don't already know from listening
Speaker 1: to our show, we're big fans of both.
Speaker 3: Here's a little refresher on their brilliance.
Speaker 1: Wilson is a two time WNBA Champ, three time MVP,
Speaker 1: six time All Star, two tu time Olympic gold medalist.
Speaker 1: She just revealed her a one signature Nike sneaker, and
Speaker 1: she's got a best selling book.
Speaker 3: Dear Black Girls available on shelves everywhere.
Speaker 1: Chiles is a team USA gymnast with Olympic gold and
Speaker 1: silver medals who routinely destroys her competition as a member
Speaker 1: of the UCLA gymnastics team, and has a memoir titled
Speaker 1: I'm That Girl, set to release in March. We'll link
Speaker 1: to the time story and the video about the pair
Speaker 1: in our show notes.
Speaker 2: We're going to take a quick break. When we come back,
Speaker 2: we're chatting with Tisha all In.
Speaker 1: But first a quick note on some new LPGA rules
Speaker 1: that actually were announced the same day that we chatted
Speaker 1: with Tish so. In an effort to speed up play
Speaker 1: on the tour, the LPGA recently announced a new pace
Speaker 1: of play policy that calls for a fine friendy golfer
Speaker 1: who's one to five seconds over there allotted time on
Speaker 1: a whole for those six to fifteen seconds over a
Speaker 1: one stroke penalty, and a two stroke penalty for those
Speaker 1: sixteen seconds over a more. The new rules go into
Speaker 1: effect starting at the Ford Championship on March twenty seventh.
Speaker 1: Golfers are still going to get warned and timed before
Speaker 1: find some stroke penalties are levied. Last year's LPGA player
Speaker 1: of the Year. Nelly Cortas said she's very excited about
Speaker 1: the change.
Speaker 3: End quote.
Speaker 1: I think that implementing harsh rules is going to be
Speaker 1: good for the game of golf. They were saying at
Speaker 1: the meeting. At the end of the day, we're a
Speaker 1: form of entertainment. If we're taking really long out there,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's not entertaining.
Speaker 3: End quote. More on Nelly Corda.
Speaker 1: And who else to watch on tour this year when
Speaker 1: we tea off with Tisha Allin next.
Speaker 2: Joining us now.
Speaker 1: She's a former professional golfer, host of the Welcome to
Speaker 1: the Party podcast here on iHeart Women's Sports, a professional
Speaker 1: speaker and social media star, A passionate advocate for junior golf,
Speaker 1: women's sports and the LGBTQ plus community. She loves a
Speaker 1: TikTok dance and she can do some mean tricks with
Speaker 1: a club of ball and two feet. It's Tisha Allin, Hi, Tisha, Hi, Sarah.
Speaker 4: It's so good to meet you.
Speaker 1: I know, we were at the same conference in New
Speaker 1: York and I was watching you flip around some balls
Speaker 1: from Afar, but we never actually got to chat's and
Speaker 1: now you're part of the team, So welcome to the
Speaker 1: iHeart Women's Sports Podcast.
Speaker 2: FAM. Thank you.
Speaker 4: It's very exciting. It's a new world for me. I
Speaker 4: am learning a lot. I commend you for just you
Speaker 4: just turn and burn this kind of stuff.
Speaker 2: It's a lot, daily shows, a lot.
Speaker 1: But we're happy to be here for the people and
Speaker 1: we're glad you're here because we have a lot of
Speaker 1: questions about golf. But before we get to our burning
Speaker 1: questions about the LPG and the new season, I want
Speaker 1: to know more about your story and particularly how you
Speaker 1: get to half a million Insta followers, dancing, doing tricks
Speaker 1: and sharing your love of golf. So let's go back
Speaker 1: to the beginning. You were born in Rockford, Illinois, which
Speaker 1: you grew up in Cali. How did you first get
Speaker 1: started playing golf?
Speaker 4: So, actually, my dad got me into the game, and
Speaker 4: we got into the game at the same time, so
Speaker 4: it was kind of like our means of just bonding.
Speaker 4: He was a stay at home dad at the time,
Speaker 4: and he'd go to the range bring me with him.
Speaker 4: I'm three years old, and from that moment on, I
Speaker 4: never stopped swinging a club. So I literally don't have
Speaker 4: a memory where I wasn't a golfer. I don't know
Speaker 4: what life is like without golf. It's pretty crazy.
Speaker 1: Oh cool, yeah, yeah, So how does he feel about
Speaker 1: the fact that I guarantee you can absolutely trounce him
Speaker 1: in golf, Like you started at the same time and
Speaker 1: you're infinitely better, I presume.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I actually started beating him, I think at nine
Speaker 4: years old, so it really wasn't that much longer that
Speaker 4: I started to to kind of catch up with him.
Speaker 4: And then after that he just kind of became my
Speaker 4: coach and he was cool with it. He would just
Speaker 4: literally watch what he saw on TV. He'd like watch
Speaker 4: tigers swing and be like, Okay, I think it's what
Speaker 4: you need to do. So we were both just kind
Speaker 4: of like doing it like on the fly, you know.
Speaker 4: But he accepts that that I beat him, and on
Speaker 4: occasions when we do play now, he'll see me hit
Speaker 4: a shot and he's like wow, and I'm like, ye, dad,
Speaker 4: you grew you grew up watching me do this, and
Speaker 4: it just like amazes him, and I think it's really
Speaker 4: it's a really cute kind of like full circle to
Speaker 4: be like this is where he introduced me, and now
Speaker 4: I'm able to make a living, not professionally anymore, but
Speaker 4: you know still very much around the game.
Speaker 1: That's really sweet. And I bet I don't have kids,
Speaker 1: but I bet it is true. Like when the kid
Speaker 1: that you taught how to do something beat to you,
Speaker 1: instead of being mad.
Speaker 2: You're just like, I did that. Yeah, yeah, I made that.
Speaker 1: So you played golf at cal State Fullerton. There isn't
Speaker 1: a draft for the LPGA, so unlike other sports, you
Speaker 1: sort of have to like know and feel ready to
Speaker 1: go pro and also so qualify. So what's that process.
Speaker 4: Yes, it's a great question, and I think it's a
Speaker 4: really it's a big differentiator between other sports. Right because
Speaker 4: we don't have a draft, it's really up to you
Speaker 4: to be like, yo, I think I'm good enough. All right,
Speaker 4: let's go do this thing. How do I do this thing? Oh,
Speaker 4: you have to fund yourself. It's truly all up to you. Really.
Speaker 4: The bottom line is that you do have to have
Speaker 4: a certain handicap, which is essentially like a certain level
Speaker 4: of playability. You have to be a decent enough golfer
Speaker 4: to apply, and if you score too high on these
Speaker 4: qualifying tournaments to qualify you as a pro, you can't
Speaker 4: go back. So you can't like lie about this stuff. Basically.
Speaker 4: But essentially there's a few different ways you can turn professionally.
Speaker 4: But literally, you can graduate college and you can say, hey,
Speaker 4: I'm declaring myself as a professional. And really the biggest
Speaker 4: difference is that you're now getting paid to play. So
Speaker 4: the moment that you try and enter a tournament for money,
Speaker 4: you are now a professional. Doesn't matter if it's a
Speaker 4: minor league event, a major league event, you know, even
Speaker 4: just any place where it's a it's a sanctioned tournament
Speaker 4: and you can win money, you are now a professional.
Speaker 4: So even if you don't win money, even if you
Speaker 4: don't win money, but you entered into a tournament, you
Speaker 4: technically are professional. But like a lot of people won't
Speaker 4: declare themselves that until maybe they see a paycheck out
Speaker 4: of like their own pride.
Speaker 1: You know, you could go back to amateurs at that
Speaker 1: point if you haven't won. But once you've won some money,
Speaker 1: then officially you're.
Speaker 4: Yes, exactly, you're officially a pro. You can deem amateur
Speaker 4: status bags some people still like to do that. I
Speaker 4: never have, so I'm still considered a professional. I just
Speaker 4: haven't competed in a more legitimate event since twenty eighteen.
Speaker 4: That's kind of when I put the bag down. But
Speaker 4: the actual qualifying process, there's a thing called Q School
Speaker 4: or a Q Series that they keep changing the name,
Speaker 4: and it's kind of like Hell Week. It's three different
Speaker 4: huge ass tournaments and you have to basically beat out
Speaker 4: like five hundred girls, go to second stage, beat out
Speaker 4: two hundred and fifty of the best girls, go to
Speaker 4: final stage, beat out one hundred of the best girls,
Speaker 4: and only top twenty get their card, like.
Speaker 2: And then you do a kechstand and then that's it.
Speaker 4: And then that's it, and then you're back on the
Speaker 4: road again.
Speaker 2: You're ready to go, uh Hell Week for golf? Okay, wow, okay?
Speaker 1: And then can you get funding from sponsors or other
Speaker 1: folks early on to help you fund this, like you said,
Speaker 1: if you're just starting out and not winning anything.
Speaker 4: Yet, absolutely, And so I think the beauty but also
Speaker 4: the difficulty of it is is that it's all up
Speaker 4: to you. It's up to you to self promote yourself.
Speaker 4: If you get a sponsor, amazing, that's that's all on you.
Speaker 4: And one of the hardest things coming out of college
Speaker 4: because that's typically the traditional process. Some people, some women,
Speaker 4: some men have gone professionally before not even going to college,
Speaker 4: but typically you go to college. It's it's really just
Speaker 4: like trying to showcase yourself, whether it's on social media
Speaker 4: or getting creating you know, partnerships and relationships with people,
Speaker 4: and really just having good game to be recognized, to
Speaker 4: get sponsors, and it's not easy when you're not on
Speaker 4: the LPGA Tour, which is the highest level. Right there's
Speaker 4: like a minor, middle, and major leagues. It's the way
Speaker 4: I like to explain it. The minor leagues are are
Speaker 4: basically like the it's kind of like entry level tournaments.
Speaker 4: It's to kind of get your feet wet. Then there's
Speaker 4: like the middle leagues, which is considered it's called the
Speaker 4: Epsoen Tour or Ladies European Tour. And then there's LPGA.
Speaker 4: Well those that are starting out from ground zero or
Speaker 4: even on the EPSIN Tour, which is a really great tour.
Speaker 4: These girls don't often get sponsors. It's not easy to
Speaker 4: get noticed unless you're actually on the LPGA or you
Speaker 4: have some type of media value outside of your ability. Right,
Speaker 4: So because women, you know, we actually we have to
Speaker 4: care about the way we look, how we present ourselves
Speaker 4: on top of our ability. It is a double edged
Speaker 4: sword in my opinion, compared to men's sports.
Speaker 1: Right, So, did you always know you wanted to get
Speaker 1: into media and were you simultaneously building your media presence
Speaker 1: before retiring, like while you were playing.
Speaker 4: Yes and yes. So when I went to CALCA Fullerton,
Speaker 4: I was there on a D one scholarship. I played
Speaker 4: number one. My college coach was a former LPGA player.
Speaker 4: I knew that I always wanted to try and professionally,
Speaker 4: but I fell in love with broadcasts and speaking at
Speaker 4: a younger age, like eighth grade, you know, high school.
Speaker 4: I was doing my my newscast for my high school
Speaker 4: and all that stuff like that. I got an internship
Speaker 4: with like ABC when I was in college, and I
Speaker 4: have a broadcast journalism degree in communications, And so for me,
Speaker 4: I knew that if there came a time that professional
Speaker 4: golf wasn't it for me. I always wanted to talk
Speaker 4: about golf. But at the same time, when I graduated,
Speaker 4: which was in twenty fifteen, I said I'm going to
Speaker 4: turn pro. And then I said, oh shit, how am
Speaker 4: I going to afford to turn pro? Well, there's this
Speaker 4: thing called Instagram. Now I guess I should probably showcase
Speaker 4: myself and let's see what happens. It was very very
Speaker 4: new at the time. The word creator or influencer was
Speaker 4: never a thing, and in my opinion, not something I
Speaker 4: ever wanted to call myself because I'm a professional golfer.
Speaker 4: At the end of the day, I was just using
Speaker 4: this thing as a tool to hopefully, you know, if
Speaker 4: I got just one view from someone who wanted to
Speaker 4: sponsor me, and maybe they liked my swing, maybe they
Speaker 4: saw my scores, it can mean something. And then that's
Speaker 4: actually what happened. And then I kept growing and growing
Speaker 4: and growing from there. So I didn't wake up with
Speaker 4: half a million followers or a million on TikTok or
Speaker 4: what have you. It's just been a really slow growth
Speaker 4: since twenty fifteen. And eventually I learned to love the
Speaker 4: media side more than the playing side.
Speaker 1: What did you see when you started to create content
Speaker 1: for up and coming women golfers or just golf fans.
Speaker 1: What did you see missing from existing content that you
Speaker 1: were like, oh, I want to put that out there.
Speaker 4: Literally, that just up and coming, like like welcoming content
Speaker 4: for newer female golfers. I think that was the biggest thing,
Speaker 4: and I know I knew that for myself just being
Speaker 4: a female would already resonate so much because golf, just
Speaker 4: like I'm sure a lot of other sports, it is
Speaker 4: very male dominated, very very male dominated, a lot of
Speaker 4: tradition that goes into it. And so if you ask
Speaker 4: any woman getting into golf, no matter how how long
Speaker 4: they've been playing or not, almost every woman can probably
Speaker 4: say or attest to the fact that they've had negative
Speaker 4: experience with a male coach, or they've been talked at,
Speaker 4: or they have been you know, just negative connotation. And
Speaker 4: for me, I was like, well, I don't have the
Speaker 4: ability to teach everyone every single day. What can I do?
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, I'm gonna share content where I can
Speaker 4: be relatable, make it digestible, make it very simple, because
Speaker 4: I know I'm good at explaining things and breaking things down,
Speaker 4: and also just like making women feel like, yeah, you
Speaker 4: can do this, and you can be really bad ass
Speaker 4: and do this. So that's where I would balance like
Speaker 4: the teaching content of you know, beginner golfers and also
Speaker 4: showing like the badass like events they get to go
Speaker 4: to and the trick shots and the pros they get
Speaker 4: to be around, so that they can see like you
Speaker 4: can do it.
Speaker 2: You can get there, yeah, and you can do cool shit.
Speaker 2: You can golf through golf yeahah yeah. It is extremely
Speaker 2: male dominated.
Speaker 1: I actually spoke to the PGA of British Columbia probably
Speaker 1: like three or four hundred folks last January, and there
Speaker 1: were I think four women, because in Canada the LPGA
Speaker 1: doesn't really have the same hold. If you're a professional
Speaker 1: up there, you're often in the PGA instead, even as
Speaker 1: a woman, and so all these pro it was like
Speaker 1: helping them understand whether their policies and their way of
Speaker 1: doing things was inclusive and actually welcoming women to their clubs,
Speaker 1: into their spaces, or whether they were unintentionally perpetuating some
Speaker 1: of those traditions that made women feel like they weren't allowed.
Speaker 1: There's a great satirical video where they flipped the switch
Speaker 1: and it looks like a guy is being allowed to
Speaker 1: join his girlfriend at the club.
Speaker 2: There's an all women's club. I love seeing it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's a Hailey Ledbetter I think, is that.
Speaker 4: Oh Hollie, Yes, oh my cours.
Speaker 1: I love how So I'll share that video in the
Speaker 1: show notes because it's such a great way of like
Speaker 1: rethinking and being like, yeah, this is what it feels
Speaker 1: like as women going into these spaces all the time,
Speaker 1: and like seeing it flipped really.
Speaker 2: Brings it to light.
Speaker 1: Okay, so we've got your background and how you've turned
Speaker 1: golf into this amazing thing and made it more accessible.
Speaker 1: We need our listeners and me too, to get a
Speaker 1: little more information so we can jump in and understand
Speaker 1: more about it. So it's time for No Dumb Questions
Speaker 1: Golf Edition. So for the listeners that know a ton,
Speaker 1: this will be a reminder, but for those of us
Speaker 1: that want to get started and watch more, we're gonna
Speaker 1: use my patented method for this stars Steak stats and stories.
Speaker 1: So okay, I actually want to start with stakes first.
Speaker 1: What counts as a great season in golf is that
Speaker 1: like a couple of big tournament wins for a player.
Speaker 4: Absolutely tournament wins really help your rankings. But at the
Speaker 4: end of the day, it comes down to rankings. There
Speaker 4: are two different ranking systems I believe one is called
Speaker 4: the Rolex Rankings. The other one I'm blanking on, but
Speaker 4: just know that they both matter because they weigh in
Speaker 4: for big events for like, for example, the Solheim Cup,
Speaker 4: which is our Team USA versus Team Europe event. It's
Speaker 4: a big deal. Like rankings matter for that rankings also
Speaker 4: matter for your pay. Essentially you can get bonuses. It
Speaker 4: matters just for you know, you know, rankings because they matter,
Speaker 4: and so that is essentially. Yeah, that's that's how it rolls.
Speaker 2: Okay, So a couple big tournament wins is good?
Speaker 4: Yes? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Are those bonuses coming from sponsors? Are they coming from
Speaker 1: the LPGA, Like, if you're getting bonuses for your rankings,
Speaker 1: where's that money coming from?
Speaker 4: So oftentimes it is a lot from sponsors. They do
Speaker 4: actually have a challenge. I believe it's also going on
Speaker 4: this year. It's called the a On Risk and Reward Challenge.
Speaker 4: And although that's not really a bonus, but it's another
Speaker 4: it's another thing to.
Speaker 2: Go fight TwixT season long.
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, essentially like a humul. Yeah, it's basically where
Speaker 4: Aon is a sponsor and they would at each event
Speaker 4: they would have a specific holding sponsor and whoever has
Speaker 4: the lowest average score on that hole and it's all comprised,
Speaker 4: you know, uh, the compilation of all the tournaments and
Speaker 4: they're a hole from each tournament. Whoever has like the
Speaker 4: lowest you know, scoring average will win a million dollars. Yeah,
Speaker 4: and my good friend angel Yann who's on the LPGA
Speaker 4: tour one that was it. I would think it was
Speaker 4: in twenty twenty three and and it was just like,
Speaker 4: I mean, it's an amazing, amazing additional paycheck to end.
Speaker 2: Kids in with, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's like when I play in the like low
Speaker 1: obviously clearly low level celebrity golf tournaments here where they
Speaker 1: pair me with a bunch of guys from like a
Speaker 1: construction company, there's always like one hole where closest to
Speaker 1: the pin and get surprised or longest drive, and it's
Speaker 1: specific to that hole. But it's like that on steroids
Speaker 1: because it's across the entire liter and for a million dollars,
Speaker 1: I did win.
Speaker 2: Closest to the pin ones.
Speaker 1: In case anyone was wondering, Okay, how can we tell
Speaker 1: by looking at the calendar which tournaments are the biggest
Speaker 1: and are probably featuring the top talent.
Speaker 4: Absolutely so, usually when you're looking on a calendar, they'll
Speaker 4: they'll typically have it bolded of some sort, or there
Speaker 4: will be a note that it is a major. But
Speaker 4: there are a few tournaments that that are very notably
Speaker 4: clearly majors. For example, the US Women's Open, hands down,
Speaker 4: very big one. That one takes place in the States.
Speaker 4: Then there's a Women's British Open, which is essentially like
Speaker 4: the US Open, but of UK, and it's just as
Speaker 4: big and so and then.
Speaker 2: And everyone can play in those.
Speaker 4: No, you have to either qualify to be in there
Speaker 4: or you have to have the correct you know, a
Speaker 4: high enough ranking.
Speaker 1: But I mean, like it's not a specific to British players.
Speaker 1: And it's like the French Open for tennis.
Speaker 2: Everybody plays and it it's just in France exactly.
Speaker 1: So British Open, US Open might have similar fields, it's
Speaker 1: just where they're being.
Speaker 4: Held, correct, like Wimbledon or yeah right, yeah, US Open intests,
Speaker 4: Yeah exactly that.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: So there's five big majors. One of them is another
Speaker 4: one is the Evon Championship. Again a sponsor name. I
Speaker 4: totally get. It's so funny because as a golfer, I
Speaker 4: don't think of it. It's just like, oh, I know
Speaker 4: that's a major, but I'm like, oh my god, no,
Speaker 4: other people may not know that's a big deal. So
Speaker 4: there has to be like an addition.
Speaker 1: I like, especially when the sponsors changed, because like one
Speaker 1: year you'll be like, oh, I heard that's a big
Speaker 1: one and the.
Speaker 2: Next year is a different name. You're like, I don't know,
Speaker 2: is that the same thing?
Speaker 4: Good point? You know what, I'm gonna have to bring
Speaker 4: that back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, let's talk stars. Yes, last year even the
Speaker 1: most novice of watchers knew about Nelly Korda.
Speaker 4: Yes, that's a good place to start.
Speaker 1: Seven events that she won LPGA Player of the Year.
Speaker 1: Tell us more about her and what makes her.
Speaker 2: So good, you know.
Speaker 4: So Nelly has always been a very first late her
Speaker 4: and her sister are very strong players. So there's Nelly
Speaker 4: and Jessica Korda. So Jessica has taken a step back
Speaker 4: and it's actually more on the commentating side now, but
Speaker 4: she's had many wins under her belt too, And leading
Speaker 4: up into last year, Nelly was always a very solid player,
Speaker 4: like you would always see her in the top ten rankings.
Speaker 4: But last year when she won six tournaments in a
Speaker 4: row and then finished out with the seventh, I think
Speaker 4: later in the season, like I don't think people really
Speaker 4: understand the gravity of how insane that is, Like that's
Speaker 4: a that's like a Tiger Woods year, you know. Like
Speaker 4: and when he was in his Prime and and she
Speaker 4: was literally unstoppable last year. And she even claims that
Speaker 4: she went through a low point. I think any any
Speaker 4: high level athlete will consider themselves like there's a low
Speaker 4: point in any high But I'm like, girl, you still
Speaker 4: won seven events, I think every.
Speaker 2: One of the best years ever.
Speaker 4: So and I think she already had a really strong
Speaker 4: finish coming into this year. And this season just began,
Speaker 4: so we're just now getting started. Mayor just don't happen
Speaker 4: until the spring season, so it's really just warming up
Speaker 4: basically up until then. But Nellie Corda you absolutely have
Speaker 4: to watch. She's also a great follow and you know
Speaker 4: she's growing to become more than just her ability, but
Speaker 4: also her personality, which I think it's such an interesting
Speaker 4: thing in golf because unlike other sports like WNBA and NWSL,
Speaker 4: women in golf we are kind of trained to not
Speaker 4: speak out right, like we've always been kind of like submissed,
Speaker 4: you know, you don't don't talk outwardly about you know,
Speaker 4: inequalities and stuff. And it's kind of just now becoming
Speaker 4: more mainstream. And Nelly has also spoken about it, like,
Speaker 4: you know, slow play, we need to fix this girl,
Speaker 4: Like the girl's schedule. We need to fix this, and
Speaker 4: so she should. She can because she's the best player
Speaker 4: right now.
Speaker 2: So like using that influence to speak out.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned how golf culture has sort of historically
Speaker 1: relied on women not speaking up and how it's a
Speaker 1: different culture than other sports. And what we found is
Speaker 1: in some cases the activism is actually what draws fans
Speaker 1: to women's game, whether that's WNBA or NWSL, and maybe
Speaker 1: has kept fans away from golf. For instance, a LPGA
Speaker 1: has had some of the most restrictive policies when it
Speaker 1: comes to trans athletes. Organization didn't make much of a
Speaker 1: statement when Roe versus Wade fell. They had a recent
Speaker 1: partnership with Barstool Sports, which I found really problematic. It
Speaker 1: just feels different from women's leagues. Do you think that
Speaker 1: the golf world realizes that the lack of activism and
Speaker 1: the partnerships they choose maybe has prevented the sport from
Speaker 1: growing a fan base.
Speaker 4: I mean, I completely agree with everything you're saying, and
Speaker 4: I think the hardest thing with golf, as I mentioned,
Speaker 4: is that traditional background, right that you're raised and it's
Speaker 4: always been raised to be a man's sport and we
Speaker 4: have consistently pushed the boundaries, and I've always told everyone
Speaker 4: that golf is always just a few years behind because
Speaker 4: of the tradition. Like if I could, if I were
Speaker 4: the commissioner and I got to have all to say,
Speaker 4: I would literally be following exactly what the other sports
Speaker 4: are doing. Because I truly believe too that the activism
Speaker 4: is exactly what draws outside fans into the game, a
Speaker 4: newer generation into the game. How can you play a
Speaker 4: sport that you don't simply feel welcome in. I'm a
Speaker 4: part of the LGBTQ plus community. I didn't see I
Speaker 4: didn't see much voice in that until a lot later
Speaker 4: in my years when I really needed it most, you know.
Speaker 4: And that's why I speak so avidly about it, because
Speaker 4: I'm like, God forbid, there's someone younger than me who
Speaker 4: wants to golf and doesn't feel welcome, you know. Like
Speaker 4: that's why I feel the need to press so hard.
Speaker 4: So I do agree with you that I think that
Speaker 4: the lack of activism or the lack of pushing harder,
Speaker 4: I suppose because they I can't say that they don't
Speaker 4: do nothing. They do, and I understand them to the
Speaker 4: degree where if you. If you try and put anything
Speaker 4: down your audience's throat, it will never be received well.
Speaker 4: And I know that they're doing their best to try
Speaker 4: and create change, but not in such a way that's
Speaker 4: so drastic that it then creates like a huge, you know,
Speaker 4: a huge negative reaction. And I think that's a really
Speaker 4: hard balance with golf. Also, I think what's really difficult
Speaker 4: is that golf is an individual sport. So at the
Speaker 4: end of the day, for men and women combine. I
Speaker 4: if I'm feeding my people, I'm feeding my cam do
Speaker 4: I really need to look at her to get usher right?
Speaker 4: But when you're in a team atmosphere, I feel like,
Speaker 4: especially with like Women's Batall and the NWSLF, you have
Speaker 4: your other teammates to give you the confidence to speak up.
Speaker 4: You have other strong women who are like, if you fall,
Speaker 4: I catch you. There is not a lot of that
Speaker 4: in women's golf, and golf is such a solo sport,
Speaker 4: literally blinders up because you're just training by yourself. That
Speaker 4: I don't blame these women too, because they weren't also
Speaker 4: given the tools and maybe not necessarily maybe also not
Speaker 4: the knowledge to be able to speak on it. I
Speaker 4: think a lot of them also feel uncomfortable because they're
Speaker 4: still trying to figure out where they stand or the
Speaker 4: right words, or they're afraid to get canceled.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're with sponsors even you know, if sponsors are
Speaker 1: wanting to be more traditional.
Speaker 2: Has there ever been conversation about a union for the players.
Speaker 4: That's a great question. I think it's been brought up
Speaker 4: amongst the They have like a leadership advisory board that
Speaker 4: are the professionals, and I think that's I think that's
Speaker 4: something that they definitely bring up. But it's also something
Speaker 4: that they absolutely fight because there is not much protection
Speaker 4: for let's say, the players on tour who are mothers
Speaker 4: and need care right and or like paid to lead.
Speaker 4: We don't get that you take time.
Speaker 1: Like a union might help and give that support that
Speaker 1: maybe individuals need. Absolutely, by the way, you mentioned if
Speaker 1: you were the commissioner. I know Molly Mark Cusimon is
Speaker 1: stepping down, so there's an opening.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, just ring you know what.
Speaker 4: I don't know how some of the players would feel
Speaker 4: about that, but I promise I would always just do
Speaker 4: right by them. I'll put the players first, you know,
Speaker 4: I very much care.
Speaker 1: She's already getting she's already getting her platform ready to go. Okay,
Speaker 1: So who else has been atop the leader board pretty
Speaker 1: consistently in recent years.
Speaker 2: What's another name or two we should know?
Speaker 4: So Lydia Coe. Lydia Coe, she is amazing. She she
Speaker 4: won the Women's British Open last year and she has
Speaker 4: I think two or all three Olympic medals under her
Speaker 4: belt from the past, and she was a young starlight
Speaker 4: still killing it on the tour and she she's just
Speaker 4: someone that you want to follow, not only because she's
Speaker 4: a great player, but she she has she's genuinely such
Speaker 4: a really good human being, you know what I mean,
Speaker 4: Like not jaded by by the industry or the media.
Speaker 4: She just keeps doing what she does and she does
Speaker 4: it very well. So Lydia Co. Absolutely, I'm gonna have
Speaker 4: to throw out my friend who I mentioned before, Angel
Speaker 4: Yan out there. She is a player who I feel
Speaker 4: like has always been on the rise and she's had
Speaker 4: one LPGA win, but I think she's just waiting kind
Speaker 4: of like for that consistent winning moment. But she's always
Speaker 4: been right there. She just finished I think top ten
Speaker 4: in the last event, and she has a really big
Speaker 4: personality and I appreciate any big personalities on the tour.
Speaker 4: And the last one that I will say is Megan Kang,
Speaker 4: who is also another like always been top twenty player.
Speaker 4: She played in last year's Solheim Cup, which I mentioned
Speaker 4: was a really big tournament and Team USA took home
Speaker 4: the win. Thank goodness we got the cup back. And
Speaker 4: she's also just an amazing personality. She's not afraid to
Speaker 4: dance on the golf course. She's not afraid to, like, hey,
Speaker 4: like pump up the you know, bring the crowd up
Speaker 4: and whatnot, and like that's that's I think what we
Speaker 4: need more of in golf. And I think that the
Speaker 4: younger generation of golfers that are now coming into the
Speaker 4: league or into the tour are bringing that energy.
Speaker 1: And I think there's probably, even if it's unspoken or
Speaker 1: sort of subconscious, if you enter a space that's been
Speaker 1: more welcoming to women throughout the entirety of your life,
Speaker 1: you're more likely to bring some spice to it than
Speaker 1: women golfers who arrived at a time when there were
Speaker 1: still so many clubs that didn't even allow women members,
Speaker 1: and that's so clearly discriminated against women in the space.
Speaker 1: I think with every year that passes where it's more normal.
Speaker 1: There's more sponsors and funding and interest and resources for
Speaker 1: women golfers, they feel more comfortable demanding more. We've seen
Speaker 1: that across every single sports space. When a league is
Speaker 1: more secure and solid, the athletes feel more empowered to
Speaker 1: speak out about the things that they want to need. Okay,
Speaker 1: let's talk stories. Are there any players you just mentioned
Speaker 1: a couple, but any other players we might fall in
Speaker 1: love with if we knew more about them. I'm thinking
Speaker 1: about they're representing a group that isn't usually seen in golf.
Speaker 1: They've got a fun side gig, they're coming back from injury,
Speaker 1: They've got a great social media presence. I'm thinking in
Speaker 1: part like Charlie hall Oh, I hadn't really heard much
Speaker 1: about her. I saw clip where she's like bumming a
Speaker 1: sig off someone in the gallery in the middle of
Speaker 1: I'm not advocating for that. I hate cigarettes, but I'm like,
Speaker 1: this is a unique person that I need to hear
Speaker 1: more about.
Speaker 2: Why is she smoking heaters midway through the match?
Speaker 4: Yes? I mean gosh. Charlie is also another big fan
Speaker 4: favorite and shout out to Malbourne. It's a it's a
Speaker 4: golf brand and the way they've brought streetwear into golf,
Speaker 4: and she is wrapped by them, and so she's playing well,
Speaker 4: she's ripping cigarettes and she's looking good out there, and
Speaker 4: she honestly, she.
Speaker 2: Just gives no it's a vibe.
Speaker 4: Yeah what we not. We advise, but but she is
Speaker 4: definitely a player to look out for because she she
Speaker 4: also just had a win last year and she is
Speaker 4: a player that she like nothing fazes her, Like you can,
Speaker 4: you can do no wrong by her. You can try
Speaker 4: and heckle her, you can do all you want. She doesn't.
Speaker 4: She doesn't care. She literally does not care. And I
Speaker 4: love that about her. So definitely her, I think, gosh,
Speaker 4: I mean, I know I keep bringing up Angel, but
Speaker 4: she's she's such a good she's such a good story,
Speaker 4: and I think I'm waiting for that big moment for her.
Speaker 4: Lily Avou is another one. They're kind of like Angel
Speaker 4: and Lily kind of I feel like, always competed together
Speaker 4: when they were younger coming up, and Lily is a
Speaker 4: very strong player as well. Was also in the Sol
Speaker 4: Hymn Cup, and I think she she also had a
Speaker 4: few injuries, and so I think for her, waiting for
Speaker 4: that big moment it's hard in golf because you you
Speaker 4: lose far more than you win, right Like, if anything,
Speaker 4: if you're you're lucky to have a win in your
Speaker 4: career period. But you know, I recently also began this
Speaker 4: podcasting journey, right and I just had a couple young
Speaker 4: girls on my pod, Christine Christine Wang and Amari Avery,
Speaker 4: who are USC grads. They're in the Middle League tours,
Speaker 4: fighting the way to the top, and I think that
Speaker 4: they're just great personalities. One is a lot more social
Speaker 4: media heavy, really shows it behind the scenes of professional
Speaker 4: golf life. And amar Avery, who has been a star
Speaker 4: like golfer, was on justin Timberlake's documentary show called The
Speaker 4: Short Game or something like that on Netflix, and and
Speaker 4: she's up there. She's already played a few LPG events
Speaker 4: and so just very excited to see the younger generation
Speaker 4: and come into the scene.
Speaker 1: You've mentioned Starlight twice. Is that a lower level kind
Speaker 1: of golf?
Speaker 4: No, I wouldn't say that. It's more just like they
Speaker 4: are just feature stars in the making.
Speaker 2: Okay, got it. Yeah, And they are assigned that specific
Speaker 2: name or is that your own?
Speaker 4: That's just my own?
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 4: Maybe it was like all star Lights like I thought
Speaker 4: it was like a like a league or they're just
Speaker 4: like they're just cute, but.
Speaker 2: You have your own my little star lights.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I just wanted to point out because this is something
Speaker 1: I was surprised by when I was researching for the
Speaker 1: show Lexi Thompson retiring. She has this massive name in golf,
Speaker 1: and then I looked, and she has fifteen professional wins. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's not a lot for how long she played. It
Speaker 1: is a lot for golf though, Like if you don't
Speaker 1: know about golf and you're like, she played how many
Speaker 1: years and she won fifteen times? And that helped me
Speaker 1: kind of put into perspective and recognize that to your point,
Speaker 1: you're lucky if you get a win a season and
Speaker 1: you could still be one of the best players in
Speaker 1: the world.
Speaker 4: Right I think that. Yeah, again, very different from other sports, right,
Speaker 4: like if it's not like basketball and soccer, where there
Speaker 4: is a winning team at the end of the day, right,
Speaker 4: like half of the people are going to be happy, right, Well,
Speaker 4: in golf, there's really one person that's happy. And even
Speaker 4: though second and third and fourth and fifth, they're they're
Speaker 4: becoming great, you know, purses and money bags, but they're
Speaker 4: still not happy because they came here to win, and
Speaker 4: every tournament you're going up against ninety plus top female
Speaker 4: golf in the funeral, right, So when you look at it,
Speaker 4: Alexi's record at the end of the day, she turned
Speaker 4: pro when she was sixteen, so yeah, her career was
Speaker 4: really long. But anyone who has double digit wins at
Speaker 4: the end of their career, in my opinion, I'm like,
Speaker 4: you're goaded because it's really which is why.
Speaker 1: It's so insane that Nelly Quarter won seven times in
Speaker 1: one year. Yes, which is now we're putting it all
Speaker 1: together exactly how this works? Okay, stats for the novice interviewer,
Speaker 1: how can they look at a golfer's final scorecard and
Speaker 1: figure out how they've done, especially since it clearly depends
Speaker 1: on the course.
Speaker 4: This is where golf gets kind of interesting and intricate.
Speaker 4: So what's what's really neat is like, if you actually
Speaker 4: are an avid golf follower, if you download the LPGA app,
Speaker 4: you can literally hit every player and you can do
Speaker 4: it live. You can see their shots live, and you
Speaker 4: can actually see their legitimate statistics live there, which I
Speaker 4: think is actually very interesting if you want to know.
Speaker 4: So for example, some statistics that you want to know
Speaker 4: are like average score. That's that's like the very very basic.
Speaker 4: The lower your score, the better, And I think Nelly
Speaker 4: had like an average of a sixty nine or lower.
Speaker 4: And so for those that are completely brand new to golf, right,
Speaker 4: the average the par of a given golf course on
Speaker 4: average is seventy two. That means that you want if
Speaker 4: you want to beat the course, seventy two is a number.
Speaker 4: Well just to average seventy two is already a stretch.
Speaker 4: And Nelly averages a sixty nine three shots below averaging.
Speaker 4: That means that she had a lot of scores that
Speaker 4: were like sixty three, sixty four, sixty five. That is
Speaker 4: incredible to be able to get an average at that,
Speaker 4: Like players would die to just have to score sixty
Speaker 4: nins all the time. So that is a stat you
Speaker 4: also want to look at. And then if you're really
Speaker 4: really into it, or maybe you're already a golfer that's
Speaker 4: like wanting to get into it more and you're like, oh,
Speaker 4: I want to compare my stats, then you can look
Speaker 4: at like the average fair aways hit, the average greens
Speaker 4: hit on average, the LPGA Tour hits. I think about
Speaker 4: thirteen greens, so there's eighteen holes. If a player averages
Speaker 4: thirteen greens, that means that they're getting it on the
Speaker 4: dance floor around thirteen times per round. I think many
Speaker 4: people think that oh, every pro just hits the green
Speaker 4: every single time. Won't know they miss often, They just
Speaker 4: know how to recover. So it's actually a really interesting
Speaker 4: interesting thing to compare men's and women's stats because women
Speaker 4: are just far more accurate. They may not pound the ball,
Speaker 4: you know, three hundred and fifty four hundred yards like
Speaker 4: the guys, but the accuracy in comparison, I think if
Speaker 4: I remember, it's like a woman's five iron is comparable
Speaker 4: to like a man's nine iron, which means a five
Speaker 4: iron is a much longer club, it's a much more
Speaker 4: difficult club to hit, and they're able to have the
Speaker 4: accuracy of a man's nine or eight iron. That's pretty crazy.
Speaker 4: So yeah, saying women are pretty cool, Well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you can look at something like drive length
Speaker 1: and be impressed by it. But somebody could have the
Speaker 1: longest drives and not be and then have many more
Speaker 1: shots coming down the course that they have to make
Speaker 1: up for the fact that their drive one into the woods.
Speaker 2: Or otherwise. Okay, so this is just personal for me.
Speaker 1: When the average golfer, not a professional, talks about his
Speaker 1: or her handicap, what number should I pretend to be
Speaker 1: super impressed by?
Speaker 2: Single digits?
Speaker 4: It's like, yes, absolutely single digits. So remember when I said, like, okay,
Speaker 4: the if a score average is seventy two, and someone
Speaker 4: says they're a scratch golfer, that means that they average
Speaker 4: seventy two even with really, so scratch is good for
Speaker 4: the longest time, I was a scratch player. Now I
Speaker 4: kind of say I'm like a four because and people
Speaker 4: take the money.
Speaker 1: That's in context of, like, obviously, since it's so impressive
Speaker 1: that Nelly Quarter is under that, that's a scratch golfer
Speaker 1: for like an average course you'd go out to at
Speaker 1: your local club, which is not the same as being
Speaker 1: a scratch golfer at professional courses.
Speaker 2: Correct.
Speaker 4: Well, actually, if you were to give Nelly a handed handicap,
Speaker 4: so when you actually average underpar, it's kind of like
Speaker 4: a mind twist. You put a plus in front of
Speaker 4: the number. So if I'm yes, like let's say I'm
Speaker 4: a four handicap, she's probably a naga or sorry, a
Speaker 4: plus like six point something if you actually were to
Speaker 4: do the numbers. Yeah, right, And it's just it's insane,
Speaker 4: like how how good the pros are? So basically, if
Speaker 4: you're chatting it up and you're going to like a
Speaker 4: celebrity golf event and they're like, oh, I'm a single,
Speaker 4: I'm a single handicapper or I'm scratch. If they I
Speaker 4: think are saying they're under like a six handicap, I
Speaker 4: think that's a pretty strong player. And very quickly, very quickly,
Speaker 4: when I'm playing in these events because I do a
Speaker 4: lot more celebrity events now that I'm doing media, they're like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 4: I'm like a two or three, and I can see
Speaker 4: if I can see there they're swinging their first swing
Speaker 4: on the first hole, and I see the result. I'm like, immediately,
Speaker 4: like your lives you just know too long?
Speaker 2: I just know.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I just tell everyone when I arrive, I don't have
Speaker 1: a handicap, so that's.
Speaker 2: A great how rarely I play, yes, and I'm gonna.
Speaker 1: Blast the ball every once in a while, and then
Speaker 1: I'm also just gonna just take another ball out of
Speaker 1: my bag and drop it wherever we think my ball
Speaker 1: might have landed that we can't find. Yeah, okay, final
Speaker 1: question for you, what are some tips to help us
Speaker 1: be a better golf viewer? Like, what can we watch
Speaker 1: for besides just whether the ball goes into the fair
Speaker 1: wind then goes in the hole.
Speaker 4: Well, if you want to have just like better education
Speaker 4: on it, I do think that whether it's just simply
Speaker 4: following your favorite players, like maybe you don't know much
Speaker 4: about golf, but but you love the idea of Nelly,
Speaker 4: We'll go follow her, go support her. I love that.
Speaker 4: If you want to actually get to follow golf, absolutely
Speaker 4: follow the LPGA tour and turn on your freaking TVs
Speaker 4: and go tune in. Because the annoying fight that I'm
Speaker 4: sure other sports go through too, is like, oh why
Speaker 4: invest in women's golf, like the viewership and that there
Speaker 4: is no ROI yeah whatever, bs right, Like, I think
Speaker 4: it's unfair because we never had the platform given right.
Speaker 2: You have to give it a chance.
Speaker 4: You have to give it a freaking chance. Yeah, And I'm like,
Speaker 4: we can say tune in all this and whatnot, But
Speaker 4: then again, like the LPGA isn't even given as many
Speaker 4: cameras as a PGA tour, So how are we going
Speaker 4: to even showcase as many women, right, But the best
Speaker 4: we could do is tune in when the tournament is on,
Speaker 4: show some love, especially on social media, and really just
Speaker 4: like get that conversation going with other influential people around you.
Speaker 4: I do it all the time. I'm constantly talking to
Speaker 4: whether it's investment funds or what have you, like, invest
Speaker 4: in women's golf. Investing women's golf and watch the culture change.
Speaker 4: You have to help the girls change the culture. It's
Speaker 4: hard to just count on them individually because it is
Speaker 4: an individual sport. Like, let's give them the tools and
Speaker 4: the confidence so they feel like they have a team
Speaker 4: behind them.
Speaker 2: Well, you're doing that.
Speaker 1: You're doing that whenever million followers, you're half a million
Speaker 1: followers and your podcasts, so everyone go check it out.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much. I learned a ton on this, so
Speaker 2: thanks so much for coming on.
Speaker 4: Of course, I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1: Thanks again to Tish for joining us. We have to
Speaker 1: take another break when we come back. One two sport
Speaker 1: athlete who took things to a new level.
Speaker 2: Welcome Backslaces.
Speaker 1: It's Black History Month and we're continuing to highlight the
Speaker 1: journeys and contributions of black trailblazers in the women's sports space.
Speaker 1: In honor of our LPGA combo with Tisha Allen, we
Speaker 1: thought it'd be fitting to talk about the first black
Speaker 1: player on the LPGA Tour.
Speaker 3: Althea Gibson.
Speaker 1: Gibson was born in South Carolina in nineteen twenty seven.
Speaker 1: When she was about three, she moved to New York
Speaker 1: City to live with an aunt, and at twelve she
Speaker 1: started playing tennis at the Harlem River Courts. As you
Speaker 1: might already know, she was a star with a tennis
Speaker 1: racket in her hand. Althea went on to become the
Speaker 1: first black player to win a Grand Slam in nineteen
Speaker 1: fifty six and amassed eleven combined Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles,
Speaker 1: and mixed competition before she walked away from tennis. As
Speaker 1: great as she was, she couldn't make enough money playing
Speaker 1: tennis to sustain herself, so she made a change before
Speaker 1: her tennis success. When Gibson was a student at Florida
Speaker 1: A and M in the nineteen fifties, she took a
Speaker 1: golf class and, according to Rex Miller, who directed the
Speaker 1: PBS documentary filma, the things she learned and it stuck
Speaker 1: with her, so when she put her racket down, she
Speaker 1: picked up a golf club under the tutelage of Jerry
Speaker 1: Volpe at New Jersey's.
Speaker 3: Englewood Golf Club.
Speaker 1: Volpe was a local legend and was horrified by how
Speaker 1: little money Alpia made. Is the best female tennis player
Speaker 1: in the world, so he gave her an honorary membership
Speaker 1: at Englewood. Gibson honed her skills and joined the LPGA
Speaker 1: Tour in nineteen sixty three at thirty six years old.
Speaker 1: She never won any of the one hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: one events she played between then in nineteen seventy seven,
Speaker 1: but she was one of the LPGA's top fifty money
Speaker 1: earners for five years. She also worked closely with LPGA
Speaker 1: Tour director Lenny Wurtz to help create a more welcoming
Speaker 1: tour for players from all walks of life. Her presence
Speaker 1: was arguably more important than any trophy she could have hoisted.
Speaker 1: Nineteen sixty three, the year she joined the tour, was
Speaker 1: the height of the Civil rights movement. It was the
Speaker 1: same year as the March on Washington where Martin Luther
Speaker 1: King Junior gave his I have a dream speech, and
Speaker 1: it was only two years after the Professional Golfers Association
Speaker 1: of America got rid of the Caucasian only.
Speaker 3: Clause in its bylaws.
Speaker 1: With all the racism and bigoted vitriol toward black folks,
Speaker 1: Althia Gibson's desire to persist and to pursue what she
Speaker 1: wanted simply because she wanted to was an act of resistance.
Speaker 1: Althea's talents and curiosity didn't stop there, though. Over the
Speaker 1: course of her life, she also learned how to box,
Speaker 1: became the New Jersey Athletic Commissioner, released an album called
Speaker 1: Althea Gibson Sings, and wrote a memoir titled I Always
Speaker 1: Wanted to Be Somebody. Gibson passed away in two thousand
Speaker 1: and three. To this day, only seven more black women
Speaker 1: have earned LPGA Tour membership. In our interview, you heard
Speaker 1: Tisha talk about how the intense tradition steep so deeply
Speaker 1: in golf culture makes it hard to see change. Well,
Speaker 1: it feels like it's long overdue to push back on that,
Speaker 1: and there's plenty of work left to do to make
Speaker 1: sure that golf is accessible to everyone. We love that
Speaker 1: you're listening slices, but We want you to get in
Speaker 1: the game every day too, So here's our good gameplay
Speaker 1: of the day. Take a page out of Super Slice
Speaker 1: Amanda's book. You might recall that on Valentine's Day, we
Speaker 1: asked y'all to tell us what sports dating show you'd
Speaker 1: make if you had the power of a production company
Speaker 1: behind you. Well, Amanda wrote us with some awesome ideas.
Speaker 1: She wrote, Hello, Big Citrus. If I had the power
Speaker 1: of a production company behind me, there are two league
Speaker 1: or sports dating shows I would.
Speaker 3: Want to watch.
Speaker 1: Pimp My Bride WNBA fans bring their fiancees to a
Speaker 1: rotating team of fab five WNBA consultants for lifestyle advice
Speaker 1: and tips before the big day. Episode one, Skyler Digg
Speaker 1: and Smith Fashion, Dja Carrington Hair and Makeup, Diana Trassi
Speaker 1: Food and Wine, Natasha Cloud Dancing, Sid Colson Culture and
Speaker 1: social media trading. Okay, I want to stop there for
Speaker 1: a second, Amanda, because I obsessed with this idea. It's
Speaker 1: like Pimp My Bride, plus says to the dress plus
Speaker 1: queerye for the strake guy.
Speaker 2: What do they call that now? Just Queeri?
Speaker 1: Either way, it's one of my favorite shows that it
Speaker 1: brings me joy every single episode and I am obsessed
Speaker 1: with this idea.
Speaker 3: We need to pitch it immediately.
Speaker 1: Okay, back to Amanda, she also wants to see Beauty
Speaker 1: and the Beach hard knock style docuseries that follows the
Speaker 1: relationships and drama of the AVP Tour partner selection breakups, training,
Speaker 1: coaching changes. Okay, basically, I want an hour of guilty
Speaker 1: pleasure watching beautiful bodies and bikinis running around on a beach.
Speaker 1: Thanks again for crushing it. I love the show and
Speaker 1: appreciate the listener engagement call outs. It's a highlight of
Speaker 1: my day. We hear you, Amanda. Whether it's bikinis or shorts,
Speaker 1: there is something for everybody at an AVP tour. And
Speaker 1: I say, this is someone who used to hop in
Speaker 1: my car drive to whatever beach had an AVP championship
Speaker 1: and they go to the bar and try to comfort
Speaker 1: the tall, lanky athletic men who lost that day.
Speaker 3: I don't think we need to get into any more
Speaker 3: of that.
Speaker 1: We're picking up what you're putting down, Amanda, and if
Speaker 1: any other slices have ideas, please send a bar way.
Speaker 2: We always love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: Hit us up, bunnymail good game at Wondermedia neetwork dot
Speaker 1: com or leave us a voicemail at eight seven two
Speaker 1: to two four fifty seventy and don't forget to subscribe
Speaker 1: a rate and review. It's easy watch rapper and LSU
Speaker 1: baller Flage Johnson, rating five out of five stars as
Speaker 1: a hooper and performer review. In a recent social media post,
Speaker 1: the LSU star shared the criticism that she hears as
Speaker 1: a young woman trying to live out two two big dreams.
Speaker 1: Quote too dark, too tomboyish, not feminine enough pretty for
Speaker 1: a dark skinned girl, not focused, too skinny, no sex appeal,
Speaker 1: be a rapper, just twop. I can only be me.
Speaker 1: Just because I carry it well doesn't mean it ain't heavy.
Speaker 1: What I'm doing has never been done before. And I'm
Speaker 1: shattering expectations by pursuing multiple passions. And I won't be
Speaker 1: held back by doubts or comparisons. If I don't excel
Speaker 1: in one area, it doesn't diminish my abilities in another.
Speaker 1: I'm a trailblazer and my path isn't defined by societal norms.
Speaker 1: How can I inspire young girls to defy limitations if
Speaker 1: I don't embody that courage myself. I know my worth,
Speaker 1: my work ethic, and my unwavering dedication. I will not
Speaker 1: be confined by the opinions of others. I'm an unstoppable force,
Speaker 1: breaking barriers and redefining what's possible. I won't be silenced, diminished,
Speaker 1: or held to unrealistic standards. I'm a beakit of empowerment,
Speaker 1: and if you can't handle the intensity of my greatness,
Speaker 1: then this isn't the space for you. I'm fearless and
Speaker 1: I'm unstoppable. Love it or hate it. I am mean
Speaker 1: and you may never see this again, So enjoy it.
Speaker 1: Hashtag anomaly whoof damn yes everything you said, Keep at it, Flage.
Speaker 1: You are doing big things and you are changing the game.
Speaker 1: And it's clear that the haters are jealous and the
Speaker 1: doubters are small minded.
Speaker 3: You believe in yourself and that's what matters.
Speaker 2: Now it's your turn.
Speaker 1: Slices, rate and review. Thanks for listening. Have a great weekend,
Speaker 1: See you next week. Good Gabe, Tisha, Good game out
Speaker 1: thea you cigarette smoke in Vegas hotels and casinos, The
Speaker 1: Absolute Worst. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart
Speaker 1: women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.
Speaker 1: You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network.
Speaker 1: Our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
Speaker 1: producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 1: Our editors are Emily Rudder, Brittany Martinez, and Grace Lynch.
Speaker 1: Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm Your Host
Speaker 1: Sarah Spain