Host Michael Williams recaps the 2024 U.S. Open and reviews how he and Rees Jones picked the winner AND winning score! Special guest Irish Mnister of Sport, Art and Culture Catheirne Martin and Omni Homestead Managing Director Mark Spadoni talk about the explosion of destination golf travel.

The 124th U.S. Open Champioship is this week at the iconic Pinehurst #2! Host Michael Williams is joined in this episode by "The Open Doctor" Rees Jones to talk about his personal connection to the course, what makes it special and his predictions for what will ahppen this week. It's a master class in golf by one of the legends of the game..don't miss it!

Established in 2010, Club Champion has grown from a regional three-studio fitting business to a trusted golf club fitting expert with locations in every major golf market nationwide, featuring Tour-level fittings designed by Master Fitter and Builder Nick Sherburne, the company’s founder.

Club Champion employs over 220 team members, including roughly 150 fitters nationwide. Recently, their team calculated that they can offer golfers 65,000 different club combinations, a dizzying number that showcases the depth of their product offering. Hear how variety and expert fitting combine to make golfers better.

Williams also pays tribute to Joe Hardy, the beloved businessman and golf patron who passed away recently at the age of 100.

CHAPTERS:
[00:20] Show Open
[1:25] Tribute to Joe Hardy
[8:45] Cassandra Bausch
[13:10] The Club Champion Experience
[17:20] 65,000 Combinations
[22:00] Cost and Availability

Golf has always been a favorite pastime for celebrities. From Frank Sinatra to Alice Cooper, celebs have found golf to be a place for fun and escape from the spotlight. Nick Jonas, one of the most talented and versatile entertainers around, is a passionate fan of golf and plays as often as he can.

Jonas is also a fan of fashion, and he expresses his love for both in a new apparel collection that he has designed for PXG. Jonas is a member of Scottsdale National Golf Club (AZ) which is owned by PXG founder Bob Parsons and his wife Renee. Renee is also the President and Executive Creative Director of PXG Apparel, and she collaborated with Jonas for an exciting and unique line of clothing and accessories. "It's always been a dream of mine to combine my love of fashion and of golf," said Jonas at the grand opening of the PXG pop up store in New York City. "I think we have created a line that has a classic feel with a modern touch."

"It's super exciting for us to be working with Nick," said Parsons. "Through our collaboration, we look forward to introducing PXG to a whole new set of customers."

In this episode of The 19th Hole, host Michael Williams talks with Renee Parsons and Nick Jonas about their love of golf and fashion, and their exciting new partnership.

My dear friend Mark Parsinen, who died suddenly and tragically a few years ago, was a student of the game who loved life and loved golf. We would often have conversations about how golf was like life, full of highs and lows, rewards and penalties. I cherish those conversations as a watch the 150th edition of the Open Championship in St. Andrews, a town that Mark made his home for a number of years while he built the modern classic course Kingsbairns. The Open is now the final major of the year a fitting place in the rota because it brings the game back to its origins, its essence. It brings the game to links golf.

I love links golf because it really is like life. American style parkland courses are what we’d like life to be, all manicured and perfect. American golf says that if you do good things, good things will happen. Hit it far, hit it close and you will succeed. But links golf is different. You can hit a “perfect shot” and get a disappointing or even a disastrous result. All you can do is find your ball and try again. In links golf, there are a variety of ways to reach the goal and a 25-year old and an 85-year old can make par in wildly different ways. The weather can change an easy task into an impossible one, and that is totally our of your control. Just like life, you do your best and carry on.

St. Andrews is the ultimate golf course because it is the original laboratory for the game. It has charmed and challenged players for over 400 years. But even more than that, it is a representation of the human experience and how year after year, generation after generation, the challenges and pleasures of life remain the same and they can be found in the sandy, undulation soil of a links golf course.

There is a long list of movies that have been done where golf is a central theme. The list of quality movies in that genre is considerably shorter. There are a couple of golf comedies that generate a large audience; Caddyshack and Tin Cup probably foremost among them. But for golf movies with a more serious story line, making a quality film is harder than hitting a 1-iron in cold weather.

But a new film breaks that mold. Phantom of the Open, starring Academy Award-winning actor mark Rylance is a new release that tells the story of Maurice Flitcroft, a humble crane operator from the north of England whose first encounter with golf inspired him to enter the British Open. The results are the very definition of tragic-comic, with Flitcroft posting a score that looked more like the high temperature in Death Valley. Undaunted, Flitcroft endures the jeers of the golf establish, fans and even his own family to continue express his love for the game through competition.

Writer Simon Farnaby says that the story is appealing because it isn’t really a story about golf. “Maurice Flitcroft was thought to be kind of a clown. But he was actually an intelligent, well-read man. He loved his family and he loved golf, and the movie is about his two loves.”

Phantom has opened to broad critical appeal and will be in wide release in the United Steles in the summer of 2022. It is a heart-warming story about a man who’s love for golf is equal parts pure and relentless. His game is rank amateur, but his spirit is Hall of fame.

Go Daddy and PXG founder Bob Parsons sat down for an exclusive interview with host Michael Williams at the newest PXG location in suburban Washington, DC. Parsons talks about his motivations and inspirations as an entreprenuer and a golfer, and how he has been so sccessful in such a short period of time in golf. Parsons is remarkaly open about is past struggles, the importance of the mlitary in his life and his vision for PXG as the best golf club and apparel manufacturer in the world. Parsons is a true visionary and he is in rare form in this exclusive conversation in The 19th Hole.

Also in this episode, Williams is on fire with his take on the LIV Tour and Greg Norman's most recent comments about the tour, its association with the regime of Saudi Arabia and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Williams gives his unique take on both the business and moral integrity of the tour, and takes on the idea that golf is "a force for good". You won't want to miss this passionate take on the hottest subject in golf!

The PGA Tour is back in Washington, DC as the Wells Fargo Championship comes to town. Held at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farms just across the street from Congressional Country Club in Bethesda. MD, The Wells Fargo features a strong field including Rory McIlroy, Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele and local star Greg Odom, Jr. of Howard University. On this week’s episode, host Michael Williams talks about the impact of professional golf on his hometown, especially on young people.

This week’s guests include Ryan Dotters of Full Swing Golf, the game-changing launch monitor used by Tiger Woods. Also features Brian Dillman of Miha Bodytec, a revolutionary new exercise system that uses pulsed electricity to replace heavy weight training.

Hit the play below above to listen, and look for more new episodes of "The 19th Hole with Michael Williams" on the Morning Read Podcast Network!