Chasing Pars Golf Podcast

Joining me in this episode live from competing on Sunshine Ladies Tour in South Africa was talented German LETAS pro Hannah Karg after a solid rookie season on tour finishing 20th on LETAS Order of Merit standings & 4th on Rookie of the Year standings in a season that contained 2 Top 10’s 4th at PGA Championship & 3rd at Super Bock Open. Hannah is from Hamburg in Northern part of Germany and took up the game at the age of 3. Hannah has been part of prestigious Hamburger GC Falkenstein since the age of 14 one of the best courses in Germany and still has lots of fun playing for Hamburger. In 2016 she would win German Girls Championship and in 2017 would win Scottish Girls’ Championship in Montrose. In 2020 Hannah would move to Baylor University in Texas winning a couple of collegiate events there including Trinity Invitational win in 2021. In 2023 would move to Coastal Carolina University to focus on becoming one of the best players and would win 2023 The Southern Invitational. In 2024, Hannah would win German Women’s Strokeplay event to become a national champion at both Girls & Ladies levels. Hannah would turn pro last year in 2025 and would finish 20th overall in the LET Access Series standings as well as 4th on Rookie of the Year standings. A solid start but ultimately looking to go even better this time in 2026. Thanks for your time Hannah and all the best in Morocco for the start of LETAS season in April. Download via Podbean, Apple Podcasts & Spotify also on YouTube.

In this episode I was pleased to be joined by Slovakian LET Access Series pro Katarina Drocarova ahead of the season opener in Morocco next month after finishing inside the top 60 on LETAS Order of Merit standings in 2025. Katarina is from the town of Pezinok just outside of the Slovakian capital city Bratislava and is a 4x Slovakian Amateur Strokeplay Champion & 2x Slovakian Matchplay Champion. She would take up the game at the age of 7 with her dad and sister in a competitive sporting family. Katarina would represent Slovakia at 2x Espirito Santo Trophy, 10x between European Girls’ & Ladies’ Am Team Championship, 2x Young Masters as well as winning 2016 Croatian International Amateur. Katarina would go to University of Denver for her studies and would have some successes during her time at Denver helping the teams sucess whenever she can and winning some individual awards. In 2024, Katarina would turn pro and would have 4 Top 20 finishes with 2 7th placed finishes at her home country event in Slovakia & Lavaux in Switzerland. In 2025 by her own admission it was a rollercoaster season with struggling with some technical issues throughout but still managed to finish 9th at Czech Challenge & 3rd at Slovakian Challenge in Brezno! Katarina is looking forward to the Challenge in 2026 on LETAS and I wish her all the best as she pushes towards an LET Tour Card. Download via Podbean, Apple Podcasts & Spotify, thank you!

In this next episode I was pleased to be joined by one of Slovakia’s best players in LET Access Series pro Miska Vavrova after a solid 2025 season which saw 5 Top 10 finishes including 3rd at Allegria Ladies Open in Austria, 4th at Himmerland in Denmark, 5th at Hauts De France, 9th at Islantilla Open in Spain & 9th at Lavaux in Switzerland. It also included a T21st at Czech Ladies Challenge where Michaela was in the final group in contention playing alongside the one and only Sára Kousková and although it wasn’t the finish the Slovak star was wanting it was an experience that will live long I the memory especially after Sara winning back to back LET titles at Jabra Ladies Open & Tenerife Womens Open. Michaela also known as Miska is from the small town of Bojnice in Slovakia and would play the game through her grandparents at an early age. During her junior career Michaela has played multiple times for Slovakian National Team at European Ladies Am Team Championships & played at Le Golf National at 2022 Espirito Santo Trophy. Michaela is a 2x Slovak Player of the Year and 2023 Slovakian National Champion. During her time at University of Nebraska, Miska would enjoy her time there and would win Big Ten Sportsmanship award in 2024. Before Michaela would turn pro in 2024 she would finish T12th at Czech Ladies Challenge in 2022 on LETAS, would gain a start at 2023 Belgian Ladies Open on LET and would finish 2nd at her home country event in 2024 on Access Series. 2025 would see Michaela finish 18th on LET Access Series Order of Merit standings after some solid displays. We also talk about Slovak golf and how she has high hopes for more Slovakian talent to come through to join her & Katarina Drocarova on LETAS tour with some advice to any players looking to take up the game in English & in her native Slovakian. Had lots of fun and laughs in the episode with Miska and I wish her all the best in South Africa for the warm up on Sunshine Ladies Tour before LETAS season kicks off in Morocco in April. Thanks Michaela for a great chat. Download via Podbean, Apple Podcasts & Spotify, also on YouTube!

The time finally arrived on the show where I was joined by Ladies European Tour Caddy, TPG Golf Coach, Ex Pro player & The King of Italy, the one and only Giulio Castagnara who those familiar with the show will also remember him as the current partner and caddy of Alessandra Fanali. We struck up a good friendship after the final event of the year when out at Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de Espana in Malaga. Legend! Giulio is from Pordenone just outside of Udine in North Eastern Italy and would go to Texas Christian University becoming a major player there at TCU contributing to multiple Academic All American first team picks as well as Scholar of the Year. In 2019 Giulio would turn professional and ply his trade on Alps Tour and played some tournaments on Challenge Tour for 4 years before by his own admission losing his love for the game during this time on the Golf Course will Golf evolving from strength to strength. Since stopping in 2022 Giulio would get his PGA Coaching licenses and would loop on the bag for a few events with Alessandra before going full time on the bag for Ale in 2024 with brilliant results on LET since then with numerous close shaves on tour in terms of being in contention and multiple Top 20 finishes for the Fanali/Castagnara combination with 4 Top 10 finishes on tour last year in 2025 including 2nd placed finish at Ford NSW Open in Woollongong. In mid 2025 Giulio would make a big announcement joining the team at TPG Golf to be a qualified Golf Coach with lessons online or getting the chance to go to the States recently to do in person coaching. Giulio is a true gentleman and a very funny guy with Fanali & Castagnara being one of my favourite duos on tour now! Can’t thank them both enough for their generosity! All the best this week guys and for 2026! Downloads via Podbean, Apple Podcasts & Spotify while the recorded video will be on YouTube if that is your preferred version!

After a long while of trying, it was a pleasure to finally be joined by 7x Professional title winner & 2x Belgian Olympian Manon De Roey after a solid season stateside reaching CME Tour finals on LPGA Tour. Manon’a trophy collection also includes 3x Ladies European Tour titles at 2022 Aramco Series Bangkok, 2024 Investec SA Women’s Open & last year’s Australian Women’s Classic. Manon is from the Schilde Muncipality just outside of Antwerp in Belgium and although she played Hockey for 13 years at a good level, she would start playing the game around about the age of 11. Manon had some success at Junior & Amateur level winning the Belgian Amateur Strokeplay twice in 2013 & 2014, winning the 2014 Belgian Matchplay Championship, receiving the 2009 Annette De Vooght Trophy given to the Best Female Belgian player, would participate in 2009 European Girls’ Team Championships for Belgium as well as the European Ladies’ Team Championship & Espirito Santo Trophy in Japan during her time at University of New Mexico. In 2015 Manon would turn professional and between 2018 & 2019 on LET Access Series she would pick up 3 titles winning WPGA International Challenge in back to back years as well as 2019 Santander GT LETAS Valencia. In 2020 in the midst of a weird time De Roey would pick up a mini tour title in Australia at Aoyuan International Moss Vale Pro Am. As well as participating at both 2021 & 2024 Olympic Games in Tokyo and Paris respectively some great memories for Manon to reflect on, 2022 would see the maiden title won on Ladies European Tour at Aramco Series Individual in Bangkok by 3 shots (Manon actually brings out the trophy on camera, lovely). She would follow that up in 2024 in South Africa winning by 4 then at last year’s Australian Women’s Classic at Coffs Harbour playing one of the most clutch 2nd shots in a long time to win by a shot to Cara Gainer. In 2025 alone outwith the LET victory would see a 9th placed finish at Chevron Championship major and a host of good finishes contributing to making CME Tour finals at Tiburon, a fantastic achievement. I just want to thank Manon for being such a great guest. Great player, lovely person and thanks for the privilege of seeing your trophy on the screen! All the best for 2026! Downloads via Podbean, Apple & Spotify also be sure to check out the video recording on YouTube

I was delighted to be joined by the fantastic Ale Fanali after another super consistent season on Ladies European Tour finishing 27th which included 4 Top 10’s and a 2nd placed finish at Ford NSW Open at Wollongong finishing shy of an inspirational display from Mimi Rhodes and making her Major championship debut at Royal Porthcawl. After chatting with Ale & partner/caddy Giulio in Spain it was great to have her on for a full episode. A great duo at the moment. Alessandra is from Alatri in the Lazio district of Italy and would take up the game at round about 9 years old. Ale has had a great junior career which seen her play in 2017 Junior Solheim Cup for Europe, 4x European Ladies’ Am Team Championship for Italy but biggest of all was helping Italy make history winning their first ever Gold Medal at 2016 European Girls’ Team Championships a memory that has stuck forever. Ale would go to Arizona State University alongside Linn Grant & Alexandra Försterling and would participate in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019. In 2022 Ale would finish runner up at Italian Ladies Open as an amateur after Morgane Metraux holed for Eagle from 20ft to clinch the title in the playoff. Since 2023 Fanali has been very consistent performer and has numerous Top 10 & Top 20 finishes on tour including 3 runner ups on LET and would represent Italy at 2024 Olympics Games. A fun episodes full of laughs and good times. Thanks so much Ale for being great! The win is coming soon. Be sure to download via Podbean, Spotify & Apple Podcasts.

In the first recorded episode of Chasing Pars Golf Podcast it was great to be joined by the talented Indian star Avani Prashanth fresh off a full rookie season on Ladies European Tour where she would finish 36th on LET Order of Merit standings including 2 5th placed finishes at Hulencourt Open where she would be the leader and at her home event at Hero Indian Women’s Open at DLF and would also finish the season strong 11th at Andalucia Open de Espana. Avani is from Bangalore in India and would start playing the game at 3 years of age and would win her first event on IGU Tour at 14 years old in 2021 as an amateur. Avani would have some great experiences as a junior and amateur playing in prestigious events such as Patsy Hankins Trophy for Team Asia, 2023 Asian Games in China with India & one of the major highlights being the individual winner of 2023 Queen Sirikit Cup and helping India finish 2nd in the team aspect. Avani would also become the first Indian amateur player to at Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship & the first Indian player to qualify for US Womens Amateur Open. In 2023 on LET Access Series would see Avani Prashanth win Ahlsell Trophy defeating Matilda Björkman & Isabell Ekström by a shot to further enhance her status as a really promising amateur to be feared. Known for her driving distance and accuracy as well as her fearless approach on the golf course it’s clear to see how talented Avani is even at 19 years of age! She also is a big advocate for inspiring other young golfers to take up the game! Thanks Avani for a good chat and wish you well for the start of this season and beyond! Be sure to download via Podbean, Spotify & Apple Podcasts. Thanks for the continued support!