Tales from the first tee

Send us Fan Mail A teenager shoots 60 on the Nicklaus course and suddenly the game looks younger, faster, and braver. We open with Blades Brown’s breakout and the ripple effect of a prodigy who can go low under cameras and crowds, then zoom out to what early crowning means in a sport that remembers both fireworks and flameouts. It’s a celebration and a caution: talent draws a spotlight, and pressure keeps the bulb hot. That theme of pressure runs straight into the psychology of mulligans. On...

Send us Fan Mail A few unfamiliar names, a 70-page indictment, and a flood of betting data set the stage for a candid look at how games get bent and why so many of us still want to believe the scoreboard tells the whole truth. I walk through the mechanics of a recent point-shaving scheme at mid-major and D2 programs, how sportsbooks and integrity services flagged coordinated prop bets, and why subpoenas, texts, and money trails make “nobody will know” a losing strategy. The result isn’t moral...

Send us Fan Mail Finding your zone in golf requires mental clarity, physical precision, and an ability to get out of your own way when it matters most. • What being in the zone feels like - the ball feels "like nothing" at impact • Three Charleston National players share their unique mental strategies • Wright Blanchard's comeback story - from hole-in-one to victory • Brady Nash's technique of focusing on a single dimple on the ball • Willie Charles' data-driven approach from analyzing 1,750...

Send us Fan Mail Tales from the First Tee returns with a heat-soaked episode full of Southern expressions, golf course characters, and the peculiar relationships we form with our equipment. Your host Rich Easton shares stories from the sweltering fairways of Charleston where even alligators have more sense than the golfers braving triple-digit temperatures. • Team play at Charleston National where all players must contribute for success • Mississippi native "Cloudy Graves" and his colorful S...

Send us Fan Mail Dan Gaeta from Operation VetFit discusses PTSD in veterans and their revolutionary approach to preventing veteran suicide that has resulted in zero suicides among their members. • Clinical definition of PTSD including exposure to traumatic events, intrusion symptoms, avoidance behaviors, and negative alterations in cognition • The "masculine warrior paradigm" that creates challenges when veterans return to civilian life • Success story of Thomas Burke who went from a suicide...

Send us Fan Mail Journey into the mind of a passionate golfer as Rich Easton delivers an energetic analysis of the upcoming Ryder Cup showdown at Bethpage, New York. With razor-sharp insight, Rich breaks down Team USA's three critical advantages—the raucous New York crowd, Keegan Bradley's all-star coaching staff, and a roster brimming with talent. But don't mistake his patriotism for blind confidence; Rich's detailed assessment of Europe's formidable lineup reveals why this contest will like...

Send us Fan Mail Tommy Fleetwood's long-awaited breakthrough at Eastlake marks a pivotal moment in golf's mental game saga. After years of Sunday heartbreaks, watching Tommy walk up the 18th with a three-shot lead felt like witnessing the final chapter in a redemption story we weren't sure would ever be written. The revamped FedEx Cup format—where all 30 finalists started on equal footing—delivered exactly the drama and competitive balance golf needed, transforming what Scottie Scheffler had ...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever made a decision so spectacularly self-sabotaging that you couldn't help but laugh at yourself afterward? That's exactly where we begin this journey—with my confession about renaming a successful golf podcast and promptly losing half my audience. Much like my previous marketing disaster involving overpriced plastic plates during the anti-plastic revolution, it's a perfect example of how ego drives our decisions, often to our detriment. The golf course serves as ...