Talking Golf With The Golf Guy-Season 6 Episode 6 With Paul Pugmire
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Talking Golf With The Golf Guy-Season 6 Episode 6 With Paul Pugmire

There are some who derisively, and maybe with just a touch of covetousness, sometimes proclaim, “If you can play, then you play. If you can’t, then you teach.”

A simplistic statement that often does no justice to the individual in question. Great teachers and administrators often possess extraordinary skills that are unique to the lessons and circumstances at hand.

Paul Pugmire, the Executive Director of the First Tee of Utah and Host of Utah Golf Radio, is one such man, endowed with superlative gifts above and beyond just playing the game of golf. Which he has done admirably at the highest levels of High School and College.

That he took those accomplishments, learned on the playing fields of competitive golf, and applied them to nurturing and building the characters of young men and women in the First Tee program of Utah says wonders about the character and talents of this remarkable teacher and administrator.

Designed to teach life skills to youngsters, 5-18, The First Tee program utilizes the game of golf combined with an integrated and defined curriculum carefully designed to help each child navigate the individual challenges they all face on and off the golf course at school, at home, and at play.

The First Tee is replete with success stories of kids from every walk of life and circumstance excelling with the lessons gained and learned from this national program.

A program sponsored and endorsed by every leading golf organization including the PGA of America, PGA Tour, LPGA, USGA, and more recently The Master’s Tournament Foundation, all seeking to make Golf affordable and accessible to every child across America.

As Host of Utah Golf Radio, Paul communicates those lessons of the First Tee to listeners throughout the state of Utah each and every week on ESPN 700.

A remarkable and gifted teacher, Paul sat down with the Golf Guy and talked about his love of the game, his passion for teaching, and his fervor for spreading the unique gospel that only playing and participating in the game of golf can convey.

Please Listen Here.

With over a half-century of engagement in the sport of Golf, Jeff Waters has become one of the most accomplished, experienced, and qualified Golf Professionals in the history of the PGA of America. He is a fully certified and trained Master Professional joining an exceedingly small and elite group of Professionals in the World to have achieved this prestigious title. Jeff holds University Degrees in Political Science, Teaching Minors in Economics and Finance, attended graduate school in Commercial Recreation, taught undergraduate classes at the University of Utah, and earned a master’s in business administration. With more than fifty years of experience and success in the business of Golf, Jeff spent ten years playing and competing in the game at all levels ten years laboring as an Assistant Golf Professional, acquiring the job-related skills, responsibilities, and training required for a career in golf, ten years fulfillment as a PGA Head Professional overseeing all aspects of the total golf course operation, three years’ service as Director of Player Development for Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, administering and managing multiple golf course programs and activities, thirty-three years as a Golf Coach and Instructor at The Rocky Mountain Golf Academy, The University of Utah’s College of Health and the Granite Peaks Community College, teaching and tutoring the game. Additionally, Jeff has spent the last twenty-seven years as the Owner, President, and CEO of Rocky Mountain Golf Enterprises (RMG), a Utah-registered and licensed business offering golf-related services throughout the Western United States utilizing golf as the marketing tool. Finally, Jeff has performed on the national media stage for the past thirty-eight years as an Announcer, Author, Producer, and Talk Radio Host, communicating and sharing the joy, art, and skill that is the Game, Sport, and Challenge of Golf. Jeff, a well-known golf journalist, has been active in print media from an early age. His articles, commentary, and features regularly appear nationwide. He has authored two golf instruction books: “The Ten Commandments of Golf, Proven Principles That Make Your Golf Game Better,” and “The Short Game, the Transition from the Golf Course to the Putting Green.” Both are available as e-book downloads and on Amazon. Jeff penned his first short story while still in his teens and has since published 100’s of commentaries, essays, and instruction pieces in magazines, blogs, internet forums, and other platforms, including Golf Today, Utah Golf Magazine, Utah Golf News, Rocky Mountain Golfer, Fairways Magazine, Jackson Hole Golf News, Talking Golf with the Golf Guy, Voices in the Community.com, and Jeffgolfguy.com. He is the author of multiple books, stories, articles, posts, and evaluations of other writers’ publications. Jeff began his public communications career in High School and has had a constant presence in sports commentary throughout the years, providing play-by-play and color analysis at many diverse levels, including announcing football, baseball, and basketball games, along with local and national golf tournaments, while performing on other media platforms as well. Jeff was an early pioneer in Sports Radio, hosting a weekly talk show, “Talking Golf with the Golf Guy,” broadcasted and aired on various radio stations throughout the regional market, syndicated nationally on The Rocky Mountain Golf Network, and offered on most of the recognized podcast directories and streaming services. Over his extensive announcing career, Jeff has provided the vocal narration for hundreds of voice-overs, commercials, radio programming, sports interviews, tournament updates, blogs, podcasts, audiobooks, and videos, including the original voice work on the best-selling X-Box Links golf game. Jeff also contributed voice and commentary on the Centennial production, “One Hundred Years of the Utah State Amateur,” which is available on iTunes and Apple Music. As a member of the Golf Writers Association of America, Jeff has attended and reported on-site more than a hundred golf tournaments, including an assortment of Major Golf Championships, including The United States Open Championship, The Masters, the PGA Championship, and The Ryder Cup, along with other competitions on the PGA Tours annual tournament schedule. Jeff has produced, directed, and distributed numerous film and video projects as stand-alone presentations while incorporating them within his blog, website, syndicated podcasts, and national radio programming. All are available for review on YouTube. Known as “The Voice of Golf” and “The Golf Guy” throughout the Western United States, Jeff is regularly sought for advice and counsel and often speaks to groups on golf-related subjects. You may contact Jeff by email at jeffgolfguy@att.net and on his website at www.jeffgolfguy.com.