Talking Golf With the Golf Guy Season 7 Episode 5 The 2022 PGA Championship. With Justin Thomas
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Talking Golf With the Golf Guy Season 7 Episode 5 The 2022 PGA Championship. With Justin Thomas

In my fifty-plus years as a PGA Professional, whether as a Player, Administrator, Journalist, Broadcaster, or Blogger, I’ve played in, administered, and covered hundred’s Golf Tournaments globally. I’ve journeyed to and visited most of the famous and celebrated Golf cities, states, and countries worldwide.

2022 PGA Champion Justin Thomas

Including the 2022 PGA Championship contested this past week at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which Justin Thomas won in a playoff to capture his second PGA title.

Full disclosure.

Of all the places I’ve been to, Tulsa, Oklahoma, is my least favorite destination spot anywhere. There are so many things that are not pleasing or likable about the city or state.

These are just a few examples.

The weather is deplorable. Miserly hot and humid in the spring and summer. Massive thundershowers, lightning, and tornados are routine. And can sneak up without the slightest warning.

The city reeks of an ever-present and sharply distinct petroleum smell that permeates the air, environment, and setting while a cloud of unescapable dust covers its entirety.

And its nightlife consists of knock-off barbeque joints and lowlife honky tonks trying to mimic and overhaul Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys’ Western Swing music from the fifties.

None of it works for me.

So why, you ask? Do the United States Golf Association, The PGA of America, and The PGA Tour keep returning to a God-forsaken Indian reservation, in the middle of the dust bowl, Oil Capital of the world?

One reason, and one reason only.

For all its negatives Tulsa, Oklahoma, has one of the finest Championship Golf Courses in the world.

Seventeen Major Golf Championships since 1945 have been contested over the magnificent Perry Maxwell design, including three United States, Opens and five PGA Championships, including the one just concluded. The most PGA’s of any courses present-day. The list of Champions who have prevailed on this golf course read like a veritable who’s who in the world of golf.

TigerWoods, Nick Price, Babe Zahartais, Dave Stockton, Raymond Floyd, Tommy Bolt, Hubert Green, Alex Cejka, Retief Goosen, Tom Lehman, and now Justin Thomas join this esteemed list of great Champions.

I had the opportunity to listen to Justin’s Championship interview after his play on Sunday.

Please, Listen Here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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.