Group Golf Therapy

WOW! 100 sessions of Group Golf Therapy! To the Dinks, to everyone who tapped in from day one, to those who started listening this morning, to those we lost along the way, thank you from the bottom of our hearts and butts. We love you. The Shrinks take some time to reflect on the road to 100, conduct a “how well do I know you” exercise, and look ahead to how Group Golf Therapy plans to change…

In this session: Connor’s new toxic trait, The Newlywed Game, what’s next.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

It's Bradford and Connor's turn to run their isolated ShrinkThoughts Sessions.

In this session: Bradford on bodies, A Love Letter to Miguel, the ankle-strike.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

To kick off the 2024 calendar, we bring you the first-ever installment of Drew Thoughts. Bradford and Connor supplied Drew with questions for solo musings, and a look-ahead to the new year.

In this session: 2024 intentions, FMK, desert island golf items.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

Maddi MacClurg is an Assistant Editor at Golf Digest, who contributes to the publication’s instruction section — we identify Maddi’s dad, a lifelong golf swing tinkerer, as her direct target reader. Maddi shares that her on-course persona as a junior golfer wasn't always the kindest to herself; something many golfers continue to struggle with. And while she's learned more self-facing compassion, she still holds space for an emotional labyrinth called The B*tch Zone. Join us, friends.

In this session: Junkyard Maddi, Kick Push, Delulus and Menty-Bs.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

Tisha Alyn is a host, creator, and professional golfer who partners with some of the biggest brands in the world. As someone who's business is, well, them, the boundaries between being on and being off can get blurry. Bradford and Connor hear from Tisha about how being an influencer for seven years has impacted her mental health, what her ideal round of golf might look (and sound) like, and how it all comes back to family.

In this session: derrière, being alone is weird, shut up!!!! 

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

While Drew is being the best dad ever at Disney World, Bradford and Connor are reeling from a soul-deep illness, contracted from a New York City dance club basement.  

In this session: Throat Coat, light fraud, how to journal. 

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

Dr. Bhrett McCabe is a clinical psychologist and writer, who works with some of the biggest golfers, sports teams, and athletic programs in the world. Bhrett shares that his journey with understanding mental health started as a kid in a “psychologically aware household”: he played college baseball at LSU and realized that his anxiety was impacting his performance. Now, he’s one of the most successful sports psychologists in the field, and has helped athletes around the world win championships and pursue more fulfillment in their personal lives. 

You know him as Jamie Tartt, you love him as Phil Dunster. Phil is an actor from Northampton, England, who joins the Group Golf Therapy couch from the city of Bristol, where his drama school alma mater is located. Phil is a new golfer, and uses sport as a means of healthy escape and connecting more deeply with friends. The Shrinks are *jazzed* to follow Phil’s golf journey, and were touched by his willingness to talk about the mental health of it all — particularly, how to find self-worth and identity when you don’t have work to fall back on. 

When Ryan Barath was 13, he saw an interview where Phil Mickelson described a modulation he made to his 60-degree wedge, to make it better fit the golf course he was competing at that week. Ryan’s jaw hit the floor: “you can tinker with golf clubs?!” That immediately inspired a career path as a golf club fitter, builder, and writer focused on the many intricacies of golf equipment. Golf wasn’t always a constant for Ryan, though — one afternoon at his local muni, he decided to walk off the course. Now that he’s back, he’s engaging with the game on a deeper, more spiritual and emotionally vulnerable level.

In this session: being buried with a 5 iron, the trip to St Andrews.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

G’day, Dinks! It's us, and it's emoash.

In this session: For All The Dogs, caddies, okay we need a bois trip.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

Look out, Dinks: Shank Haney (Government Name, Liz Breed) is back on the Group Golf Therapy couch for a trademark unhinged session. That is all.

In this session: Bradford needs AirTags, obsolete golf things, Golf Math.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

Bradford, Connor, and Drew met Alex Fourie at the 2023 US Adaptive Open at Pinehurst, and were instantly struck by his attitude, his composure, his outlook. At the age of seven, Alex was adopted from Ukraine and relocated to the US. On day 1 in America, he fished — on day 2, he golfed. Golf became a salve, always there with the sun poking through the trees. Now, along with competing in tournaments around the world, Alex and his foundation, Single Hand Golf, are giving golf to children with adaptive needs and raising funds for orphans in Ukraine. 

You may not have heard his name, you may not have seen his face, but you know his work. A year ago, Chris Hovsepian left his job in the music industry, where he worked with artists whose names and faces you are certainly familiar with. He had a weird idea — weird is good. The mission: create a cartoon world in which an anthropomorphic golf ball, Jain, shows us how golf should be: fun, diverse, interesting. Jain has become a mascot for golf, shelling out pithy, colorful expressions that every golfer can relate to. Chris has big visions for what Jain can become, and the Shrinks hear it all, while learning more about what inspired golf’s new favorite character.

In this session: CAMP JAIN, embodying the suck, Dad.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

Shane Bacon is a broadcaster, podcaster, writer, and host who covers golf for a wide range of outlets. He made a crack at playing professionally, and subsequently turned to media, working for Golf Channel, hosting a podcast with Max Homa, and covering featured groups for The Masters. Now, Shane is promoting his children’s golf book, The Golfer’s Zoo, and pursuing personal creative projects around the game. 

In this session: when to ask if you can play, riding the horse til it bucks you, the kids don’t care.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

Michael Block is Head Golf Professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, in Mission Viejo, California. In May, 2023, Michael lit the golf world on fire by finishing tied for 15th at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill. It was a storybook week for the 47-year-old: he was surrounded by media, he played his final round with Rory McIlroy, and made a hole-in-one on the 15th hole on Sunday. His PGA Championship success flooded him with PGA Tour sponsor’s exemptions, endorsement deals, private plane rides to events around the world. Despite being three months removed from his historic week, Michael still can't quite wrap his head around what happened, and the subsequent fame he's experienced — that will take time. Naturally, the Shrinks pressed Michael to unpack the quiet moments; what it all feels like when the dust finally settles.

In this session: overnight success, making the hole look bigger, missing a tee time. 

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

Henni Koyack was a perfectionist. She wrote journals with her goals, her life visions; she practiced exceptional golf etiquette as a promising junior; she observed her peers’ tastes in culture and behavior, and made them her own. After leaving professional golf, Henni joined the broadcast ranks, she became an exclusive media correspondent for Tiger Woods, and she was working high-impact jobs across the golf media space. But “perfect” was corrosive. Now, Henni has built a simple life in England, focused on being a present parent, and showing up professionally in the Sky Sports studio with buoyant energy. 

In this session: the inner voice, double-edged swords, finding your “no”. 

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

The Shrinks are at the USGA’s 2nd Adaptive Open at Pinehurst No. 6! This impromptu Bonus Hugs session from Bradford and Connor was laid down between lighting setups. Giddiness and love ensues. Cisco brought the GGT team to Pinehurst to help capture stories of the Adaptive Open competitors and what makes this tournament so important.

In this session: Earthly elements, Connor’s Hut, curiosity.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

Bradford, Connor, and Drew respond to some listener questions, but an internal question arose: what are GGT listeners called? A name was born. 

In this session: Dinks.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

This was almost a six-voice podcast. The Tossing Clubs trio have been creating podcast and social media content for a year, focused on their new journeys in golf. Zach and Aaron from the Tossing Clubs outfit join the couch to talk about their roulette-style approach to playing the world’s best golf courses, and how they’re each embarking on adventures in therapy. 

In this session: ClubTalk, the Corn Song, knee shakes.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

And just like that, the US Open has come and gone. What was a week-long whirlwind of wonder in Los Angeles, is now a distant memory. Thankfully, audio devices have recording capabilities, so thus we present you with this podcast session LIVE from the US Open. The USGA hosted the Shrinks in La La Land 

In this session: RECESS, Parisian cafe music, golf in virtual reality.

Ben Haggerty first came on the couch a year ago — he was in the self-described painstaking process of finishing an album. Time has passed. The album’s out, he’s gone on a world tour. Now, he’s dropping another album: an entire line of clothing (plus a golf shoe) with adidas Golf. The Bogey Boys x adidas collaboration dropped on June 14, and in celebration of the release, the Shrinks got a few minutes with Macklemore at the adidas store. 

In this session: the worst part of making an album, fulfillment, what the kids think.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

Golf course architect, Christine Fraser, came on the Group Golf Therapy couch 2 years ago. She was the fourth session of the podcast. Much has changed for us all in that time: work has come; pro-ams have been played; Connor slept on a cot in Christine’s Edinburgh hotel room. But one thing has remained: the Shrinks and Christine are family. This session is a catch-up on the past few years, running through Christine’s recent work, and her future plans to build the modern day St Andrews. Praise: check. Tears: check. A GGT classic.

In this session: Nan is a badass, the Power of No, the universality of maintenance sheds.

Despite spending the better part of four weeks together for various GGT-related projects, it had been months since Bradford, Connor, and Drew got the opportunity to sit together and lay down a Shrinks Only conversation. Well, it finally happened. The Shrinks reflect on a hectic season, handling fast-pace in different ways, and how they've reconciled their working relationships with their personal ones.

In this session: Brother Button, yard signs, US Open!

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review — we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

For the second year, the Shrinks were brought together to enjoy the scenes at the Wells Fargo Championship. On a long Wednesday — which included following a pro-am group with Rory McIlroy, walking with First Tee students-turned-caddies, and participating in a First Tee clinic — Bradford, Connor, and Drew grabbed a quick couch session with PGA TOUR player, Trey Mullinax. In addition to the week-in, week-out grind of the tour, Trey is a father, an entrepreneur, and a believer in community with his fellow competitors. The Shrinks and Trey sat down at the bustling Wells Fargo Small Business Market, so you’ll be joined by a lively crowd in this session — but that didn’t stop Trey from opening up about life on the road, and chasing his dream. 

In this session: Honoring the 12 year-old, new shoes, Fast Car.

Many thanks to our good friends at Wells Fargo and SKRATCH for making this opportunity possible: Karl, Becca, Amanda, Tyler, Jason, and the rest of the team are forever in our hearts

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

During a rain delay at the AJGA Will Lowery Junior Championship, Bradford and Connor stole 20 minutes with competitor, Matthew Vital. Matthew — along with his twin brother, Michael — recently committed to play his college golf at Temple University. He also recently signed on to the Eastside Golf NIL program, and copped a tournament victory at the Jim Thorpe Invitational in 2022. We spoke with Matthew about the pressures of playing golf at a high level, what he does to self-regulate during tournament time, and how food centers him with a busy travel schedule.

The Shrinks have been trying to pin down Will Lowery for a conversation since season 1 of Group Golf Therapy. But the universe wanted it to happen in person. Will is, among many other things, active — he’s a podcaster, broadcaster, partner of the Underrated Golf tour, screenplay writer, former professional golfer, and recent first-time host of his very own golf tournament, the AJGA Will Lowery Junior Championship. Whew. It’s been a mighty couple years for Will, but those years haven’t been without pain and loss. He has his weekly cries in the car, and is trying really, really hard to put his authentic self forward with every conversation and opportunity that comes his way. Now, we just need Will to get back into social golf.

Drew Millard returned to golf at a low-point: he was burned out from over-work, and golf gave him a new lens to negotiate his life through. A literary agent contacted him, asked if he’d consider writing a golf book, and off he went. Now, that book, How Golf Can Save Your Life, is a week out from release. This conversation is fully and beautifully unhinged.

Mike Golic Jr. is a sports broadcaster and podcaster, who played on the offensive line for Notre Dame's football team. Mike illustrates to the Shrinks how the offensive line is the "team within the team": how their duties regularly go unthanked and unnoticed, and how their mistakes can lead to severe injuries for their teammates. This pressure lead to a common pregame ritual shared by Mike and his line-mates. Golf entered the picture for Mike when he and his father — legendary sports broadcaster, Mike Golic — would have a rare morning off from the radio show they hosted together during the pandemic. Now, the game is a big part of his life, and he and his family host a charity golf tournament in South Bend, Indiana, which benefits the local community. Mike and the Shrinks reflect on masculinity and "group think" within a football locker room, fashion policing on the golf course, and the Taylor Swift Eras tour.

In this session: JIM NANTZ, Mom + Dad = hero, hibachi.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

Brad Gehl is a former professional golfer, who recently began work in golf course construction alongside Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner. He’s also a devoutly creative person, who has started a nonprofit to feed skater kids, filmed a documentary in Ireland, and worked alongside Tom Sachs. Golf is firmly at Brad's core, having played from a young age with his family in Indiana — he learned quickly not to swear on the course in front of his mother. From PGA Tour Latinoamérica, to playing in China, to narrowly missing a shot at qualifying for a US Open, Brad is a competitor; but its his marriage of competition with a desire to help people that shows his true character.

In this session: a hotel room in Brazil, creativity is the enemy, thank you notes.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

Lennard Long — or, Sweet Swing Leo, in this session — is a DC-based golfer, First Tee coach, Morehouse College grad, and 2022 Wells Fargo Championship pro-am participant. That's exactly where the Shrinks met Leo: to help cover his and his fellow First Tee mentors' experience playing a round of golf with Rory McIlroy. Leo is much more than his already impressive C.V.: he's driven, hungry, deeply thoughtful, caring, and passionate about using his experiences to inspire a new generation of golfers. This conversation is reflective, but Leo is clearly focused on what's next. Bradford, Connor, and Drew will be meeting up with Leo again at the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship in May, so stay tuned for the videos and podcasts to come via the SKRATCH channels.

In this session: mentoring your mentors, enjoying solitude, Obedience.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

Lisa Cornwell is a golf analyst, host, and writer, who's new book, "Troublemaker: A Memoir of Sexism, Retaliation, and the Fight They Didn't See Coming" comes out on May 23. The book profiles Lisa's experience at Golf Channel, where she and 19 other women battled workplace misconduct. One thing is clear from this session: Lisa is a fierce defender of people, and she does not back down from a fight.

In this session: playing golf with Bill Clinton, Johnnie Walker Black, competitive club throwing.

Doug Smith is a golfer, podcaster, and broadcaster, who the Shrinks have been trying to get on the couch since season 1. In 2020, Bradford was searching for representation in golf media, and he found it in Doug — flowers are exchanged. Doug grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, and shares his experience as the only Black student at his high school. Golf came into Doug's life as a safe and nurturing space, providing connective tissue to other kids, and shaping his competitive edge. Now, when Doug gets out to the golf course, it's a calm respite from the nonstop action of raising his first child — he worries that junior golf is becoming unaffordable, and that he might not be able to provide that same space to his son.

In this session: flowers for everyone, being a selfish golf dad, give Doug some damn spikes.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

We've been hearing about it for months: since the groundbreaking success of Netflix's F1 expose-all docuseries, Drive to Survive, producers have tipped that a golf edition has been in the works. Well, it's finally here. Full Swing — #2 most popular on Netflix at time of recording — takes viewers behind the curtains in professional golf, during a particularly dramatic 2022 season. 8 episodes of heroes and heels in the golfing world like you've never seen them before. To celebrate the cultural moment for golf, the Shrinks decided to hop on the microphones to share their near-live reactions to the series, joined by Esquire contributor and GGT season 3 alumnus, Ben Boskovich. Ben profiled the Full Swing documentary on Esquire, which you can read here: https://www.esquire.com/sports/a42883602/full-swing-netflix-review/

In this session: broken hearts for Brooks, Golf Sickos, is the Pope catholic?

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.

Lizette Salas is an LPGA Tour golfer. She's a US Solheim Cup team member. But her identity encapsulates so much more. During the height of the pandemic, when the LPGA Tour was shut down, Lizette was forced to ask herself big, difficult questions about how golf made her feel. For six months, she went through a process the Shrinks call "burning down the forest to see what grows back." Lizette worked hard on developing the vocabulary to describe how she was feeling to the people in her circle. It took time, but eventually she made it back to the golf course, ready to start competing again. Lizette is thoughtful, kind, insightful, deeply funny, and much, much more than a professional golfer. 

In this session: broadening your identity, hit-and-giggles, don’t touch my clubs.

As always, thanks for listening to Group Golf Therapy! #mindyourgolf

Please subscribe, rate our podcast, and leave a review—we're always looking to deliver a great show to you.

Hit 'em straight, and mind your golf.