Talking Wasted Management Open, Amateur Championships, & Robert Morris Men's Golf...

Golf Podcast: next on the tee

Tom Patri is back with me this week along with 3 Next on the Tee rookies, 1984 National Champion John Inman, 1986 Florida State Amateur Champion Barry Cheesman, and Robert Morris University Head Men's Golf Coach Steve Shingledecker.

TP and I got into this past weekend's Wasted Management Open and if it has gone from being The People's Open to needing The People's Court? We also talk about the rash of 60 and sub-60 rounds we've seen recently, plus the resurrection of the Maxfli golf ball.

John Inman won the 1984 National Championship while at the University of North Carolina. We hear about that victory, what it was like teaming with Davis Love III and Jack Nicklaus II to win the 1983/84 ACC Championship, getting the better of Rocco Mediate twice at the '84 Western Amateur and the Provident Classic, plus whether his brother Joe, a 4-time winner between the PGA & Champions Tours, would make a great next Commissioner of the PGA Tour.

Barry Cheesman started out as a Minor League baseball player in the Cardinals farm system back in the 70s. He later turned his attention to golf and won the 1986 Florida State Amateur Championship. We hear that story plus about his 2 wins on the Ben Hogan Tour including at Quail Hollow outside of Cleveland. We also hear what it took to be a long driver out on Tour in the days of persimmon woods and balata golf balls.

Steve Shingledecker is a great multi-sport athlete. He was an All-American baseball player at North Carolina State. He coached Franklin High School in the Pittsburgh area to the 2006 AAA PIAA basketball state championship, and he's now the Head Men's Golf Coach at Robert Morris. We started out talking about his high school friendship/rivalry with Top 100 Instructor and fellow Pittsburgh area native Eric Johnson during their Oil Creek Region days. Someone used the phrase "garbage athlete" to describe the other. While the other one used air quotes around "athlete" when describing his friend. We moved on to learn about his college baseball days at NC State where he was the ACC Tournament MVP in 1990. We got into his golf career and learned what it was like being in the mix at the 2002 Pennsylvania State Mid Amateur Championship. We went on the court to hear what it was like coaching Franklin High to that state championship. We rounded out our conversation getting into how he went about getting the Head Golf Coach position at Robert Morris and working with his players to build that golf program.