Fore Golfers Network Podcast

Welcome to the Fore Golfers Network/Michigan Golf Live Podcast Ep 546 - From Golf Channel's Big Break to Life's Biggest Lessons – Valeria Brannen's Remarkable Journey What can a former Golf Channel Big Break contestant teach us about golf, resilience, and handling life's toughest challenges? As it turns out, quite a lot! This week, we're joined by Valeria Brannen, an LPGA professional, mental performance coach, former contestant on Golf Channel's Big Break III, and author of the memoir Still Swinging. Valeria's story begins in Colombia, where she fell in love with golf at just six years old, despite growing up in a culture where the game wasn't particularly popular among young girls. With the encouragement of a coach who believed in her, she developed a passion that would eventually take her to the United States, onto national television, and into a career helping golfers improve both their games and their mindsets. Along the way, Valeria moved to America at 18 with just $4,000, raised four children as a single mother, and discovered how the lessons learned on the golf course could help her navigate life's most difficult moments. In this entertaining and inspiring conversation, we explore: Behind the scenes of Golf Channel's Big Break: What really happened during the competition, the personalities involved, and the challenges of competing on television while still learning English. Why women's golf continues to grow: Valeria's perspective on the changing culture of golf and the opportunities now available to female players. The mental side of golf: Why carrying frustration from one shot to the next can destroy your round, and how a simple physical routine can help reset your emotions. Coaching the next generation: What Valeria has learned working with high school golfers, including a hilarious and revealing exchange with a frustrated young player. The story behind Still Swinging: How golf helped shape Valeria's character, career, family life, and ability to overcome adversity. One of the most memorable moments comes when Valeria explains why golfers need to separate their personal worth from their performance. A bad round doesn't make you a bad person, and learning to move beyond mistakes is a skill that serves us just as well away from the course. Her advice is refreshingly practical, her enthusiasm is contagious, and her life story is a powerful reminder that golf is about much more than the numbers on a scorecard. Valeria's memoir, Still Swinging, is available in English and Spanish. ---------------- Subscribe to the FGN Podcast Watch FGN videos on YouTube Check out our other sports pod: Church Pew Sports TEXT or CALL (989) 272-2383 to share your thoughts, comments, suggestions, and questions    

A Farewell to LIV Golf: A Funeral for Golf's Loudest Experiment Dearly beloved, we gather today to bid farewell to LIV Golf. And before the service begins, please make sure your phones are NOT on silent. It's how LIV would have wanted it. Golf, but louder. In this special edition of the Fore Golfers/Michigan Golf Live Podcast, Bill Hobson delivers a touching eulogy for professional golf's most controversial experiment. From Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman to enormous Saudi paydays, questionable television ratings, broken promises, and the PGA Tour's escalating financial arms race, we're remembering the highs, lows, and outright absurdities of the LIV Golf saga. Was LIV Golf a revolutionary idea that changed the game for the better, or a spectacularly expensive cautionary tale about money, power, and misplaced priorities? Farewell, LIV Golf. Your framework has finally been finalized. ---------------- Subscribe to the FGN Podcast Watch FGN videos on YouTube Check out our other sports pod: Church Pew Sports TEXT or CALL (989) 272-2383 to share your thoughts, comments, suggestions, and questions    

Welcome to the Fore Golfers Network/Michigan Golf Live Podcast Ep 544 - From the U.P. to the PGA TOUR: Hunter Eichhorn's Incredible Journey From the U.P. to the PGA TOUR: Hunter Eichhorn's Incredible Journey What are the odds that a kid from a tiny town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, who learned to play golf on a nine-hole course with his grandfather, would grow up to earn a PGA TOUR card? For Hunter Eichhorn of Carney, Michigan, that seemingly impossible dream has become reality! In this special edition of the Michigan Golf Live/Fore Golfers Podcast, host Bill Hobson welcomes one of the most remarkable success stories in Michigan golf history. Hunter Eichhorn has officially earned his PGA TOUR card for the 2027 season, completing an extraordinary journey from the quiet fairways of the Upper Peninsula to the biggest stage in professional golf. And his story is about much more than birdies, bogeys, and tournament results. From a Town of Fewer Than 200 to Golf's Biggest Stage Hunter grew up in Carney, a tiny Upper Peninsula community near the Wisconsin border. His golfing education didn't begin at a prestigious country club or elite junior golf academy. Instead, it started at Wild Pines Golf Course, a humble nine-hole layout in nearby Hermanville, where he spent countless hours playing alongside his grandfather, Steve. Those rounds helped develop Hunter's competitive instincts, creativity, and love for the game. He even developed his own golf swing, learning through experimentation and experience rather than relying on traditional instruction. At Carney-Nadeau High School, where his graduating class numbered just 17 students, Hunter accomplished something no Michigan boys golfer had ever done: winning four consecutive individual high school state golf championships. A Record-Breaking College Career Despite growing up far from the traditional hotbeds of competitive junior golf, Hunter attracted the attention of Marquette University, where he became one of the greatest players in school history. His accomplishments included: Three BIG EAST Player of the Year awards Six collegiate tournament victories Four All-BIG EAST First Team selections A school-record 61 at the 2022 Puerto Rico Classic A career scoring average of 71.38, another Marquette record But even with that impressive résumé, the road to professional golf's highest level was anything but guaranteed. The Breakthrough: A PGA TOUR Card for 2027 After working his way through professional golf's demanding developmental system, Hunter earned full-time Korn Ferry Tour status for 2026 through PGA TOUR Q-School. He made the most of that opportunity. With nine top-10 finishes, including a runner-up performance at the Visit Knoxville Open, Eichhorn established himself among the Korn Ferry Tour's most consistent competitors. His outstanding season earned him a coveted PGA TOUR card for 2027, making him the first Marquette University golfer to achieve PGA TOUR membership. For a young man from the U.P., it's an extraordinary accomplishment. A Michigan Golf Story Worth Celebrating In this special conversation, we celebrate Hunter's unlikely journey, the people and places that helped shape his career, and the determination required to pursue a dream that once seemed almost impossibly distant. It's a story of small-town roots, family influence, perseverance, and big-time achievement. Whether you're a lifelong golfer, a proud Yooper, or simply someone who loves seeing hard work rewarded, this is a Michigan golf story you won't want to miss. Subscribe to the Michigan Golf Live/Fore Golfers Podcast for more conversations with the people, personalities, and destinations that make golf such a special game. Visit https://mgltv.com for more Michigan golf stories, course features, equipment reviews, and episodes of Michigan Golf Live.  

Welcome to the Fore Golfers Network/Michigan Golf Live Podcast Ep 543 - Special Guest Paul Albanese On Golf Course Architecture For those golfers fascinated by the process of designing and constructing a course, this conversation will be fascinating as we visit with global golf course designer Paul Albanese. Paul's journey to becoming one of the leading course architects is a fascinating story in itself, as is his latest creation - the new Cedar Course at Island Resort near Escanaba, MI. Picking up the game of golf at age 5, Paul Albanese was a single digit handicapper by the time he was 13 and was fascinated by the great courses he was exposed to in Northern New Jersey, such as Somerset Hills, Baltusrol and Plainfield CC. Paul was recruited by Cornell University to play on the golf team, and he was captain of the team his senior year. Paul received a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University's engineering college, where he specified his studies in environmental and agricultural engineering. His golf team experience at Cornell allowed him to see many classic courses on the East Coast, including the famed Bethpage Black course, where the Ivy Leagues Championships are played every year. After Cornell, Paul went on to Harvard University where he received a Masters in Landscape Architecture. During his tenure at Harvard, he crafted his design curriculum to focus specifically on golf course architecture. P aul also received a prestigious Penny White grant for travel to Scotland to study classic precedents in golf architecture, as well as how the golf landscapes of Scotland function as vital components to its society. Paul is also the Director of Golf Course Architecture at the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland, which is one of the only Masters level golf course architecture education programs in the world. ---------------- Subscribe to the FGN Podcast Watch FGN videos on YouTube Check out our other sports pod: Church Pew Sports TEXT or CALL (989) 272-2383 to share your thoughts, comments, suggestions, and questions      

Welcome to the Fore Golfers Network/Michigan Golf Live Podcast Ep 542 - Presidents Cup Preview with Garrett Johnston Amidst the launch of football across America, the Presidents Cup slides onto the radar as the US vs International match provides some very intriguing storylines at Medinah. Special Guest Garrett Johnston joins us to look at the teams and what possible route the International players could find to break a 10-match winning streak for the United States. ---------------- Subscribe to the FGN Podcast Watch FGN videos on YouTube Check out our other sports pod: Church Pew Sports TEXT or CALL (989) 272-2383 to share your thoughts, comments, suggestions, and questions