The Back of the Range

Josele Ballester - 2024 United States Amateur Champion

September 4th, 2024  |  54 mins 12 secs

amateur golf, arizona state, college golf, golf podcast, hazeltine, josele ballester, masters, u.s. amateur, usga

My guest on this episode is the newly crowned United States Amateur Champion, Josele Ballester from Castellon de la Plana, Spain.
As you would imagine, Josele has been on quite the media blitz as of late. Lots of questions about the final match at Hazeltine against Noah Kent and his legion of Iowa fans. We did speak about the match, but we also dove into his start in the game in Spain, what ultimately made him decide to play college golf at Arizona State, and the other amateur accomplishemnts on his resume that played a huge role in his success at this year's U.S. Amateur.

There is a lot of great information in this episode, I really enjoyed speaking with Josele and I'll see him throughout the college season now that Arizona State has moved to the Big 12 Conference.

Matt Thurmond - Arizona State Men's Golf Coach

February 8th, 2024  |  1 hr 1 min

amateur golf, arizona state, college golf, david puig, golf podcast, matt thurmond, preston summerhays, sun devils

Fantastic conversation with the Arizona State Men's Golf Coach, Matt Thurmond. We spoke about the culture that he has created in the desert and how he is utilizing social media to revolutionize the recruiting process.

Billy Mayfair - The Man Who Tamed Tiger

February 8th, 2023  |  1 hr 2 mins

arizona state, billy mayfair, pga tour, pga tour champions, tiger woods, usga, walker cup

My guest on this episode is Billy Mayfair. Yes, he is a five-time winner on the PGA Tour and the only man to defeat Tiger Woods in a playoff. But he also had an impressive amateur career as well! 1986 U.S. Amateur Public Links Champion. 1987 U.S. Amateur Champion. Undefeated record in the Walker Cup. We covered MANY topics on this episode with the former All-American from Arizona State.

Preston Summerhays - 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur Champion

June 11th, 2021  |  43 mins 27 secs

amateur golf, arizona state, boyd summerhays, golf, maridoe, matt thurmond, preston summerhays, tony finau, usga

My guest on this episode is Preston Summerhays. The 2019 U.S. Junior Champion discussed his family's obsession with the game and his approach to competition as he prepares for another full schedule of amateur events this summer before starting his collegiate career at Arizona State.

Episode 197: The Coaches Roundtable - Jonathan Dismuke (Houston), Matt Thurmond (Arizona State), and Trey Jones (Florida State)

May 25th, 2021  |  45 mins 37 secs

amateur golf, arizona state, brooks koepka, college golf, floridian, fsu, houston, john pak, jonathan dismuke, matt thurmond, ryan crysler, trey jones

In this special episode, Ryan Crysler from The Floridian leads a conversation with three of the finest collegiate coaches in the game today. Jonathan Dismuke (Houston), Matt Thurmond (Arizona State), and Trey Jones (Florida State) sit down before the start of the 2021 Valspar Collegiate to discuss all aspects of college golf. Tons of valuable information for anyone considering playing collegiate golf!

Jeff Quinney - 2000 U.S. Amateur Champion

August 19th, 2020  |  37 mins 49 secs

amateur golf, arizona state, bandon dunes, jeff quinney, oregon golf, tyler strafaci, us amateur, usga

My guest on this episode is the 2000 U.S. Amateur Champion, Jeff Quinney. It's the 20th anniversary of Jeff's victory at Baltustrol, so it was a perfect time to look back at his incredible feat of winning in 39 holes over James Driscoll. Especially since his qualified that year at Bandon Dunes, which is the host of this year's U.S. Amateur!