VSGA‘s Golf in the Commonwealth Podcast

Golf Channel’s Johnson Wagner was in town to emcee the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Salisbury Country Club. While here, he sat down with host Chris Lang for a brief conversation on a wide range of trending golf topics. Lang also gives the Hall of Fame Class of 2025 its flowers before moving into the Wagner conversation.

The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur begins a week from Saturday at The Omni Homestead Resort’s Cascades Course, which boasts a rich history, especially when it comes to women’s golf. Host Chris Lang catches up with two VSGA members playing in the event – Kristin Shifflett and Joan Gardner – along with Boodie McGurn, who played in the championship the last time it visited Hot Springs in 2009. Listen along for a preview of the first USGA championship at the Homestead in 16 years.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, host Chris Lang catches up with Jason Hasty, one of three VSGA members who competed in the 4th U.S. Adaptive Open earlier in July. Hasty talks about his journey in golf, the thrill of competing at a USGA championship, and where he sees his role as an advocate for adaptive golf.

It’s U.S. Open week, and our guest on Golf In The Commonwealth has some local knowledge of Oakmont Country Club, having played in a U.S. Open there. Keswick Hall club general manager and director of golf Rob McNamara joins host Chris Lang to talk U.S. Open memories and the excitement at Keswick for the upcoming 100th VSGA Women’s Amateur Championship.

Virginia native Lauren Coughlin has made a late-season surge to earn a likely spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup team. Coughlin, fresh off a victory at the CPKC Canadian Open, joins host Chris Lang to talk about her season and the anticipation of being able to represent her country in her home state at the upcoming Solheim Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

Guest host Matt Pochily catches up with key figures in advance of the 2024 State Open of Virginia, which runs from Friday, July 19 to Sunday, July 21 at Independence Golf Club.

Join guest host Matt Pochily as he chats with key figures in advance of the 111th VSGA Amateur Championship, which will be held June 24-28 at Belle Haven Country Club in Alexandria.

Guest host Matt Pochily fills in for this episode as he talks to players and key figures leading into the 2nd Women's Open of Virginia at Independence Golf Club.

VSGA member Mike Leach spent 16 years in the NFL, is now an assistant golf coach at William & Mary, and he’s watching proudly as his son Ryan makes final preparations for a Division I golf career at West Virginia. Join host Chris Lang and Leach as they hit on a wide-ranging variety of topics in this episode of Golf In The Commonwealth.

The U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship is coming to Richmond in September, and several key figures in the run-up to the event were in town in May for a media day preview of the event. Catch up with defending champion Stewart Hagestad, Virginia’s own Evan Beck, and championship director Bill McCarthy as we start building the hype for this prestigious championship.

Connor Burgess, Lynchburg native and 2023 State Open of Virginia champion, is battling during his first year on the Korn Ferry Tour as he chases his ultimate dream of playing PGA Tour golf. Burgess joins host Chris Lang in a wide-ranging conversation about growing up playing junior golf in Virginia, his time at Virginia Tech, and the start of the Korn Ferry Tour season.

The 2024 VSGA Championship season is here! Join us for a conversation with VSGA tournament department staffers Josh Coates and Amanda Braun as they take us through what happens in the golf association off-season, the new USGA Exemption Events, the VSGA’s relationship with the USGA ahead of this year’s U.S. Mid-Amateur in Virginia, and much more.

The 110th VSGA Amateur begins Monday, June 26 at Boonsboro Country Club in Lynchburg. Hear from defending champ Ross Funderburke, last year's State Open champ, Nick Taliaferro, two-time Fox Puss champion Ben Keefer, and the VSGA's Josh Coates as we prime you for the week to come.

Two guests join Chris Lang on this special U.S. Open preview episode. Hear from Isaac Simmons (starting at the 3:23 mark), one of two VSGA members who qualified for the championship. Michael Brennan was the other. Then, U.S. Open Championship director Charlie Howe joins (starting at the 26:05 mark). Howe discusses his path from Virginia Tech soccer player to his current role with the USGA and gives some good intel on Los Angeles Country Club, a first-time U.S. Open host.

The Club at Viniterra’s Josh Speight is one of 20 PGA members of the Corebridge Financial Team competing at this week’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill. Thanks to his T11 finish at the PGA National Professional Championship, Josh will get his second chance to tee it up against the world’s top players in a major championship, having previously compete in 2016. Chris Lang caught up with Josh prior to the tournament to hear his thoughts on his trip to Oak Hill.

College golf in Virginia doesn’t stop with the Commonwealth’s Division I schools. In this episode, we chat with VSGA members Robb Kinder and Alex Price, who have helped elevate Christopher Newport University into the second-ranked Division III team in the country. The duo will participate in next week’s DIII championship before heading south to Kiawah Island for the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball. Chris Lang speaks with the pair about how they got to CNU and their hopes of leading the Captains to a national championship, among other topics.

Brinson Paolini won four VSGA Amateur Championships before departing on a whirlwind professional career that took him all over the globe. He played tournament golf in 43 different countries in eight years before starting first a coaching business, and now, a business focused on the nutritional aspect of golf. Paolini chats with Chris Lang about some of his favorite VSGA memories and his new venture, Sharp Focus Nutrition, in this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth.

In wake of the USGA announcing major changes to the qualifying structure for several USGA championships starting in 2024, the USGA's senior director of championship administration, Brent Paladino, joins host Chris Lang on the pod. He discusses his time playing golf at William & Mary, the evolution of an important junior tournament he helped form, and of course, the major upcoming changes to USGA championship qualifying.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, Chris Lang chats with two members of the VSGA’s championships department – Kent Holubar and Amanda Braun – to preview the 2023 VSGA championship season. We talk venues, players and what’s new on the championship schedule in 2023.

In this episode of Golf in the Commonwealth, Chris Lang chats with U.S. Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis, who was in Washington earlier this week for the announcement that she’ll serve a second term as U.S. captain in 2024 when the Cup is played at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville. Lewis shares her thoughts on both playing and captaining in the Cup and talks a little bit about her unique golf journey and her advice to young girls who want to play competitive golf.