Chasing Pars Golf Podcast

(Ep 124) Ellinor Südow

With the Ladies European Tour starting next week at Vipingo Ridge in Kenya I was joined by new LET card holder & Epson Tour card holder Ellinor Südow. In this episode we get to learn more about Ellinor's rise which is impressive seeing as she only took up Golf 13 years ago after 12 having been a successful athlete with Badminton & Gymnastics (Ellinor was Top 5 in the country at Badminton) we learn how at first she hated it as it was boring but over time more work at it she would enjoy it more & would join Vasatorp Golf Club just outside of Helsingborg! 
Having played all sports throughout her life growing up she had a healthy competition with her brother who is 8 years older than Ellie. Ellie would get to the States for a Scholarship at University of North Carolina at Charlotte which was the seen in 2019 of a shooting massacre which to this day still haunts Ellinor but she bravely opens up about that day & the after effects of such a traumatic experience. In 2021 Ellinor would finish 2nd at Danish International Amateur & 3rd at German International Amateur before transferring to University of Arizona before turning Professional in 2022!
Ellie would finish T17th at LPGA Tour Q School to win a LPGA Tour card for 2023 which she opens up about some of her experiences on the main tour when at times on her own and struggling with being a rookie on LPGA Tour it would be fellow Swedes Maja Stark & Linnea Strom who would be there for her! Having briefly missed out on LPGA Tour Qualifying for this year the week after in Morocco at LET Tour Q School she would finish T16th to gain a full LET card for this year starting in Kenya. 
To end the show Ellinor tells us about her ambitions to be at the Olympics for Sweden & become a UNICEF Ambassador to help others with extreme poverty! One of the nicest people you will talk to very friendly & down to earth with an unbelievably good swing.
Expect big things this year from the talented Swede! All the best to Ellie for 2024!
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(Ep 123) Pebble Beach Pro-Am/Bahrain Champs

With Edwards unavailable Craig goes alone for the very first time so apologies if it's a poor quality episode. It was an interesting week with Matthieu Pavon becoming the 1st Frenchman in 117 years to win on PGA Tour with a fantastic victory at Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines winning with a ballsy 3rd shot to the Par 5 18th to defeat Nicolai Højgaard! At Ras Al Khaimah it was a super Thorbjorn Olesen performance to win by 6 shots at -27 to Rasmus Hojgaard at Al Hamra GC. That was Olesen's 8th victory on DP World Tour & 3rd since 2022 a class player that can blow people away when the putter is firing! For me the event of the year so far was LPGA Drive On Champs in Bradenton, Florida on the LPGA Tour an event that saw the re-emergence of Nelly Korda who won for a 9th time on LPGA Tour in absolutely dramatic fashion defeating Lydia Ko in a playoff while Ko was looking for LPGA Immortality! Nelly would have a 4 shot lead going into Sunday would only be 1 ahead of Megan Khang after the front 9 then a poor drive at 14 would lead to a bogey at 14, double bogey at 15 followed directly by bogeys from all 3 of Khang, Ko and Ayaka Furue would put all 3 women joint lead at -9 before Ko thinned her 2nd shot to the Par 5 17th to 3ft for a tap in eagle while Korda would further bogey to give Lydia a 3 shot lead going into her 72nd hole. The drama doesn't end there Nelly at 17 from the back of the green would make a clutch eagle to go back to within 1 of Ko with Ko parring the 18th to finish -11 Korda would need to birdie 18 to get in a playoff which she produced a worldie shot into the 72nd to within a foot to bring it to a playoff where she would win on the 2nd Playoff hole in dramatic fashion in her hometown of Bradenton!
This week we have AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA Tour which Justin Rose won last year. This year at Pebble it is an 80 man field with no cut & a PGA Signature Event attracting the very best this week with only Pebble Beach & Spyglass Hill in play instead of the 3 course rotation of normal & the Am's are only playing Thursday & Friday leading to a good finish hopefully! It's another inaugural event on DP World Tour with Bahrain Champs taking place this week at the Colin Montgomerie designed Royal Golf Club that has hosted a few MENA Tour events from 2018-20 as well as a Champions event in the European Tour back in 2011 which was won by Paul Casey at -20. With wind forecast in Bahrain it should be a good event with hopefully the winner picked in it!
Felt it was hard to go solo so appreciate it if you try to listen in!
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(Ep 122) Shaun Norris

In this episode sponsored by Golf Tips Checker Craig was joined by the prolific winner from South Africa Shaun Norris who over a 22 year pro career has amassed a whopping 11 Professional Wins at all levels including a stunning 6 wins in Japan a country he deeply adores and looks forward to getting back there in March! We catch up with Shaun after a long break since Dunhill Champs at Leopard Creek as he explains the signs of fatigue that kicked in towards the end of the season coming from Japan & SA. We find out how Shaun's preparations are going on ahead of his return in the co-sanctioned Challenge Tour/Sunshine Tour events in South Africa to start his year off! 
Shaun turned pro in 2002 & won his first event in 2005 on Tarheel Tour then followed it with success on Sunshine Tour! A career that has spanned DP World Tour/Challenge Tour/Asian Tour/Tarheel Tour & 7 events in the inaugural LIV season it is the Japanese Tour where Shaun has had massive success winning at least 1 event from 2016-20 including a national championship & won twice in 2021 including a Flagship event on the Japanese Tour to stamp his authority as one of the best in the country. Shaun explains his love with the Japanese way of living, the culture, the food & the beauty including Mount Fuji! In 2022 at Steyn City Shaun would win on the DP World Tour for the first time beating fellow countryman Dean Burmester to win at -25 shortly after that Shaun would be approached by LIV Golf with an offer of playing the first 7 events of the inaugural season which he would accept and tells us about how the difference between LIV Golf & normal Tour Golf are. He would be in 3 teams in that time Aces with Dustin Johnson, Crushers with Bryson DeChambeau then the all SA team Stingers with Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel & Branden Grace!
An underrated winner that sometimes goes unnoticed but a fantastic player and a nice guy! Wish Shaun all the best as he hunts down more wins in Japan this year!
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(Ep 121) Ryan van Velzen

In this latest episode of Chasing Pars Golf Podcast in association with Golf Tips Checker Craig is joined by Sunshine Your sensation & 2x winner Ryan van Velzen who phones in from on site of tomorrow's Sunshine Tour event at Mediclinic Invitational where its a strong field with the likes of Jacques Kruyswijk, Oli Bekker, Danie van Tonder, Benjamin Follett-Smith amongst those playing on the Sunshine Tour this week. Ryan talks us through his journey to the Sunshine Tour via winning twice on Big Easy Tour as an amateur while turning pro in 2021. While first coming on the Sunshine Tour it was none other than multiple time winner on the tour Jaco Van Zyl that took Ryan under his wing and gave him the guidance on what to do and what not to do. Ryan is a 2x winner on Sunshine Tour after winning twice last year at Limpopo Championship after Jaco Prinsloo doubled the last to hand Ryan his first win at that level. Ryan along with good friend Luca Filippi would win together at Bain's Whisky Ubunye Team Champs in the process Luca winning his maiden Sunshine Tour title. Ryan talks us through his & Luca's friendship and what makes them tick. 
At the end of 2023 at South Africa Open on the DP World Tour Ryan would have an unbelievable week with one of the best performances of his career just falling short of eventual winner Dean Burmester. We go into how that week would give him the belief that he belongs at this level. 23 year old with a great long game with the potential to go very far! One to watch out for!
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(Ep 120) Farmers Insurance Open & Ras Al Khaimah

In the first tournament preview show of this year on Chasing Pars Golf Podcast in association with Golf Tips Checker Craig & Craig Edwards are back to preview this week's events on the PGA Tour & DP World Tour with Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines tomorrow at time of recording where Craig had the 1-2 last year with Max Homa winning at 25/1 & Keegan Bradley finishing 2nd while Edwards also hd Max Homa win last year and has had likes of Jason Day win for him before. With a run of 200/1, 400/1 & 350/1 winners in the first 3 events we are pretty certain that will come to an end this week with a high class winner this event usually throws up and with 3 strong picks each we reckon we should have a chance! On the DP World Tour we stay in UAE for a 3rd week as we are at Ras al Khaimah Champs at the Peter Herredine designed Al Hamra GC where we recap last year's dramatic win of Daniel Gavins who not only put it in the water twice at 18 on the Sunday to double bogey but made a 25 foot putt to win it beating Alexander Bjork. We reckon this should be another birdie fest but we are both keen on 2 players the same and a disrespectful price of 50/1 ok a 9 time European Tour winner. 
Join us as we get the Tournament Previews back up and we discuss the historic feat of Alabama Sophomore & 2023 US Amateur Champion Nick Dunlap who became the first amateur since Phil Mickelson in 1991 to win on the PGA Tour with a great performance at The American Express while Rory won for the 4th time at Dubai Desert Classic beating the well backed Adrian Meronk by a shot.
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(Ep 119) Pieter Moolman

In this episode of the podcast which is sponsored by Golf Tips Checker Craig was joined by 2x Sunshine Tour winner & new 2024 DP World Tour card holder Pieter Moolman, a player with one of the saddest and devastating stories.
Pieter is from Ekerhulani in Gauteng just short of Johannesburg in South Africa, started playing Golf at 13 & would go be a member at Benoni Lake Golf Club. Pieter won 2009 South African Boys, competed at Duke of York Champions & was represented at every age group from 16 for Eastern Gauteng. Pieter is a 2x Sunshine Tour winner having won 2022 Fortress Invitational & 2023 VOG KZN and describes himself as a massive petrol head that has owned lots of different Audi's while he also fixes and modifies his own Cars. 
Turning Pro in 2011 Pieter would play on the Sunshine Tour in 2012 as well as some Big Easy Tour events and would describe the opening 4 years as a pro as a struggle having lost his Sunshine Tour card in 2015 having to go back to Big Easy Tour to play well again to win back his privileges on Sunshine Tour. Over the past couple of seasons on Sunshine Tour have been much better with multiple Top 10's including 2 wins, 2 2nd's 3 3rd's as well as some top 20s on European Challenge Tour. 
We go over why South African Golf is in a good spot with so many talented players down to different foundations in the Country and Pieter predicts in the next 5 years there will be 7 South African Major wins while I think 3 South African Major wins. 
In the last part I let Pieter go through one of the most horrifying experiences in a terrible event that would rock his world forever when travelling back from Durban with his then Girlfriend they would have a major car accident with the driver going near head on where Pieter would suffer injuries such as a Fractured Pelvis & his partner would suffer injuries as well as the Drivers wife but unfortunately the driver of the other vehicle would tragically pass away from the injuries & we discover the lasting impact that this had on Moolman's approach to life going forward.
A seriously hard hitting last 15 mins or so of the episode where it would cause a lump in the throat at one point. Very sad but Pieter believes he was given this lucky chance. 
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(Ep 118) Luca Filippi

In another player exclusive interview for Golf Tops Checker Craig was joined by 2x Sunshine Tour winner & current Sunshine Tour OOM #4 from Cape Town Luca Filippi. In another fantastic episode we find out what Luca has been up to after a 2 week break with his partner in Thailand while Snorkelling and petting Elephants. We find out stuff about Luca through the quick fire round then later find out about his amateur successes and later Sunshine Tour successes in 2023.
Cape Town born Luca originally played Tournament Golf at Age of 9 at Atlantic Golf Club having played all of the sports growing up. A big part of Luca's develop was being in the presence of the great man himself Ernie Els who specifically took him in at the age of 14 through the Els Foundation which funded Luca's Junior & Amateur career until just before turning pro in 2020 Luca mentions how accommodating Ernie was with him. Now a part of the GolfRSA brand owned by Dunhill owner Johann Rupert we see how some of the best talents in South Africa have won at all levels in the last 5 years.
As a Junior Luca Filippi would be selected for 2017 Junior Presidents Cup side captained by Trevor Immelman alongside close friends Jayden Schaper & Garrick Higgo as well as the enigmatic Christo Lamprecht! Luca would also play big events such as 2017 Junior World Cup in Japan for South Africa, 2017 Junior Players' Champs, British Amateur 3 times (17',18',19) and would win the iconic South African Amateur Champs in 2019. 
Luca turned pro in 2020 & takes us through some of the toughest times of his life in that year starting out on Sunshine Tour before the world shut off for Covid. 2022 would be better with a highest finish of 2nd at Blue Label Challenge the week after his mother was in hospital so it was very emotional. In 2023 Luca would have a whole host of Top 10 finishes on Sunshine Tour with persistence finally paying off alongside good friend Ryan van Velzen at Bain's Whisky Ubunye Champs pairs tournament which resulted in Luca's 1st pro title then would go on to win 2023 Blue Label Challenge for his 2nd not long after.
A genuinely brilliant guy with the talent to really compete at a higher level. Give this a listen for some laugh, some serious & some honest chat about Luca's career.
 
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(Ep 117) Sam Jones

In this episode sponsored by Golf Tips Checker I was joined by recently new DP World Tour card holder Sam Jones who discussed the crazy journey of a DP World Tour Qualifying School where Sam would qualify through First Stage on the dot in Bristol to finishing T4th at 2nd Stage in Spain to then finishing T6th at Final Stage at Infinitum Golf to secure a full DP World Tour card for 2024 only 2 weeks after turning Professional after the Asian & Pacific Amateur Champs at Royal Melbourne, a remarkable sequence of events. 
Sam is from the small town of Manaia in the province of Taranaki in New Zealand with a loving for Golf only coming at around 12 years old having played some Cricket, Rugby & Tennis growing up. At age 15 Sam would discover a love for hitting golf balls a long way and has been known as a long Hitter for a while. Sam would attend University of West Georgia & would win 3 Collegiate events at UWG & In total between Amateur level and New Zealand events Sam has another 11 wins in total, would represent New Zealand at 2022 & 2023 Eisenhower Trophy at Le Golf National & Abu Dhabi GC both times along with Kazuma Kobori and James Hydes. In 2022 was a massive year in terms of Amateur talent with the likes of Ludvig Åberg, Gordon Sargent, Michael Thorbjornsen, Adrien Dumont Du Chassart, Christo Lamprecht, Keira Nakajima & Filippo Celli all playing at Le Golf National in 2022.
In 2023 Sam would discuss the joys of playing back home in New Zealand on the Asian Tour as well as his first 5 starts on the DP World Tour since winning his tour card when contending at halfway in the Australian Open where was level with eventual winner Joaquin Niemann before a final round 78 took him to T48th & the surreal experience of playing Alfred Dunhill Champs at Leopard Creek where Sam would finish T25th. We cap off talking about a few general questions & the impact that the talented young Kiwi Kazuma Kobori could have in the future. Sam finishes off by telling us what he's wanting from 2024 season.
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(Ep 116) David Drysdale

In another player interview of Chasing Pars Golf Podcast sponsored by Golf Tips Checker Craig was joined by Scottish veteran & current Asian Tour professional David Drysdale who was phoning in from freezing cold Cockburnspath. 
David has spent an overall 21 seasons on European Tour now DP World Tour & has amassed over 575 starts with 4 2nd's/5 3rd's & 29 Top 10's overall with the most notable 2nd coming at Education City for 2020 Qatar Masters where David would miss a 15ft birdie chance on the 72nd hole to win on his 498th European Tour start. What transpired from there in a playoff with Jorge Campillo was nothing short of mind boggling with David playing approaches brilliantly to within Jorge's ball every time only for Campillo to put on the putting performance of a lifetime to deny Dave his 1st ever Euro Tour title & Campillo winning his 2nd in the process. David has also has 2nd's at Russian Open in 2006, Andalucia in 2009 and at his favourite course at Leopard Creek for Alfred Dunhill Champs in 2018. David is a 2x Challenge Tour winner having won in France in 2004 at Grand Final & El Prat in 2006 while having a Euro Tour card & in 2009 would play at World Cup for Scotland along with Alistair Forsyth at Mission Hills GC in China.
David lost his DP World Tour card at the end of 2022 after 20+ years & decided to take the leap at Asian Tour Q School in Thailand where he would gain a Tour card for 2023 Asian Tour season with 2 Top 10s T3rd in Taiwan & T9th in Hong Kong with a T11th at Macao Open which would help in finishing 47th overall therefore having a full card to play whatever Asian Tour events & International Series events going forward for 2024 where he sets off to Thailand tomorrow for a 2 week practice before the first event in Kuala Lumpur. 
An honest and refreshing take into a long Golfing career from David & I hope one day he wins on Tour before he calls it a day. The Legends Tour and Champions Tour Qualifying look a possibility in the next couple of years. 
Top man Dave 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

(Ep 115) Maja Stark

In another Chasing Pars player exclusive interview sponsored by Golf Tips Checker I was absolutely delighted to be joined by 1x LPGA Tour winner, 5x Ladies European Tour winner & 2023 Solheim Cup star Maja Stark who becomes my 25th Professional Player interview.
 
In this brilliant episode with Maja we find out about her background growing up in the village of Abbekås in Sweden growing up with an older brother they would play competitively in most things against each other. We find out that Maja was in the same year & went to the same school as none other than Ludvig Åberg & Linn Grant while Madelene Sagstrom was also at the same school in Helsingborg. Craig asks some quick fire questions to find out more about Maja with a nice little discussion on ABBA (Why Not?). It was at the age of 15 where Maja would start to get noticed by Top Swedish Coaches & managed to get into university at Oklahoma State University where she was a First Team All American & won 2021 Big 12 Championship with Oklahoma State. Other Amateur accolades include being on the 2017 Junior Solheim Cup Team for Europe, Winning the European Girls Amateur Team Champs with Sweden, winning European Amateur Team Champs 3 times with Sweden & being a part of the successful International side at 2020 Palmer Cup at Bay Hill. 
 
Maja turned Professional in 2021 & since then she's been relentless when it comes to getting wins with 6 wins in a 2 year spell on LET Tour & which includes the win in 2022 at the Co-sanctioned ISPS Handa World Invitational at Galgorm Castle which would help secure full LPGA Tour status. 2023 was a decent year for Maja with T2nd at Tournament of Champions in the opening event & T4th at both Honda LPGA Thailand & Women's Scottish Open events. Maja would win Lalla Meryem Cup on the LET beating Linn Grant by 4 shots & would also get to play in her first Solheim Cup for Team Europe at Finca Cortesin contributing to 2 & a half points for Europe on Debut. An experience that Maja says she will never forget.
As Tournament of Champs starts up next week I ask Maja about her goals going forward for 2024 with making back to back Solheim Cup teams the top of her list along with the Majors. We mention about Maja & Linn's friendship but eagerness to beat each other every time on the Golf course & we also talk late about what to expect from WAGR number 1 Ingrid Lindblad and what the future holds for Ingrid when she does finally turn pro.
It was amazing to speak to one of the best players in the world again & to try and process what goals they try to achieve & what obstacles they have to overcome to achieve them. Maja was a lovely person with an even better Golf game & is a future Major Champion in waiting! 
 
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