Chasing Pars Golf Podcast

(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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(Ep 114) Megan Khang

In this next episode of Chasing Pars Golf Podcast which is proudly sponsored by Golf Tips Checker I am absolutely delighted to say I was joined by one of the best players in the world in Women's World Ranked Number 14, 1x LPGA Tour winner & 3x Solheim Cup participant for USA Megan Khang to discuss a brilliant career so far from the Amateur days being Low Amateur at 2012 US Open at the age of 14 years old to going 5-0 at 2015 Junior Solheim Cup to finishing T6th at LPGA Qualifying Tournament to gain LPGA Card in 2016 at the age of just 18 years old making history in the process becoming the first player of Hmong & Laotian descent to play on the LPGA Tour & hopes to inspire the next generation of Hmong & Laotian players!
A proud native of the state of Massachusetts Megan discovered the game of love of the game in New England where she also loved Snowboarding, Fishing & Hiking in her time. Megan is a 3x Solheim Cup participant for Team US having been automatically qualified on merit at the age of 21 to play as a Rookie in 2019 at Gleneagles an experience that will stay with her and tell a funny story about the time she never gave Charley Hull a putt concede in the competition. She was selected on home soil in 2021 & last year at Finca Cortesin Megan would win 3.5 pts for America along with Lexi Thompson & Rose Zhang with a nice story about the super talented Zhang. Megan hopes to be selected for this year's Solheim Cup on home soil again & has aspirations to play into US side at Olympic Games.
Last year on her 191st start on LPGA Tour at CPKC Women's Open in Shaughnessy, Canada Megan would win her maiden LPGA Tour title defeating the mighty Jin Young Ko in a Playoff, Megan describes how she felt coming down the stretch to win her first title! Khang has over 37 Top 10 finishes on the LPGA Tour with 10 Top 10's & 14 Top 25's in 42 Major Starts including a T3rd at KPMG Women's PGA, T9th at Chevron & T9th at Evian in last years Majors!
Megan ranks her favourite majors from 1st to 5th, talks about her friendship group with Nelly & Jess Korda & Alison Lee & of course talks about her favourite coffee! 
It was truly an honour for me to have one of the best players in Women's Golf on the show. I wish Megan Khang every success in 2024! I hope you enjoy the show. 
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(Ep 113) Justin Walters

In this latest episode of Chasing Pa In rs Golf Podcast which is Proudly sponsored by Golf Tips Checker I was joined by 2x Sunshine Tour champion & 4x DP World Tour runner up as I give you the remarkable story of Justin Walters. In a really deep, honest, meaningful at times tough not to feel emotional chat Justin goes at length about how career struggles affected him, the heavy loss of both parents with remarkable bravery to recover from such adversity to being a main stay on the DP World Tour for over a decade!
 
Justin was born in South Africa but is Half South African & Half English by his own admission due to having an English mother. Justin would take a college placement in the States in 2001 while managing to get into the University of North Carolina State & was number 1 at a period of time at NC State playing every week against serious players including PGA Tour players Hunter Mahan, Bill Haas, Brandt Snedeker, D.J. Trahan & Ryan Moore. In 2002 due to having dual citizenship Justin would get the call up to team GB & Ireland for Palmer Cup where alongside Oliver Wilson & Stuart Manley would battle a very talented US side consisting of the best college talent (Haas, Mahan, Trahan, Nick Watney). 
 
Justin would turn pro in 2003 & although would struggle in his first few years he would win 2004 Parmalat Classic on Sunshine Tour & 2005 Statesville Open on Tarheel Tour (US). In 2011 he would pick up his 2nd Sunshine Tour title at Investec Royal Swazi Open in the Stableford format legit coming off a 3 weeks injury layoff after slicing the top of a finger. 2013 was the year that propelled Justin properly on Tour ending up a career high 64th on Race to Dubai standings, 2013 European Tour Graduate of the Year & a 2nd at Portugal Masters pipped by David Lynn & contended in the big Turkish Airlines Open event which included Justin Rose & Tiger nonetheless. We get a story of how Justin was just a baby away from the greatest and being mesmerized by his swing! 2019 was also a strong year with a 2nd back home at Dimension Data Pro- Am & T2nd again in Portugal. In 2020 after the COVID restart Justin would lead ISPS Handa UK Championship at The Belfry Brabazon Course from start to finish until making a few mistakes going for home when Rasmus Hojgaard with an amazing finish got into a playoff where Hojgaard would win & still to this day Justin's biggest regret. He loves the Belfry after also a T3rd in 2022 at Betfred British Masters. 
 
From promising college career to career struggles to near misses on the main tour to personal tragedies this is a must listen to episode. I fully appreciate Justin's full honesty! Wish him all the best for 2024.

(Ep 112) George Bloor

In this next player episode of Chasing Pars Golf Podcast in association with Golf Tips Checker Craig was joined by 2023 Clutch Pro Tour/Mizuno Next Gen Order of Merit winner & now Challenge Tour card holder George Bloor who calls in a couple of days before he jets out to Dubai for 3 weeks in hot weather preparation for the start of the 2024 Challenge Tour season in South Africa.
 
A very hard working Golfer with Lazer focus that is always trying to get better & better George has made a name for himself on the Pro-Ams in Portugal & the UK mini tours winning 10 times in total and adores the country of Portugal having won 3 times in a short space of time on the Portugal Pro Tour.
 
George would turn pro at the end of 2018 & missed out on proper EuroPro Tour status and had limited starts in 2019 but a decent finish of T5th at The Eagle Orchid Scottish Masters would stand him in good stead in the same tournament where now fully fledged DP World Tour member & good pal Richard Mansell finished 2nd. Between late 2019-22 George would float about the mini tours and make occasional Challenge Tour starts on invites. In 2022 George would gain more start on the Challenge Tour via invites and would make the weekend a good few times with a highest finish of T34th. Fast forward to 2023 & George would fully commit to the Clutch Pro Tour playing the full 17 events having 7 Top 10's & finished 1st in the Order of Merit rankings to gain a Full Challenge Tour card for 2024.
 
George is from Buxton in Derbyshire which is the home of Buxton Water and played Golf competitively at 12 years old. Watch out for George Bloor in 2024 folks. A player with a great swing & a great attitude. I predict big things.
 
 
This show is sponsored by Golf Tips Checker the premium compiler of Golf Tops on every PGA Tour & DP World Tour event! Wishing you all the best!