Beltway Golfer

 Winner of both the 2025 Mid Atlantic Mid-Am and the Belle Haven Four Ball, Ryan is on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Golf Association, and is heavily involved at Argyle Country Club. He played his college golf at Loyola and is the older brother of PGA Tour player Denny McCarthy. We covered everything from competitive […]

Alex breaks down his weekend in Augusta, talking through everything from lodging to restaurants to walking the grounds for two days at The Masters. David Lee joins the show and talks about the latest version of The Hundred, and we provide an update on the first issue of BG Magazine. beltwaygolfer.com/magazine

Rick Maese of The Washington Post breaks down the Trump administration’s termination of the lease held by the National Links Trust for the operation of the three golf courses on National Park Service land in Washington, DC. The conversation traces the timeline, the ambiguous notice of default, and what those moves could signal for the […]

Washington Post columnist Barry Svrluga joins the podcast to unpack the unfolding controversy surrounding Washington, D.C.’s three public golf courses at Langston, Rock Creek Park, and East Potomac. Barry breaks down what the Trump administration’s notice of default against the National Links Trust means for the 50-year lease, why affordable public golf in the nation’s […]

Josh joins to discuss Where the Fairway Ends, his Nova Scotia golf road-trip book with his dog, his Weird Golf map project of unusual courses throughout the country, and his plan to build a cross-country golf course inspired by Australia’s Nullarbor Links. weirdgolf.com  

Lauren Greenlief has long been one of the faces of Virginia amateur golf — a seven-time state Golfer of the Year and the 2015 U.S. Women’s Mid-Am Champion. Fresh off another impressive run at the 2025 Mid-Am, she joins the pod to talk about staying competitive at the highest level while managing a demanding full-time […]

The summer of 2025 proved a major challenge for golf course superintendents across the Mid-Atlantic, as relentless heat and pounding rains pushed every aspect of course care to its limits.  Worthington Manor Superintendent, Rob Randall joins to reflect on the season’s challenges, sharing how various grass types stood up to the test, why clear communication […]

Fresh off a week on the west coast, where he volunteered at Cypress Point and was able to play some of the best courses the Golden State has to offer, David Lee joins the Surrender Birdies pod for a second time. We discuss his experience volunteering at the Walker Cup, and his getting to play […]

With the PGA Tour descending on Caves Valley GC this week, we are joined by Bernie Najar, the Director of Instruction at the prestigious club.  We discuss the upcoming BMW Championship, the recent renovations to the course, and the challenges it presents to players. He shares insights from his extensive experience in golf instruction, including […]

Ford Martin breaks down his rise in the world of adaptive golf, from overcoming neurogenic club foot to earning a global top-10 ranking. He shares how his background in lacrosse shaped his competitive mindset, walks us through the process of qualifying for elite adaptive events and recounts some of his achievements in golf including winning […]

With the US Adaptive Open set to take on Woodmont Country Club’s South Course, architect Joel Weiman joins the pod to talk about his work at the Rockville club. A veteran of over 20 years at MacDonald Design Group, Weiman started his own design firm in 2023 and has continued making an impact on courses […]

Rob McNamara reflects on his unforgettable experience qualifying for the 1983 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club as a 17-year-old high school senior, sharing stories about competing on one of golf’s toughest stages as a teenager. He describes the pressure and excitement of playing alongside legends and how that moment shaped his lifelong passion for […]

We chat with avid golfer, David Lee on the first 2025 episode of Surrender Birdies.  The discussion starts off around the hundred hole challenge David recently hosted at Schoolhouse Nine, then turns to our trip to Scotland playing golf with family.  The latter half of the episode hits on several recent rounds and courses we […]

In our first episode of 2025, Billy Hoffman joins the podcast.  The director of instruction at Westwood CC shares insights into his journey in the golf industry, the unique facilities at Westwood, and his passion for coaching junior golfers. He discusses the evolution of golf culture, the influence of his family, and the importance of […]

The episode kicks off with a recap of the recent witnessing of some of the worst golf course behavior we’ve seen in person.  Josh talks about his golf road trip with just he and his dog that tipped out at Cabot Cliffs.  Alex shares details of his own summer golf roadie up north and both […]

Launching in 2023, BoBirdie magazine is the product of two of founder, Jefferson Burgess’ biggest passions…golf & the Shenandoah Valley.  The second print edition was just recently published with subject matter covering the entirety of the valley from Roanoke County on the south end to Berkeley County, WV up north.  With golf as the brand […]

The 75th U.S. Girls Junior kicks off this week at El Caballero CC in Southern California, and three young ladies representing Northern Virginia are among the field competing in the event.  Emerson Roychoudhury, Sophie Cao & Kanchana Duangsam have competed against one another on the junior circuit for some time and join the podcast to […]

Claude Jennings of the Golf DMV podcast joins the show to hit on a wide range of topics.  We both share stories and strategies we’ve employed with our own sons to help them fall in love with the game, before jumping into some of the traits we love and don’t love about courses in our […]

At 19 years of age, Bryan Kim is playing in his first U.S. Open this week at Pinehurst #2, earning his spot after winning the prestigious U.S. Junior Amateur last summer.  The Montgomery County native and Argyle Country Club member just finished his freshman year playing golf for Duke University.  Bryan joins the podcast to […]

Adam Hallenbeck from the Mediocre Golf Podcast joins Surrender Birdies for a fun conversation about golf in our area.  We cover some of his own takes on other golf podcasts & the youtube golf phenomenon before jumping into a discussion on the cost of public golf in our region and what we value when looking […]

Playing in his second PGA Championship this week, Larkin Gross will be competing at Valhalla after qualifying to be one of the 20 club professionals in the field.  The Westwood CC assistant pro is one of two to make it in from the Mid-Atlantic PGA section after a top-ten finish in the PGA Professional Championship […]

Josh is back to talk about his buddies Dewey Golf Trip.  Alex waxes about recent rounds at 1757 & South Riding.  Which one resembles a Wegman’s?  A fun pairing at East Potomac, and renderings released for Rock Creek Park GC. Listen to Episode 6 of the Surrender Birdies podcast below!

Joining Alex on the show is Dominic Lee to talk about the 2024 Masters, including his first trip to Augusta National earlier in the week.  We discuss an amazing golf deal that he jumped on pre-covid at Worthington Manor and learn about a local golf group called The Hive. Listen to Episode 5 of the […]

For nearly three decades, The Sports Junkies have been on the air in the DC market bringing their unique brand of radio to the masses.  Affectionately known as Lurch on their show, Jason Bishop is the big man of the foursome that makes up the broadcast team, and has been an avid golfer eager to […]

Alex talks Grapefruit League golf and public options down in West Palm Beach as well as a visit to Tiger Woods’ booming mini-golf business.  Josh stops off at Furnace Creek GC north of Charm City and the discussion turns to a shared love of the nine-holer at Sligo Creek, along with an offbeat anecdote related […]

With a professional golf career spanning 43 years and counting, Fred Funk has experienced close to all you can imagine on tour.  The PG County native who played for and coached the UMD golf team before his long journey on tour, joins the podcast to share stories from his career, memories from golf around the […]

Josh talks a few recent coastal first-state rounds at Baywood Greens, The Rookery & Midway.  Alex plays a blustery round at Bull Run and shares some recent observations down at East Potomac. Listen to Episode 3 of the Surrender Birdies podcast below!

Alex and Josh dive into night golf after watching the latest iteration of The Match as well a recent round under the lights played at Knights Play in North Carolina.  The discussion dives into the economics of adding lights to a course and where in the DMV night golf could work.  Josh goes into the […]

For the past eight years, superintendent Chris Navin has led an on-course resurgence at PB Dye GC, with a continuing series of projects designed to have the course in the conversation as one of the best public options in the region.  In the mid-2010s, conditions went through a rough stretch which led to ownership bringing […]

We kick off our new show with a review of the format, a couple host introductions and the plans for the podcast orgoing forward.  A recent invite to BHCC gets interrupted by an urgent call from the homefront and the police have to be redirected from looking for one of our hosts mid-round, reflections on […]

The 2024 PGA Show in Orlando kicks off a conversation with Golf News Net’s founder, Ryan Ballangee.  We discuss what Ryan saw at the show and how he’s seen the event evolve over the years before our discussion dives into his career in golf media.  Just last year, Golf News Net launched a 24-hour golf […]

Fresh off last weekend’s PGA Tour Q-School, Davis Lamb joins the podcast to talk through his young career, which saw back-to-back wins on PGA Tour Canada this past summer.  Those victories and a top 5 finish in the Fortinet Cup have earned him status on the Korn Ferry Tour with a handful of guaranteed starts […]

Jim Estes has enjoyed a long journey tied to this game.  The DC area native and long-time resident spent years playing professionally on various tours both domestically and abroad, playing in five majors and earning his PGA Tour card for a year in the late 90s.  But his enduring contribution to the game is co-founding […]

In our 75th podcast episode, we speak with five young golfers about their experience with the First Tee of Greater Washington DC and the impact both the organization and the game of golf has made with each of them.  This impressive group each continued with The First Tee well into their teenage years, representing the […]

Retiring this season after a 27-year run as head golf coach for the Langley HS Saxons in McLean, Al Berg has led his program on a remarkable run of success.  His team is competing to extend a run of seven consecutive Virginia Class 6 State Championship, and add to a total of 9 state titles […]

Recently named as one of Golf Magazine’s Top 100 teachers and having already been included in Golf Digest’s Top 50, Trillium Rose has established herself as one of the preeminent instructors in the game.  Based at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, MD, she has also attracted a legion of followers to her social media channels […]

Having been named one of the top 50 Golf Fitness Trainers in America by Golf Digest every year since the list began, Jason Meisch is about as trusted a source for golf exercise training and performance enhancement as you’ll find. Jason and the PEAK team have been training golfers at their Rockville location since 2009 […]

With a lack of an end-of-season tournament available for his Stone Ridge golf team and other local private schools girls golf programs, Justin Nogay recently launched the Washington Metro Private School Girls’ Tournament, which in its second year fielded high school girls from 12 area schools.  The success of his team and his contributions to […]

Playing golf six times a week is a dream that many who play this game imagine spending their golden years.  DC Native and World War II veteran, Bernie Smoot has been living that dream for over 4 decades now since retiring in 1980. Weather permitting and when not visiting his sister and playing golf in […]

Jack Bonifant’s golf career alone is one most golfers would be impressed by. Junior champion at the Bobby Bowers at the age of 16, All-Met in high school, walk-on D1 golfer at James Madison University, and today a plus-handicap who competes for and sits on the board at Argyle Country Club.  His story becomes truly […]

As one of less than 500 PGA Master Professionals, Mike Dickson exudes a passion for seeing his students improve along with a deep understanding of the mechanics of the golf swing.  After a seventeen-year run at Congressional Country Club, Mike now leads instruction at the MCG Academy at Little Bennett Golf Course. Earlier this month […]

For over 20 years, Jimmy Garvin ran programs at Langston Golf Course that included creating a learning center in the clubhouse where he used the game of golf as a carrot to get kids to focus on their education as well as exposing new destinations to a traveling team of All-Stars that competed against their […]

The indoor golf market has exploded in the US over the past few years with simulators popping up seemingly everywhere you look.   After well-establishing itself as a global leader in the industry, Korean-based Golfzon opened its North American headquarters in Northern Virginia and is methodically pursuing US market share as this trend shows no sign […]

When not working behind the camera on some of DC’s most-watched shows like Meet The Press & Scott Van Pelt’s SportsCenter, Garrett Johnston has been hustling to make a name for himself in the golf world, both as a writer and with a microphone.  The Alexandria-based fellow podcaster has hosted over 140 episodes of Beyond […]

One of the best stories in DC-area sports the last few years has been not just the resurrection, but the play of the Howard University Golf team. Leading the way on the course has been Gregory Odom Jr who has won several events since transferring into the program from Memphis, and got the opportunity to […]

With 190 episodes under their belt and counting, Adam Hallenbeck and Eddie Taylor have been sharing their light-hearted stories and golf takes for four years.  The Maryland-based duo tape the Mediocre Golf Podcast every week where they banter about their observations, recent rounds, buddies trips and whatever else is on their mind.   We sat down […]

This episode was taped on the convention center floor during this month’s PGA Show in Orlando, FL  The annual industry event looked a bit more normal this year after going virtual in 2021 due to covid & last year’s which was skipped by almost every major OEM. A couple weeks prior to the event, David […]

With the highest population of any county in Virginia and the third highest median income in the country, Fairfax County has golfers galore. Its Park Authority provides and manages seven properties that run the gamut of municipal golf.  A 36-hole property at Twin Lakes, two-executive nines at Pinecrest & Jefferson District, a pair of par […]

Flying under the radar while in the ear of some of golf’s top stars has been Julie Elion’s modus operandi for going on two decades.  While most golf fans likely aren’t familiar with her, she is still very active in working with tour pros at the very top of the sport.  With a resume that […]

Striving to elevate a Division 1 golf program to new heights as a first-time coach takes a tremendous amount of passion and work.  Coach Greg Pieczynski was hired to lead the George Mason team just prior to the pandemic shutting down sports around the country and ever since has been managing all aspects of the […]