The best golf stories have multiple layers to them. In each episode, Local Knowledge dives deep into a subject golfers want to know about, whether it’s about the game they play, the competition at the highest level, or the surprising ways golf factors into larger conversations throughout society. Hosts Alex Myers, Keely Levins, Shane Ryan and Sam Weinman weave together original interviews, Golf Digest reporting, and additional elements to tell the type of compelling stories that have been a Golf Digest staple for decades.
The Lasting Anger of Charlie Sifford
If there's a Jackie Robinson of golf, the title goes to Charlie Sifford, the first black man to be a full member of the PGA Tour. Every part of his journey was difficult, from the obstacles that kept him from competing with the best players in the world until he was almost 40, to the virulent racial hatred he faced once he got there. But unlike some of his fellow athletic pioneers, Sifford never softened, even in his later years as the world tried to make it right by showering him with awards. As he told one reporter, "If you'd been through what I've been through, you wouldn't be smiling either." This is his story.
2/19/2024 • 43 minutes, 31 seconds
Anthony Kim's enduring mystery
It has been almost 12 full years since Anthony Kim last hit a shot on the PGA Tour, and in that time, he managed to almost disappear completely. But the legend around him has grown in his absence, and now, as he's on the precipice of possibly playing once again, we look at the life and career of one of the most intriguing golfers since Tiger Woods. Who was he, where did he come from, and what happened when it was all over? Is the mystery something that can ever be explained, and can our fascination with him survive his return?
2/5/2024 • 40 minutes, 43 seconds
How Andy Gardiner got left behind while his big idea became LIV Golf
The idea that is currently splitting professional golf in half was born around 2010, scribbled in a feverish bout of inspiration on yellow legal pads. The author was Andy Gardiner, a corporate finance lawyer, and ideas weren't his only strong suit. Over the next decade and more, Gardiner used his connections high in the worlds of golf and business to forget a relentless and occasionally brilliant campaign to bring his idea to reality. It was called the Premier Golf League, and depending on who you believe, it may have come to the very precipice of success. In the end, even with big investors like the PIF, the PGA Tour outmaneuvered Gardiner and the PGL, and consolidated its power over the game. When the PIF came back with the full war chest at its disposal, it carried key components of Gardiner's idea, and even some of his top lieutenants, but not Gardiner himself. But when you tell the saga of LIV Golf and its war against the PGA Tour, Gardiner remains one of the most fascinating figures; one who got so close, and whose idea is even still rocking the sport. This is his story.
