Tim Rosaforte spent his life telling stories about golf’s greatest players. Now it’s time to tell Rosey’s story. A towering figure in the golf media, Rosaforte died on Jan. 11, 2022 at the age of 66, from complications related to early onset Alzheimer’s.From Sports Illustrated to Golf Digest and Golf World and then to Golf Channel, Matt Ginella always seemed to be somewhere right behind Rosaforte. And what a good place to be. And although that felt so special, he knew he wasn’t alone. Rosaforte was beloved because he was a great teammate for so many. The Godfather of golf journalists, he led by example, selflessly and unconditionally always supporting someone in need. No one ever out-worked him, he had no enemies, and everyone called him back. And when Ginella asked a long list of Rosaforte’s friends and colleagues to help him produce this podcast, Rosaforte would smile knowing they all called Ginella back.  The goal here was to out-Rosie Tim Rosaforte on his own story. Upon hearing about his diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s, which goes back to the summer of 2020, Ginella did what Rosaforte taught him to do: report the hell out of the story.  In this tribute, you’ll hear from Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus, Nancy Lopez, Lanny Wadkins, Ben Crenshaw, Jim Nantz, Bob Ford, Mark Mulvoy, Jerry Tarde, Geoff Russell, Molly Solomon, Jaime Diaz, Matt Hegarty, John Hawkins, Pete McDaniel, Damon Hack, Gary Williams, Craig Dolch, Ron Sirak and Davis Sezna.For more on the life and legacy of Tim Rosaforte, go to firepitcollective.com.Visit the The Fire Pit Collective to check out everything we are doing.Use promo Firepit25 at Linksoul.com for 25% off your next Linksoul order.Got a comment about this story or a tip on a story we should track down?You can reach me on Twitter (@mattginella) or on Instagram (@matt_ginella).For bonus visuals and some behind the scenes of The Fire Pit podcast production, go to The Fire Pit YouTube Channel. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s the fourth Annual Wishbone Brawl at Goat Hill Park in Oceanside, Calif. It’s Saturday, November 20, and it’s a perfect afternoon for tournament golf at a 4,500-yard par-65 municipal where everyone in the community is committed to the vibe of “World Class for the Working Class.” Class is at the core of the Wishbone Brawl, which was an idea Dean Wilson pitched to John Ashworth five years ago. Four players, two teams, best-ball and skins, persimmon woods, kids as caddies, no ropes, dogs encouraged, great attitudes are mandatory and all money raised goes to support junior golf.  A quick history: In 2017, Wilson, who lives in San Diego and has invested in Goat Hill Park, teamed up with Xander Schauffele, who grew up playing in San Diego and played for San Diego State. They beat Charley Hoffman and Chris Riley, who were UNLV teammates and now both live in San Diego.  In 2018, Brawl 2, Wilson brought his friend Mike Weir and they beat Schauffele and Hoffman. In 2019, Geoff Ogilvy, paired with Riley, had the walk-off ace from 133-yards on the ninth hole in a sudden-death playoff against Wilson and Schauffele. 2020 was cancelled due to Covid. But this year, the Brawl was back, bigger and better than ever. Due to a fast flood of early interest, Ashworth had to close ticket sales on Tuesday before the Saturday event. Having had roughly 400 people in the gallery in 2019, in 2021, it was looking like there would be more than 1,000. Our team at the Fire Pit Collective partnered with the production company of KuenyPearson to go live on Linksoul.com. The edited version of the broadcast as well as other perspectives on the day can now be found at firepitcollective.com. In this podcast, you’ll get some of the best action and reaction, added perspective and reflections from players, caddies and people in the crowd. Schauffele and Wilson are paired together again. And today they’re playing against Fred Couples and Will Kropp.Visit the The Fire Pit Collective to check out everything we are doing.Use promo Firepit25 at Linksoul.com for 25% off your next Linksoul order.Got a comment about this story or a tip on a story we should track down?You can reach me on Twitter (@mattginella) or on Instagram (@matt_ginella).For bonus visuals and some behind the scenes of The Fire Pit podcast production, go to The Fire Pit YouTube Channel. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everything about RainDance National, a new golf course in Northern Colorado, is BIG, except for the guy who helped design it and the odds that it won’t hit.  It’s big news that there’s a new golf course being built. According to the National Golf Foundation, there were only 18 new ones in 2019, and some of those were only nine holes. The number on the RainDance National scorecard, from the back tees, will be over 8,400 yards, which will make it one of the biggest and longest in the country. The 1,000-year-old arroyos that the course is built around are big. The mountains that surround the course are even bigger. The landing areas, greens and expectations for the finished product are also all big. And then there’s Fred Funk, one of the littlest and shortest hitters in professional golf, who’s the co-designer of RainDance National. Nothing is bigger than his smile as he walks the routing and talks about how much fun he has had getting the opportunity to break into the business of course design. Funk, who won the 2005 Players Championship, is quick to point out that at an elevation of 5,000-feet, with most holes playing downhill and with the ideal playing conditions being hard and fast, the length could be deceiving. In this episode of the Fire Pit, while sitting around a fire overlooking the arroyos, you’ll hear from Funk, Harrison Minchew, Funk’s co-designer who spent most of his career working for Arnold Palmer Design, and Martin Lind, the third-generation farmer who finally pulled the trigger on a project he’s been sitting on for over a decade. Visit the The Fire Pit Collective to check out everything we are doing.Use promo Firepit25 at Linksoul.com for 25% off your next Linksoul order.Got a comment about this story or a tip on a story we should track down?You can reach me on Twitter (@mattginella) or on Instagram (@matt_ginella).For bonus visuals and some behind the scenes of The Fire Pit podcast production, go to The Fire Pit YouTube Channel. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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