WORLDWIDE GOLF INSIDER

Summer 2020

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INSIDER Q&A W orldwide Golf Shops has produced more than 300 podcasts featuring top tour professionals and legends of the game, industry leaders and experts in equip- ment, and notable athletes and celebri- ties who love golf. The warm, friendly and inviting voice that opens the show and provides the compelling guest interviews be- longs to Florida native Tom Brassell, the 62-year-old podcast host and a World- wide Golf Shops consultant. Brassell has had a long history with Edwin Watts Golf, one of the retail brands owned by Worldwide Golf Shops, and was also recently inducted into the All Sports Association Hall of Fame. We spoke to Brassell about the pod- casts, how he became involved, and what it's like to interview some of the greats in the game: uuu How did you get started in the golf industry? When I was 14 years old, I started playing seriously at our local municipal course, Fort Walton Beach Golf Club. Our PGA professional was a man by the name of Edwin Watts. After I finished playing golf in college, I returned to northwest Florida, and while jobs weren't plentiful here in 1980, Edwin was building his business and expanding around the Southeast and offered me the chance to go to work for him. I politely declined. I know, a dumb decision on my part. A career in sales and sales management took me all around the country, but I moved back to Fort Walton Beach in 1992. Twelve years later, my dream came true as I finally went to work for Edwin Watts Golf in 2004 in sales, pur- chasing and internet. I am the radio play-by-play announcer for one of the high schools here, so taking over as host of the Golfbetter Podcast (now In- sider Podcast) was a great fit and op- portunity for me. uuu How did you become involved in the podcasts and how many have you produced over the years? In 2009, I took over as host on episode #37. We just recently finished episode #308. Eleven years and almost 300 episodes. uuu What do you enjoy most about producing the podcasts? What's not to enjoy? I get to stay close to the game, review new equipment each year with some of the greatest designers and product engineers in the world, and in- terview legends in the game. SHOP TALK Tom Brassell HIGHLIGHTS EQUIPMENT AND THE GAME'S GREATS AS HOST OF WORLDWIDE GOLF SHOPS' INSIDER PODCASTS "Someone got the idea to reach out to Jack Nicklaus, to see if he'd be interested in talking about his Masters memories. When he agreed, it broke the ice and from that point it was game on." <<< TOM BRASSELL, Worldwide Golf Shops Podcast Host ver.indd 1 12/1/1 ver.indd 1 12/1/1 ver.indd 1 12/1/1 ver.indd 1 12/1/1 >>>

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