When I was contacted by Maritza Dominguez, the audio producer and reporter for the Arizona Republic podcast, I was surprised and delighted.

Maritza Dominguez

She had such a wide range of questions I knew I couldn’t answer them all.

At first she wanted to know about the history of golf in Arizona and how did Arizona become such a popular golf destination. I told her I could do some research but there would be better people to answer that question.

When Maritza expanded her desire to have me speak about the culture of golf, and where did the game begin and HOW is it different playing golf in Scotland, say, playing golf in Arizona.

NOW we had a lot to talk about.

She invited me to record an in-person interview in the AZCentral offices in downtown Phoenix, which was really a cool thing to do.

The other people on the podcast told fascinating stories about Hollywood celebrities who used to come to Phoenix. Another interviewee gave insights about how the Skins Game at Desert Highlands started in 1983. The BIG FOUR — Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tom Watson put on quite a show.

It might be interesting for listeners to know that AZ Central is part of the USA Today Network. (Which to me is a pretty big deal.)

This episode of Arizona Republic’s podcast Valley 101 is now on streaming platforms such as Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Do you want to know how Arizona became a golf destination?
You can listen to it HERE.