Talking Golf With The Golf Guy-Season 5 Episode 18 With Zach Johnson
in Blog, Podcasts by Jeff Waters

Talking Golf With The Golf Guy-Season 5 Episode 18 With Zach Johnson

The 102nd edition of the PGA Championship will be conducted August 6-9, 2020, at San Francisco’s Harding Park Municipal Golf Course.

It now becomes, because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the first Major Golf Tournament of the year, and the first Major to be contested in over 382 days, the longest such interval since World War II curtailed all of professional sports.

Salt Lake City’s Zach Johnson, Utah Section of the PGA’s 2018 and 2019 Player of the Year, is a contestant in this year’s Championship.

Zach, the Davis Park Assistant Professional and Cottonwood High School graduate, was also a contestant in the 2018 PGA Championship at the Bellerive Country Club just outside Saint Louis, Missouri.

Zach Johnson

That tournament was won by Brooks Koepka, who repeated last year at Bethpage Black as the defending champion, and now has a chance to become only the second player in history, behind the legendary Walter Hagan’s five victories, to win three consecutive championships in this tournament.

The Utah Section of the PGA has always had a strong presence in this annual tournament on the strength of the excellent play of its PGA Professionals who can qualify for one of the twenty spots awarded to PGA Club Professionals in this Championship based on their play in qualifying tournaments.

The Golf Guy, PGA Master Professional Jeff Waters, sat down with Zach after he finished a practice round on the eve of this year’s tournament and asked him his feelings about playing against the best golfers in the world on the biggest stage of professional golf.

Please listen to our discussion here.

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Jeff Waters, MBA, is a PGA Master Professional and the President/CEO of Rocky Mountain Golf Enterprises, a Utah-licensed and registered corporation that uses golf as a marketing tool. With over fifty years of experience in the golf industry, Jeff has worn many hats in diverse roles, including as a player, teacher, Head Professional, administrator, and small business owner. Jeff's extensive background includes ten years as a competitive player, ten years as a Head Golf Professional, overseeing the entire golf course operation, three years as the Director of Player Development for Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, managing, directing, and supervising multiple golf course programs, and over thirty years as a golf coach and instructor at Rocky Mountain Golf Academy, teaching the game. His elite professional status as a fully trained and certified PGA Master Professional highlights his commitment to the sport. This prestigious designation is merited by a small and exclusive group of Golf Professionals worldwide. This wealth of experience in both the sport and business of golf has established Jeff as a highly skilled and knowledgeable expert and one of America's most qualified and accomplished Golf Professionals. In addition to his practical experience, Jeff has a robust academic background, including a BS in Political Science from the University of Utah, graduate studies in Economics and Commercial Recreation, at that school, and a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. He has also taught undergraduate courses at the University of Utah's College of Health and served as an adjunct professor at Granite Peaks Community School. As a well-known media personality, Jeff's versatility in the golf industry is evident through his work as a celebrated broadcast journalist and radio host. He has traveled extensively nationwide, announcing major sporting events at arenas, ballparks, stadiums, and golf courses for national media outlets and syndicated on the Rocky Mountain Golf Radio Network. A member of the Golf Writers Association of America, Jeff regularly contributes editorial pieces to national print publications and has authored multiple books, essays, and short stories. His work has appeared in numerous domestic and regional periodicals and magazines, such as Utah Golf News, Rocky Mountain Golfer, Golf Today, Utah Fairways, Jackson Hole Golf News, and Utah Golf Magazine. He has also contributed to blogs, podcasts, internet forums, and his website at www.jeffgolfguy.com. Jeff's unwavering dedication and service to the golf industry continue to inspire others, underscoring his deep commitment and affection for the sport, business, and recreation of golf.